ANTI SEIZURE DRUGS by professor fink By: professorfink … Continue reading →

Busted, kinda: The Voice coach and US rocker Joel Madden. There was outrage and confected outrage, but mostly there was mirth. ''Joel Madden proves that in Australia the grass really is greener!,'' tweeted one wag. ''I think it's pretty obvious the weed belonged to Joel Madden's hairdresser,'' quipped another. Not even the police could summon much enthusiasm over the discovery of a small amount of cannabis in Madden's hotel room when they were alerted to it on Sunday afternoon. They took six hours to turn up and then let The Voice judge off with a caution. Among Madden's co-judges and the public at large, more scorn was heaped on the media for sensationalism than it was upon the Good Charlotte frontman. It was a far cry from the drug scandals of the 1970s, when the rock'n'roll stars who were busted got really busted - arrested, deported, banned from venues and gloriously disgraced. Cannabis : Creeping towards decriminalisation. But the trivial treatment of the nadir in Madden's criminal history was a sign of the times. Though it is not politic to say so, a gentle trend towards the decriminalisation of marijuana has been creeping across Australia for the past 15 years. … Continue reading →

A few weeks after it was first contacted, the US regulator began an investigation based on the information given by Mr Thakur, who later became an official whistleblower. The FDAs investigations led to seven charges against Ranbaxy of selling improperly prepared drugs, failing to report that its drugs did not meet specifications and providing false information. Ranbaxy last month agreed to pay $500million (330 million) in fines and penalties, the largest financial settlement against a generic drug-producing company in the US. Mr Thakurs evidence was deemed so valuable by the US authorities that he was paid 37million under whistleblowing laws. In light of Ranbaxys admission of guilt in the US, the MHRA said it was now considering further investigation of the past conduct of the company, which is Indias largest drugs manufacturer with sales last year of 1.5billion in Britain, Europe and the US. According to Mr Thakurs emails, officials at the British regulator did not respond proactively to his approaches. In November 2005, he wrote: The reason I am writing to you is to alert you that Ranbaxy is defrauding the UK government and the British public and hoping that [you] would be able to do something to stop … Continue reading →

Busted, kinda: The Voice coach and US rocker Joel Madden. There was outrage and confected outrage, but mostly there was mirth. ''Joel Madden proves that in Australia the grass really is greener!,'' tweeted one wag. ''I think it's pretty obvious the weed belonged to Joel Madden's hairdresser,'' quipped another. Not even the police could summon much enthusiasm over the discovery of a small amount of cannabis in Madden's hotel room when they were alerted to it on Sunday afternoon. They took six hours to turn up and then let The Voice judge off with a caution. Among Madden's co-judges and the public at large, more scorn was heaped on the media for sensationalism than it was upon the Good Charlotte frontman. It was a far cry from the drug scandals of the 1970s, when the rock'n'roll stars who were busted got really busted - arrested, deported, banned from venues and gloriously disgraced. Cannabis : Creeping towards decriminalisation. But the trivial treatment of the nadir in Madden's criminal history was a sign of the times. Though it is not politic to say so, a gentle trend towards the decriminalisation of marijuana has been creeping across Australia for the past 15 years. … Continue reading →

Busted, kinda: The Voice coach and US rocker Joel Madden. There was outrage and confected outrage, but mostly there was mirth. ''Joel Madden proves that in Australia the grass really is greener!,'' tweeted one wag. ''I think it's pretty obvious the weed belonged to Joel Madden's hairdresser,'' quipped another. Not even the police could summon much enthusiasm over the discovery of a small amount of cannabis in Madden's hotel room when they were alerted to it on Sunday afternoon. They took six hours to turn up and then let The Voice judge off with a caution. Among Madden's co-judges and the public at large, more scorn was heaped on the media for sensationalism than it was upon the Good Charlotte frontman. It was a far cry from the drug scandals of the 1970s, when the rock'n'roll stars who were busted got really busted - arrested, deported, banned from venues and gloriously disgraced. Cannabis : Creeping towards decriminalisation. But the trivial treatment of the nadir in Madden's criminal history was a sign of the times. Though it is not politic to say so, a gentle trend towards the decriminalisation of marijuana has been creeping across Australia for the past 15 years. … Continue reading →

A few weeks after it was first contacted, the US regulator began an investigation based on the information given by Mr Thakur, who later became an official whistleblower. The FDAs investigations led to seven charges against Ranbaxy of selling improperly prepared drugs, failing to report that its drugs did not meet specifications and providing false information. Ranbaxy last month agreed to pay $500million (330 million) in fines and penalties, the largest financial settlement against a generic drug-producing company in the US. Mr Thakurs evidence was deemed so valuable by the US authorities that he was paid 37million under whistleblowing laws. In light of Ranbaxys admission of guilt in the US, the MHRA said it was now considering further investigation of the past conduct of the company, which is Indias largest drugs manufacturer with sales last year of 1.5billion in Britain, Europe and the US. According to Mr Thakurs emails, officials at the British regulator did not respond proactively to his approaches. In November 2005, he wrote: The reason I am writing to you is to alert you that Ranbaxy is defrauding the UK government and the British public and hoping that [you] would be able to do something to stop … Continue reading →

By Kerry Grens NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Although doctors sometimes prescribe anti-seizure drugs to treat chronic pain in the vulva, just a handful of low-quality studies have examined the drugs' effects, according to a new review. Based on these studies, "it's very difficult to make definitive statements on efficacy," said Dr. Raphael Leo, the study's author from the State University of New York at Buffalo. "Certainly, more investigation is warranted." Still, "I think that there is promise" for the use of anti-seizure medications, he added. Chronic pain in a woman's genitals, also called vulvodynia, affects as many as one in 12 women (see Reuters Health report of Sept 23, 2011 here: http://reut.rs/oeJRax). The underlying cause of the pain is not always known, so doctors often try a variety of treatment approaches to see what will work. Those include topical creams to reduce pain, physical therapy, antidepressants and - in extreme cases - surgery to remove the painful tissue. Anti-seizure medications, such as gabapentin (marketed as Neurontin), are also used to treat vulvodynia. One survey found up to two-thirds of doctors prescribe gabapentin for the condition. "Unfortunately, there hasn't been much systematic investigation of an appropriate means of treatment," Leo … Continue reading →