LONDON (Reuters) - British women with a family history of breast cancer could be offered two drugs to try to prevent the disease under draft guidelines published by the country's healthcare cost watchdog. Tamoxifen and raloxifene are already approved in the United States and other countries for preventing breast cancer in high-risk patients, but they have not so far been made available as preventative therapies in Britain. The new proposal by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) was welcomed by patient groups on Tuesday. "This is exciting as, even though most women do not have a significant family history of the disease, it's crucial that those who do have an array of options to help them control their risk," said Chris Askew, chief executive of the charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer. NICE, which decides if drugs should be paid for on the state health service, has launched a consultation on the proposed new guidelines. Tamoxifen was originally developed by AstraZeneca but has long been off patent. Raloxifene is the generic name of Eli Lilly's Evista, which also faces generic competition in Europe. (Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Mark Potter) See more here: NICE backs drugs for preventing … Continue reading →

NEW YORK, Jan. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue: Global Diabetes Devices Market And Diabetes Drugs Market - Industry Scenario, Trends, Analysis, Size, Share & Forecast 2011 - 2018 http://www.reportlinker.com/p01081284/Global-Diabetes-Devices-Market-And-Diabetes-Drugs-Market---Industry-Scenario-Trends-Analysis-Size-Share--Forecast-2011---2018.html#utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=Drug_and_Medication This report is an effort to identify factors, which will be the driving force behind the diabetes devices and drugs market and sub-markets in the next few years. The report provides extensive analysis of the industry, current market trends, industry drivers and challenges for better understanding of the market structure. The report has segregated the diabetes devices and drugs industry in terms of product and geography. We have used a combination of primary and secondary research to arrive at the market estimates, market shares and trends. We have adopted bottom up model to derive market size of the global diabetes devices and drugs market and further validated numbers with the key market participants and C-level executives. This report highlights the industry with the following points: Analysis of product segments for diabetes devices and drugs product market with historical data and forecast Trends and forecast for four geographic markets, namely the U.S., Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa and Latin … Continue reading →

NEW YORK, Jan. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue: Infertility Drugs And Devices Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share And Forecast, 2010 - 2017 http://www.reportlinker.com/p01081277/-Infertility-Drugs-And-Devices-Market---Global-Industry-Analysis-Size-Share-And-Forecast-2010---2017.html#utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=Drug_and_Medication This report is an effort to identify factors, which will be the driving force for the infertility drugs and devices market and sub-markets in the next few years. The report provides an extensive analysis of the industry, current market trends, industry drivers and challenges for better understanding of the market structure. The report segregates the infertility drugs and devices industry in terms of products, technology and geography. We have used a combination of primary and secondary research to arrive at the market estimates, market shares and trends. We have adopted bottom up model to derive market size of the global infertility drugs and devices market and further validated numbers with the key market participants and C-level executives. This report highlights the industry with the following points: Analysis of product segments for infertility drugs and devices market with historical data and forecast Trends and forecast for four geographic markets, namely North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the RoW regions based on segments of infertility … Continue reading →

Drug users may not dial 999 in emergencies or give full information to doctors and nurses who treat them because they fear potential criminal prosecution, a report said. The British Medical Association (BMA) said the medical profession does not condone drug-taking but warned of users not seeking medical help when they need it, as they are criminalised in current drugs policy. The report said drugs policy does not have an adequate focus on health, and it called for addicts to be treated like those who have any other illness. Currently, users may be discouraged from approaching drug services, contacting paramedics in emergency situations or volunteering accurate or complete information to health professionals because they fear policies are mainly focused on criminal justice, the BMA said. The report also pointed out "a widely held view within the drugs field that the current legal framework has failed to deliver its intended goals of reducing illicit drug use". And it said doctors should have a key role in "refocusing the debate" and influencing global drug policy. The report concluded drug dependency is a medical condition as well as a legal problem and that alternatives to the current approach to UK drug policy should … Continue reading →

15 January 2013 Last updated at 06:14 ET A drug dealer who was jailed for 12 years over his part in an international drug ring is to have 70,000 seized under proceeds of crime laws. Sohaib Qureshi, 35, from Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire, is thought to have made 1.2m from trafficking cocaine from Colombia and the Caribbean to Scotland. He was jailed in March last year after being caught along with two other men. Qureshi will have to give up his stake in a Glasgow restaurant to meet the confiscation order. The businessman, who was once described as a millionaire property owner, denied the charges against him but was convicted following a trial last year at the High Court in Edinburgh. The court heard how officers from the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) targeted the drug smuggling operation which sourced high-purity cocaine in Colombia and the Dominican Republic. As part of Operation Klaxon, undercover officers carried out surveillance on a house in Springburn, Glasgow, in April 2009. Qureshi was seen at the house, along with Ronald Augustine, 53, from the city's Maryhill area and 37-year-old David Byrne, from Springboig, Glasgow. When officers later stopped Qureshi and Byrne in a … Continue reading →

15 January 2013 Last updated at 19:20 ET By Ken Macdonald BBC Scotland Science Correspondent It's one of the oldest debates in economics: what's the difference between what something costs and what it's worth? The debate has been given new life by the advent of orphan drugs. The term was coined in the US. They are "orphan drugs" for the simple reason that they were designed to treat orphan diseases - conditions so rare that only a relative handful of people are affected. Lesley Loeliger, who lives just to the south of Glasgow, remembers the day she was diagnosed with the orphan disease Paroxysmal Nocturnal Haemoglobinuria - PNH for short. The doctor explained it was a bone marrow disease with a median survival rate of just 10 years. Its effects were dreadful. "I was having to be carried up and down the stairs," she says. "I was having to be dressed and undressed. I just couldn't do anything for myself. Sometimes, when I was so bad, and I was so exhausted I couldn't even turn over in bed." Since then, Lesley's life has been transformed by an orphan drug called Soliris. It's an exceptional treatment at an exceptional price. At … Continue reading →