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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: prescription drugs

prescription drugs stories: 88 news summaries

41 - 60 of 88 Stories | << Prev 1 2 3 4 5 Next >>

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 Seniors, 
 Remember 
 Ledger: Don't 
 Mix Meds 

Seniors in danger from drug interactions

Dec 24, 08 7:15 AM CST
(Newser) - Millions of older Americans take so many prescription and over-the-counter drugs that they risk serious side effects from the drugs’ interactions, USA Today reports. A new study found that about 30% of people aged 57 to 85 now take at least five prescription drugs regularly—plus non-prescription medications and supplements—... More »

MORE ABOUT:
vitamins • prescription drugs • over-the-counter drugs • seniors • dietary supplement • drug interaction • glucosamine-chondroitin

 New Yorkers Fight 
 Crisis With Pills 


Prescriptions shoot up in Sept., Oct.

Dec 15, 08 8:24 AM CST
(Newser) - At least there's one market that's booming in New York—the market for pills for your sleeplessness, anxiety, and depression, Crain’s New York Business reports. The meltdown in the financial industry has caused a surge in prescriptions: In September, as Lehman Brothers was collapsing, and AIG and Merrill Lynch... More »

MORE ABOUT:
New York City • depression • antidepressant • New York • prescription drugs • anxiety • medication • sleeping pills • financial crisis

Money or Your Life? Brits Weigh Drug Cost Vs. Benefit

With its restrictions forcing companies to lower prices, some see 'workable paradigm' for US

Dec 3, 08 11:38 AM CST
(Newser) - A British government institute that approves drugs based on cost-benefit analysis is coming under fire at home even as other countries are seeing it as a model for bringing down costs, the New York Times reports. Though the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence often balks at expensive life-prolonging... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care costs • drug companies • universal health care • prescription drugs • cancer treatment • Britain • cost-benefit analysis

Drug Companies Hide Data
From Docs

Edited info could mislead those prescribing meds

Nov 26, 08 10:22 AM CST
(Newser) - Pharmaceutical companies aren't as upfront with doctors as they are with the government about their new products, a study finds. Though drug companies must provide the FDA with all of the data from clinical trials, related papers published in medical journals were found to omit info from 20% of the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
FDA • Merck • pharmaceutical companies • Avandia • Vioxx • prescription drugs • prescription • side effects • Vytorin • doctors

 Winehouse Back in Hospital 

Singer has bad reaction to drugs

Nov 25, 08 9:20 AM CST
(Newser) - Troubled singer Amy Winehouse was back in the hospital Sunday following a bad reaction to medication, the AP reports. Sources told the Sun the real cause was a drink-and-drug binge following a “screaming row” with husband Blake Fielder-Civil, which ended with Winehouse collapsing in a seizure. A spokesman for... More »

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drugs • alcohol • celebrity • prescription drugs • Amy Winehouse

Medicaid Spends Millions on Drugs FDA Never Approved

FDA loophole allows potentially-lethal drugs to stay in market

Nov 23, 08 8:02 PM CST
(Newser) - Taxpayer dollars still pay for unapproved prescription drugs that have sold for decades and are linked to dozens of deaths, the AP reports. In the past 5 years, at least $200 million has been paid for drugs like cold and pain medications that were never approved by the FDA, yet... More »

MORE ABOUT:
FDA • Health and Human Services • children • Medicaid • death • prescription drugs • cold medicine • hydrocodone • cough medicine

 Warning Labels Can Be 
 Hazardous to Your Health 

Prescription labels, doctor's cues can trigger symptoms

Nov 18, 08 1:59 PM CST
(Newser) - Ignorance truly is bliss when it comes to prescription drugs. The side effects listed on warning labels have a self-fulfilling quality, researchers tell the Wall Street Journal. People sensitive to this "nocebo effect" should think twice before reading that their pills can cause nausea, vomiting, irritability, or difficulty concentrating.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
medicine • brain • prescription drugs • psychology • doctor • symptoms • nocebo effect

Locklear Indicted
on DUI Charge


Nov 17, 08 5:17 PM CST
(Newser) - Prosecutors today charged Heather Locklear with driving under the influence of drugs, People reports. Filed by the district attorney in Santa Barbara, Calif., 2 months after Locklear's DUI arrest, the misdemeanor charge blames her intoxication on "prescription medications." A conviction could force the actress, 47, to pay... More »

MORE ABOUT:
DUI • prescription drugs • Santa Barbara • Heather Locklear

Pinched Patients Skimping on Vital Medication

Docs warn trend
could cause
health care time bomb

Oct 22, 08 12:58 AM CDT
(Newser) - Cash-strapped consumers nationwide are risking their health by cutting back on prescription drugs, the New York Times reports. Some try to stretch out their supply by splitting their pills in half or taking them every other day. Others choose for themselves which medications to stop taking, increasing the chances of... More »

MORE ABOUT:
drugs • Medicare • prescription drugs • medication • pharmacy • drug costs

Feds Bust One of World's Largest Spammers

Feds say network sent 10B emails a day

Oct 14, 08 1:31 PM CDT
(Newser) - Thank the feds if you find fewer offers for Viagra in your inbox today. The FTC says it shut down one of the world's largest spam operations, which promoted the sale of prescription drugs and male enhancement pills by way of billions of illegal email messages, the Chicago Tribune reports.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
spam • New Zealand • prescription drugs • FTC

Tight Budgets Pinch Health Care Spending

As consumers prioritize, medical expenses lose out

Sep 22, 08 1:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - Yet another casualty of the recession could wind up being an irreplaceable one: Americans' health. Consumers are increasingly skipping doctor visits and skimping on prescription meds, the Wall Street Journal reports. "It's hard to get people to follow up when they're having to decide between the gas bill,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • health insurance • United States • recession • prescription drugs • consumer spending • credit crisis • doctor visit

 Overdose Deaths Spike

Problem linked to patients sent home early with powerful prescriptions

Jul 29, 08 8:35 AM CDT
(Newser) - The number of deaths caused by fatal combinations of prescription medications with alcohol or street drugs has exploded in recent years in part because patients are being released from hospitals early, according to researchers. Such deaths rocketed from 92 in 1983 to 3,792 in 2004, reports MSNBC. More »

MORE ABOUT:
alcohol • OxyContin • marijuana • prescription drugs • Vicodin • fatal combinations • street drugs • David P. Phillips

Parkinson's Drugs Trigger Compulsive Behavior

Patients report sudden onset of addictions

Jul 14, 08 1:14 PM CDT
(Newser) - Drugs for Parkinson's disease can be enormously beneficial, relieving patients' tremors and rigid muscles. But some patients are now complaining of an unusual side effect—extreme compulsive behavior. One woman began taking Mirapex to combat symptoms and suddenly found herself with a $200-a-day scratch-off lottery ticket habit, reports the Chicago ... More »

MORE ABOUT:
gambling • Parkinson's disease • addiction • prescription drugs • dopamine • Mirapex • compulsive behavior

Mental Illness Drove NIU Killer to Suicide Tries

Army kicked gunman Kazmierczak out over mental health history

Jul 10, 08 2:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - The shooter who left 5 dead and 15 injured at Northern Illinois University in February had tried to kill himself four times, an investigative effort by Esquire finds. “I want to die. Life sucks,” Steve Kazmierczak told a nurse after attempting to overdose on prescription medication while in... More »

MORE ABOUT:
suicide • school shooting • prescription drugs • bipolar disorder • OCD • gunman • Northern Illinois University • shooters • Steven Kazmierczak

Popular Cancer Drug Is Iffy
and Expensive

Widely prescribed Avastin doesn't prolong life, studies say

Jul 6, 08 10:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - Avastin is one of the most widely prescribed cancer drugs in the world, but it might not work, the New York Times reports. The drug, made by Genentech, brings in about $2.3 billion a year in the US alone, but recent trials have shown that though the drug shrinks... More »

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cancer • breast cancer • lung cancer • prescription drugs • colon cancer • cancer treatment • Avastin • clinical trials

 8 Meds Docs Won't Take 

If trained professionals won't use them, why would you?

Jun 23, 08 7:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - Some drugs have such serious drawbacks that even doctors won’t take them, Men’s Health reports. The big eight:
  • Advair: Can actually increase the severity of asthma attacks
  • Avandia: Diabetes drug carries risk of heart attack
More »

MORE ABOUT:
drugs • Avandia • prescription drugs • doctor • medical treatment • methamphetamine • over-the-counter drugs • opinion • Visine • Advair • pseudoephedrine • Celebrex • Ketek • Prilosec • Nexium

Congress: No More Scribbled Scrips, Doc

Legislation will nudge MDs toward electronic prescription system

Jun 12, 08 4:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - Senators from both sides of the aisle are pushing doctors away from their prescription pads and towards electronic prescribing, the Chicago Tribune reports. Politicians and lobbyists hope the new system will cut down on mis-filled prescriptions and harmful, but avoidable, drug interactions. More »

MORE ABOUT:
medicine • drugs • Medicare • legislation • prescription drugs • doctor • electronic prescriptions • pharmacy

 Study: Drug Ads
 Misleading.
 No, Really. 

Big pharma uses tricks, distractions to veil harmful side-effects

May 18, 08 12:18 PM CDT
(Newser) - Drug ads are multiplying on TV, and manufacturers are starting to advertise medical equipment used in invasive procedures, so now might be a good time to wonder what the spots are telling us. Not as much as they should, Time reports. An independent researcher has found drug companies are... More »

MORE ABOUT:
FDA • advertising • consumer • drug companies • prescription drugs • side effects • TV advertising

 McCain Pitches 
 'Gas Tax Holiday,' 
 Drug, Pork Limits  

Candidate lays out slate of economic initiatives

Apr 15, 08 12:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - John McCain used a tax day appearance to propose a summer “gas tax holiday,” calling his plan to suspend the 18-cent levy “an immediate economic stimulus.” Among other economic initiatives the candidate outlined today were upping prescription drug premiums for wealthy retirees, declaring a moratorium on... More »

MORE ABOUT:
John McCain • prescription drugs • gas tax • pork barrel spending • financial aid • economic stimulus package

Insurers
Quietly Hike
Rx Costs

Plans slip in soaring co-pays for most expensive drugs

Apr 14, 08 9:47 AM CDT
(Newser) - Pricey prescription drugs are getting pricier, and, the New York Times reports, insurance companies are asking patients to shoulder more of the burden. Insurers are quietly phasing out traditional drug plans, which charge a fixed co-pay of $20 or $30 to fill a prescription, in favor of so-called Tier 4... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • insurance companies • drug companies • insurance • prescription drugs • co-pays

41 - 60 of 88 Stories | << Prev 1 2 3 4 5 Next >>


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