WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal health officials are adding new safety warnings about risks of memory loss and elevated blood sugar to statins, the most widely prescribed group of cholesterol-lowering medications. The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it is making labeling changes to medicines like Pfizer Inc.'s Lipitor, AstraZeneca's Crestor and Merck & Co. Inc.'s Zocor. The drugs are used by tens of millions of U.S. patients to help prevent heart-related problems associated with cholesterol. New labeling on all such drugs will warn of memory loss and confusion reported among certain patients taking statins. In general the problems were not serious and went away after patients stopped taking the drugs, according to the FDA. The updated labels will also mention elevated levels of blood sugar, associated with diabetes, that have been reported in some patients taking statins. A growing number of studies published over the last five years have found a link between statin use and type 2 diabetes. Last June, a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association analyzed five older randomized trials and concluded the increased risk was small but real for people taking higher doses of any statin. Cardiologists said Tuesday that the lifesaving benefits … Continue reading →

VIENNA (AP) Illegal Internet pharmacies are selling illicit drugs and prescription medicines online and are increasingly targeting young people, a U.N. drug agency warned Tuesday. The International Narcotics Control Board also described North America as continuing to be "the world's largest illicit drug market" in 2010; parts of Europe as the homes of industrial scale cannabis factories; and growing poppy cultivation in West Asia. Focusing on Internet pharmacies as a growing threat, a summary of the agency's 2011 report cited the agency's head, Hamid Ghodse, as saying such use of social media "can put large, and especially young, audiences at risk of dangerous products." The Vienna-based board urged governments to close down illegal Internet pharmacies. It also called on them to seize substances that have been illicitly ordered on the Internet and smuggled through the mail. The organization noted "high levels of illicit drug production manufacture, trade and consumption," with "vast amounts produced in all three countries" in North America the United States, Canada and Mexico. About 90 percent of the cocaine reaching the United States is transited through Mexico, even as an increasingly harsh crackdown by Mexican authorities is forcing some drug cartels to move their operations to Central … Continue reading →

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with the bone-thinning condition osteoporosis often skip the drugs they are prescribed, and telephone counseling does little to change that, according to new research. Researchers said osteoporosis is involved in more than two million fractures a year in the U.S., racking up medical costs of $19 billion. In addition to exercise and a healthy diet with enough calcium and vitamin D, as well as measures to prevent falls, medications may reduce the risk of broken bones -- which can take a serious toll on the health of old people. For people at high risk, bone drugs such as bisphosphonates may cut the yearly fracture risk from five percent to three percent, said Dr. Daniel Solomon of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. But people often stop taking the medications, added Solomon, also of Harvard Medical School. "It's the problem with all chronic conditions," he told Reuters Health. "Drugs for asymptomatic chronic conditions are universally poorly adhered to." Some 10 million Americans currently suffer from bone thinning, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation. The majority are postmenopausal women. Bone drugs include Merck's Fosamax, Roche's Boniva, Novartis's Reclast and Warner Chilcott's Actonel. To see if they … Continue reading →

VIENNA (Reuters) - Illegal "Internet pharmacies" are using social media to market drugs to young people, an international report said on Tuesday. The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), which monitors the implementation of U.N. drug control conventions, said illicit drugs as well as prescription medicines were being ordered online from such unscrupulous operations. "Disturbingly, illegal Internet pharmacies have started to use social media to publicize their websites, which can put large audiences at risk of dangerous products," INCB President Hamid Ghodse said in a statement accompanying its 2011 report. He told a news conference in London that the rogue pharmacists used social media such as YouTube or Facebook to draw people to chatrooms and engage them "in a variety of ways which, in the first instance, you do not see as that they are marketing the drug....then of course they are bombarding them with the sort of drugs." The Vienna-based body called on governments to shut down illegal Internet drug activity and to seize substances smuggled via the postal system, adding that many of the medicines sold in this way were counterfeit. "Key aspects of illegal Internet pharmacies' activities include smuggling their products to consumers, finding hosting space for their … Continue reading →

By Saundra Young, CNN updated 4:29 PM EST, Tue February 28, 2012 FDA warns of statin side effects STORY HIGHLIGHTS Washington (CNN) -- An entire class of statin drugs will get new labels that alert the public to safety concerns, the Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday. Statins, which treat cholesterol, now will come with labels that include a warning that the drugs, taken by almost 32 million Americans, can cause memory loss and confusion. The FDA says reports in general have not been serious, and the symptoms subsided when patients stopped taking the medications. The new labeling will also warn doctors and patients that statins can cause hyperglycemia, an increase in blood sugar levels and increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes. The FDA will no longer recommend routine and periodic monitoring of liver enzymes of patients taking statins. Instead, it said liver enzyme tests should be performed before a patient starts taking statins, and then only when clinically indicated. That's because according to the FDA, serious injury to the liver is rare, and routine monitoring doesn't detect or prevent it. The new label will tell patients who experience fatigue, loss of appetite, dark urine, upper stomach pain or … Continue reading →

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A growing number of drugs are coming to market to help treat rare diseases in children, a new U.S. government study finds. Don't miss these Health stories At just 15, Kyra Kline has already injured both her knees playing her favorite sport, basketball. A new study by researchers at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia finds an increase of 400 percent in the number of ACL tears treated at the hospital between 1999 and 2011. Officials say the findings, reported in the journal Pediatrics, suggest that a U.S. law known as the Orphan Drug Act is working as intended. "Orphan" drugs are called that because they target uncommon diseases that have traditionally been neglected by drug companies -- since developing treatments for rare conditions is a generally unprofitable endeavor. The Orphan Drug Act was passed in 1983 to offer companies tax credits, marketing rights and other incentives to focus on rare diseases. In the new study, officials at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found that between 2000 and 2009, there were more than three dozen orphan drug approvals for rare disorders affecting children and teenagers. And pediatric diseases are accounting for a growing proportion … Continue reading →

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A growing number of drugs are coming to market to help treat rare diseases in children, a new U.S. government study finds. Officials say the findings, reported in the journal Pediatrics, suggest that a U.S. law known as the Orphan Drug Act is working as intended. "Orphan" drugs are called that because they target uncommon diseases that have traditionally been neglected by drug companies -- since developing treatments for rare conditions is a generally unprofitable endeavor. The Orphan Drug Act was passed in 1983 to offer companies tax credits, marketing rights and other incentives to focus on rare diseases. In the new study, officials at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found that between 2000 and 2009, there were more than three dozen orphan drug approvals for rare disorders affecting children and teenagers. And pediatric diseases are accounting for a growing proportion of those approvals. In the first half of the 2000-2009 decade, just 10 of 57 orphan drug approvals were for pediatric conditions. In the latter half, that rose to 28 of 91, the FDA found. In all, there were 38 approvals for rare pediatric conditions -- though that sometimes meant a single … Continue reading →