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Greek Pharmacists to End Prescriptions on Credit

Posted: Published on August 26th, 2012

By Paul Tugwell - 2012-08-26T11:34:57Z The Pan-Hellenic Pharmaceutical Association, which represents Greeces 12,000 pharmacies, said its members will no longer supply drugs prescribed by the countrys National Organization for Health Care Provision without immediate payment in cash starting Sept. 1. Pharmacists called on the organization, Greeces largest state-run health care provider known as Eopyy, to pay outstanding debts of more than 85 days. They also want the government to immediately start financing Eopyy with an amount equal to 0.6 percent of gross domestic product as well as to guarantee bank loans taken by pharmacists, the association said late yesterday in a statement on its website. Eopyy has only made part payment to pharmacists for providing medicines in May and hasnt paid for any prescription drugs since June, the association said Aug. 8. Eopyy still owes money from 2011 at a time when international drug companies no longer offer credit to Greek pharmacists, the association said at the time. It didnt give a figure for the total debt. To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Tugwell in Athens at ptugwell1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jerrold Colten at jcolten@bloomberg.net Read the original post: Greek Pharmacists to End … Continue reading →

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Handicapped children forced to try dangerous drug, says doctor

Posted: Published on August 26th, 2012

''He used to wake up and have so much energy, then crash and fall asleep by 9am'' ... Harrison White with his mother, Tracy. Mrs White says Harrison's condition improved almost immediately he took modafinil. Photo: Sahlan Hayes CHILDREN with a severe brain disorder are being denied subsidies for a highly effective medication because the government insists they first try a riskier drug, say specialists who refuse to prescribe what they say is an outdated treatment. Chris Seton,a paediatrician at the Children's Hospital at Westmead, said children with narcolepsy - a condition that causes them to fall asleep without warning, gives sudden bouts of muscle weakness and makes concentration difficult - could suffer life-threatening side effects, including psychosis, high blood pressure and heart palpitations, if they took the drug, dexamphetamine. The stimulant is the only therapy routinely subsidised for the condition through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. ''I will not risk a child suffering the potential side effects,'' Dr Seton said. ''Faced with a choice between the two drugs to treat narcolepsy, nobody on the planet would chose the amphetamine.'' Advertisement Dr Seton said he once admitted a 13-year-old girl to hospital suffering psychosis after she took dexamphetamine before the new … Continue reading →

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We’ll explain the side effects later

Posted: Published on August 26th, 2012

Say you have high blood pressure. Theres a new blockbuster drug on the market, and your doctor lets you know about a new clinical trial you can join that is testing the new treatment against an old tried-and-true one. Whats not to like? Youre going to be taking, under the care of experts, one of two U.S. Food and Drug Administrationapproved medications. What you might not knoweven after you sign up for the trial and have inked the informed-consent formis that scattered reports are starting to suggest that the new medication might occasionally cause severe side effects. And the real reason the trial is being conducted with these previously released drugs is to test whether the new medication really is a lot riskier to everyone or just to a subset of patients. If you found that out, would you still sign up for the trial? The problem is that many patientsand often even the institutional review boards that approve the trialsare never informed of these lingering questions. This is one of the big ethical holes often left open in post-market trials, says Ruth Faden, director of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, who co-authored a new essay on this … Continue reading →

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Tests show crash drivers took drugs

Posted: Published on August 26th, 2012

More than half the drivers taken to hospital after causing a crash were found to have drugs in their system, a study has found. The Ministry of Transport study used blood samples taken from 453 drivers who caused crashes. Drugs were detected in the systems of 258 drivers, analysis by the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) found. Of that group, 156 were found to be on drugs not administered by a medical professional Ninety people sent to hospital had both cannabis and alcohol in their system. Yesterday, the Automobile Association renewed its calls for random roadside saliva tests to be used to target drug drivers. Such saliva screening devices can detect only three drugs - cannabis, methamphetamine and Ecstasy - and are used in every Australian state. Police can only drug-test people if they believe they are under the influence. A blood test is carried out if the driver fails an impairment test. "We think the majority of drivers driving with illicit drugs are pretty safe from detection, unfortunately," said the AA's Mike Noon. "They may be caught. But the roadside saliva testing really sends a clear message that if you drug and drive, you could be randomly … Continue reading →

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Half of crash drivers on drugs – study

Posted: Published on August 26th, 2012

Tests on drivers who caused crashes reveal more than half had drugs in their system and more than a quarter had taken drugs not prescribed by their doctor. The Ministry of Transport tested 453 drivers who caused crashes and found 258 had drugs in their system and of that group 156 had taken drugs not administered by a medical professional, the New Zealand Herald reports. About 90 of those sent to hospital had taken cannabis and drunk alcohol. Drivers with more than the legal limit of alcohol in their system made up just over half of those analysed. The Automobile Association (AA) says the Government should bring in random roadside saliva tests to target drug drivers. But Associate Transport Minister Simon Bridges told NZ Herald the Government would wait for saliva testing technology to improve before targeting drug drivers through random tests. A review of the technology, revealed earlier this year, found it was not fast enough, was unlikely to detect half of cannabis users and results are not reliable enough for criminal prosecution. Currently police can test drivers if they believe they are under the influence of drugs and this is followed up with a blood test. Radio New … Continue reading →

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Which Drugs Is Lance Armstrong Accused of Taking?

Posted: Published on August 26th, 2012

Bryn Lennon / Getty Images Lance Armstrong in action on stage 18 of the 2009 Tour de Franc in Annecy, France, July 23, 2009. Enough is enough. With those loaded words, seven-time Tour de France winner, cancer survivor, and patient advocate Lance Armstrong put an end to the accusations of doping that have dogged him for years. Faced with a deadline for responding to allegations by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) that he both used and distributed performance enhancing drugs during his competitive cycling career, Armstrong decided on Thursday to avoid arbitration with USADA and accept the agencys punishment. USADA swiftly revoked all seven of Armstrongs Tour titles and banned him for life from the sport of cycling. The international cycling federation, Union Cycliste Internationale, has yet to take action, demanding an explanation from USADA for the agencys censure. Armstrong has been a controversial figure in a sport buffeted by doping scandals; as the only cyclist to win the grueling Tour de France seven times, he became a lightning rod for rumors and accusations of cheating through doping. Armstrong won the first of his consecutive Tour titles three years after being diagnosed with testicular cancer. USADA says it has evidence … Continue reading →

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People's Pharmacy: Coffee has benefits, but not French press

Posted: Published on August 26th, 2012

Q: Years ago, I heard you on the radio praising the benefits of coffee. You made an exception for French press coffee, though. I never understood why this would pose a problem when regular coffee doesn't. I really like French press coffee, but I wonder if it could do me harm. A: Research during the past decade suggests that coffee drinkers are less likely to be diagnosed with heart failure (Circulation: Heart Failure online, June 26, 2012) or develop type 2 diabetes (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, April 2010). Regular coffee consumption also seems to delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease (Journal of Alzheimer's disease online, June 5, 2012) and may help to protect against prostate and uterine cancers (Journal of National Cancer Institute online, May 17, 2011; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention online, Nov. 22, 2011). The problem with French press and other types of unfiltered coffee techniques lies with blood lipids. Compounds from coffee can raise total cholesterol, triglycerides and bad LDL cholesterol (European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, August 2012). The culprits are in coffee oils that get trapped by filters, so people drinking filtered coffee should get the benefits without the higher cholesterol. Q: Three times I … Continue reading →

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Doctors Use Facebook To Diagnose And Treat Stroke Patient

Posted: Published on August 26th, 2012

August 26, 2012 Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online It seems everyone finds something useful in the social media game known as Facebook. Now doctors are using the social network in the diagnosis department. Doctors from the Mayo Clinic used Facebook in investigating the stroke of a 56-year-old woman, and published the findings from the study in the British Medical Journal: BMJ Case Reports. The patient, who had an ischemic stroke (due to reduced blood flow to the brain as a result of narrowed or blocked arteries), needed to have her neck opened up for treatment. There are two main causes for this type of blockage: one is trauma, which is more common in young people. The second is through risk factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease. However, the doctors could not find a history of any of these risk factors in the patient, nor could they find an association to trauma. But the doctors, led by Dr. Manoj Mittal, noticed the womans right eyelid was droopy and her right pupil was slightly smaller than the left. When asked if this was abnormal for her, neither her nor her husband were sure. These … Continue reading →

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'Clot nets' help stroke recovery

Posted: Published on August 26th, 2012

26 August 2012 Last updated at 08:38 ET By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News Using small nets to extract blood clots from patients' brains may be the future of stroke care, according to two studies. Clots block blood vessels, starving parts of the brain of oxygen, which leads to symptoms such as paralysis and loss of speech. Two studies, presented in the Lancet medical journal, suggest extracting clots with nets could improve recovery. The Stroke Association said it was very excited by the treatment's potential. There are already techniques for reopening blocked blood vessels in people's brains. Some patients will be given "clot-busting" drugs, but this needs to be in the hours just after the stroke and is not suitable for everyone. Other techniques have been developed to extract the clot. Some procedures pass a tube up through the groin to the brain. There the wire passes through the clot, forming a coil on the far side and then pulling the clot out. However, this is far from routine practice. The latest methods involve a tiny wire cage instead of a coil. This pushes the clot up against the walls of the artery and enmeshes the clot … Continue reading →

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New Device to Remove Stroke-Causing Blood Clots Proves Better Than Standard Tool

Posted: Published on August 26th, 2012

Newswise Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death and a common cause of long-term disability in the United States, but doctors have very few proven treatment methods. Now a new device that mechanically removes stroke-causing clots from the brain is being hailed as a game-changer. In a recent clinical trial, the SOLITAIRE Flow Restoration Device dramatically outperformed the standard mechanical treatment. Findings from the trial, called SOLITAIRE With the Intention for Thrombectomy (SWIFT), are published online today in the journal The Lancet and will also appear in a later print edition of the journal. SOLITAIRE, which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in March, is among an entirely new generation of devices designed to remove blood clots from blocked brain arteries in patients experiencing an ischemic stroke. It has a self-expanding, stent-like design, and once inserted into a blocked artery using a thin catheter tube, it compresses and traps the clot. The clot is then removed by withdrawing the device, reopening the blocked blood vessel. "This new device is significantly changing the way we can treat ischemic stroke," said the study's lead author, Dr. Jeffrey L. Saver, director of the UCLA Stroke Center and a professor … Continue reading →

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