Posts tagged Defective Drugs

• Alli Side-Effects May Outweigh Benefits

  Staff Writer | June 18, 2007 9:32 AM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL Category: FDA & Prescription Drugs
  

  A new diet drug has hit the shelves with the FDA's approval, but users may want to be wary of the side effects. Alli, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, is supposed to help people lose 50% more weight than other dietary supplements.Alli blocks enzymes that digest fat, preventing the body from absorbing about a quarter of the fat eaten. The undigested fat is then excreted. One study of Alli showed...

• Subpoenas Issued Over Ketek

  Shannon Weidemann | January 31, 2008 10:02 AM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL Category: FDA & Prescription Drugs
  

  The Congressional subcommitte Oversight and Investigations will be issuing subpoenas to FDA investigators over the antibiotic Ketek. They are looking for more information into fraudulant clinical data that was used to gain approval for the drug. Last year the FDA issued a black box warning label for Ketek, the highest safety warning. The subcommittee is investigating drug safety and whether...

• Diabetes Drug Byetta Linked to Pancreatitis

  Courtney Mills | October 17, 2007 9:42 AM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL Category: FDA & Prescription Drugs
  

  The FDA has reviewed 30 cases of acute pancreatitis in patients taking Byetta, a drug used to treat type II diabetes. The agency suspects a link between Byetta and pancreatitis in some of these cases.Amylin Pharmaceuticals will be updating the information about acute pancreatitis in the PRECAUTIONS section of the Byetta label. Patients on Byetta should be alert for any signs of pancreatitis,...

• Do ADHD drugs have heart risks?

  Staff Writer | September 17, 2007 12:12 PM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL Category: FDA & Prescription Drugs
  

  Forbes magazine and the Associated Press report that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality announced today that it will take a closer look at data from children who have been using ADHD drugs to determine whether these medications can cause heart problems. Apparently there have been a number of reports of deaths, heart attacks and strokes among...

• Lipitor Ads with Dr. Jarvik Pulled

  Shannon Weidemann | February 25, 2008 9:37 AM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL Category: FDA & Prescription Drugs
  

  Pfizer made the decision today to pull drug ads for Lipitor with Dr. Robert Jarvik. Dr. Jarvik does not hold a medical license and there was some controversy over his use in the Lipitor drug ad. The ads have appeared on tv and in print since 2006. Dr. Jarvik invented the artificial heart. He does have a medical degree but is not licensed to practice medicine. But House Democrats said the...

• Vytorin No Better than Older Drug

  Shannon Weidemann | January 18, 2008 10:27 AM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL Category: FDA & Prescription Drugs
  

  A study performed by Merck & Co. over two years ago showed that Vytorin, a cholesterol lowering and statin drug did not effectively reduce the amount of fatty deposits in arteries. Vytorin is a combination of Zetia, a cholesterol lowering drug, and Zocor, a statin. The study concluded that Zocor and Vytorin had the same affect on fatty deposits. There has been confusion over what that means...

• Blood Sugar Test Strips Recalled

  Shannon Weidemann | December 28, 2007 7:39 PM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL Category: FDA & Prescription Drugs
  

  Test strips used by diabetics to test their blood sugar levels have been recalled after it was discovered they were giving false readings. The recalled test strips were manufactured by Bayer and are used with the Contour TS blood glucose meter. The test strips in question are sold predominately through mail order to be used only with the Contour TS meter. The recall covers seven countries --...

• Drug Safety Becoming A Problem: Death From Drugs Increases

  Jenny Albano | September 12, 2007 12:31 AM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL Category: FDA & Prescription Drugs
  

  Deaths and serious injuries from popular drugs has almost tripled from 1998 to 2005, an analysis of U.S. drug data found. Deaths and injuries from medications increased from 34,966 to 89,842 during the study of reports to the FDA. They analyzed excerpts of reports on serious side effects received by the FDA between January 1998 and December 2005. A total of 467,809 serious complications were...

• How do defective drugs get through the system?

  Staff Writer | October 27, 2006 1:09 PM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL Category: FDA & Prescription Drugs
  

  In order for a prescription or over-the-counter drug to be available for sale, it must undergo a long and complicated process with pharmaceutical company and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before receiving approval. This process takes an average of four years and a great investment on the part of pharmaceutical companies. There are also many phases of testing for a drug to undergo before...

• Class I Recall on Medtronic Drug Pump

  Shannon Weidemann | March 20, 2008 10:00 AM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL Category: FDA & Prescription Drugs
  

  Medtronic warned doctors in January of an increase in inflammatory masses around their implantable infusion pumps. The warnings involved the SynchroMed and IsoMed infusion pumps. They deliver medications to patients. The FDA has now said that makes it a Class I recall. The Food and Drug Administration defines a Class I recall as a situation in which there is a reasonable probability that use...