Doctors unsure if drugs reduce risk—or merely make screening harder
Reuters Sep 8, 08 5:49 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Common pain relievers like aspirin and ibuprofen belong to a class of drugs that lowers protein levels doctors use to test for prostate cancer, the second-most-common cancer found in men. But researchers say it's not clear if the drugs are lowering the risk of developing the cancer or just making it harder to detect, Reuters reports.
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Prescriptions of effective but risky painkiller up 700%
New York Times Aug 17, 08 7:01 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Methadone, formerly used primarily to treat heroin addicts, is now increasingly being prescribed for patients suffering from debilitating pain. Powerful and long-lasting, it's proved effective for millions, but it's also risky, causing more than 4,000 deaths between 1999 and 2005. The New York Times investigates the medical community’s struggle with the drug.
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Says evidence insufficient that it contributed to Texan's death
Wall Street Journal May 14, 08 1:29 PM CDT
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A Texas appellate court threw out a $32 million verdict against Merck today, citing a lack of evidence that Vioxx contributed to a man’s fatal heart attack. Lionel Garza was taking the painkiller when he died in 2001 at age 71, but was also a smoker with high blood pressure and high cholesterol, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Garza case was decided by verdict in 2006, and was excluded from a recent $4.85 billion settlement for 27,000 Vioxx cases.
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GOP candidate's wife is quiet on trail, crusader off it
Chicago Tribune Apr 15, 08 2:02 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Cindy McCain is reserved on the campaign trail—a marked contrast to the sometimes-pugilistic style of husband John—but outside the public eye she has been a “one-woman philanthropic operation,” reports the Chicago Tribune in a profile. The would-be first lady has brought medical relief missions to Rwanda and Vietnam, land-mine education to Afghanistan, and awareness to Darfur.
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Italian scientists
alter key molecule
in painkiller
ANSA (Italy) Mar 18, 08 1:49 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Aspirin is one of the world’s top painkillers, but it has a nasty way of attacking the stomach lining. That could soon be a thing of the past, thanks to a team of Italian researchers who have molecularly altered the drug. The new aspirin “has no side effects,” the lead researcher told the ANSA news agency.
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'These drugs are coming from inside our homes,' expert warns
Guardian (UK) Feb 10, 08 1:09 PM CST
(Newser)
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American and British officials have launched campaigns to curb the illegal use of prescription drugs. The target of the British effort is doctors who "mis-prescribe" high doses of painkillers and sleeping pills that officials say are proving dangerously addictive, the Guardian reports. Across the Atlantic, Washington is spearheading an initiative to alert parents to the new drug threat facing teens.
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ER docs prescribe more drugs to whites
Reuters Jan 2, 08 4:14 AM CST
(Newser)
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Minority patients are less likely than white patients to receive powerful painkillers in hospital emergency rooms, a new study has found. Researchers discovered that 31% of white people in pain were given opioid drugs—narcotic painkillers like morphine and codeine—while Hispanic patients got them 24% of the time and blacks 23%. Overall, prescriptions for opioids have increased 14% since 1993.
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Deal will be official once 85% of plaintiffs agree
New York Times Nov 9, 07 5:19 AM CST
(Newser)
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Merck has agreed to shell out $4.85 billion to settle 27,000 Vioxx lawsuits brought by plaintiffs who argued that the pain medication damaged health and caused deaths. The agreement, one of the largest in history, must still be approved by 85% of the plaintiffs, but it's likely to go through, reports the New York Times.
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Chemical in chili peppers that burns
also numbs—for days
Associated Press Oct 30, 07 11:09 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Doctors think they have a hot lead on an alternative to opioid pain killers like morphine: chili peppers. California-based researchers are dripping what is essentially a sterile version of hot sauce—containing capsaicin, the chemical that gives peppers their bite—directly into open wounds during surgery. Just like biting into a pepper, it burns at first, the AP explains, but then numbness sets in—for days.
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Patients needed less medication, had
fewer side effects
Reuters Oct 17, 07 10:38 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Acupuncture before or during surgery can reduce post-operative pain, researchers have found. Patients who received the nontraditional treatment reported less pain after various surgeries, needed less pain medication and suffered fewer side effects from the medication they took, according to 15 clinical studies reviewed by the team. "The use of acupuncture is still very under-appreciated," said the lead researcher.
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Chronic sufferers find relief in treatment
Associated Press Sep 25, 07 3:24 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Acupuncture has a far better success rate than other treatments for patients with chronic lower back pain, and fake acupuncture is nearly as effective as the real thing, a new study has found. Normal medical treatment produced significant improvement in 24% of people, while 47% of acupuncture patients felt better, as did 44% of those who got a sham version of the procedure.
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Led by Oxycodone, sales of painkillers soared 90% in 8 years
Associated Press Aug 20, 07 9:40 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Retail sales of five major painkillers rose a whopping 90% from 1997 to 2005, a new AP analysis of DEA statistics shows. The increase is driven by Oxycodone, the chemical used in OxyContin, which has seen sales increase nearly 600%. Causes include an aging population, huge new drug marketing campaigns, and an increased willingness by doctors to prescribe the meds.
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Untimely deaths, widespread abuse appear to be linked
Washington Post Aug 16, 07 11:47 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Chris Benoit's murder-suicide last June spotlighted the disproportionate number of early deaths among professional wrestlers; one activist has counted more than 60 dead before reaching 50 over the past 10 years. And a taxing, drug-addled lifestyle plays a big role.
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Wrong-way starlet pleads guilty to DUI
E! Online Jul 27, 07 4:14 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Giving the cast of The Simple Life an 0-for-2 record in the California courts, Nicole Richie was sentenced to 4 days in jail today after pleading guilty to driving the wrong way on an LA freeway while under the influence of drugs. The skeletal starlet must attend 21 days of alcohol-education classes and pay a $2,048 fine, E! Online reports.
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'Doctor Death' will retire from mercy killing, won't stop lobbying for legalization
Associated Press May 27, 07 12:23 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Jack Kevorkian, the champion of mercy killing, will be released from prison June 1 after doing eight years for helping a Michigan man commit suicide. The 79-year-old retired pathologist spent a decade assisting terminally ill patients end their lives, using a homemade machine to administer the fatal drugs and then dropping off the bodies at hospitals.
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