17 October 2005
Cymbalta
Uses: antidepressant and pain reducer
FDA Broadens Liver Warning for Cymbalta
The FDA and Eli Lilly and Co. have broadened a warning about possible liver problems with Cymbalta, a drug used to treat depression and pain associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy....
Discussion on Chronic-Illness.org Forum

04 June 2005
Children's Tylenol Recall
Johnson & Johnson recently recalled several forms of their Children's Tylenol because of package labeling irregularities. To learn more about the recall, see this FDA MedWatch information.

08 April 2005
Bextra Pulled from Market at Government Request
Bextra becomes the latest painkiller withdrawn from the market. At the request of the Food and Drug Administration, Pfizer Inc. agreed to suspend sales of the painkiller because it belongs to a class of drugs that has been linked to higher risk of cardiovascular disease and because of additional risk of a potentially serious skin reaction.
Additional Information:
Pfizer Pulls Bextra After Government Request
New York Times

March 2005
FDA Adds Black Box Warning to Eczema Drugs Elidel and Protpic
Because of a potential cancer risk, the FDA is now advising that doctors should prescribe the two eczema drugs Elidel (pimecromium) and Protopic (tacrolimus) to patients only as directed and only after other eczema treatments have failed.

March 2005
FDA Public Health Advisory on Crestor (rosuvastatin)
Information on Astra-Zeneca Pharmaceuticals' revised package insert for their cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor (rosuvastatin) -- a statin.

March 2005
2nd Drug After Heart Attacks Can Help Patients, 2 Studies Find
Studies (in which 80% of the participants were male) have shown that adding Plavix (clopidogrel bisulfate) to the other anticlotting drugs given to heart attack patients prevents some second heart attacks.
PDF of The New England Journal of Medicine article about this study.

March 2005
FDA piles initiatives on the back burner
The Boston Globe reports that current drug safety problems have changed FDA focus away from longer-term issues awaiting action.

March 2005
Rare Infection Is Confirmed in 2nd Patient on M.S. Drug
The second MS patient using the drug Tysabri has been confirmed to be suffering from a rare but deadly brain infection. (According to information on the drug manufacturer's Web site, Biogen Idec and Elan voluntarily suspended marketing of that drug on February 28, 2005.)

March 2005
Pfizer Stirs Concern With Plans to Sell Heart Drugs Only as Pair
Not everyone is happy about Pfizer's announced plans to sell its new heart drug torcetrapib in combination with the company's best-selling cholesterol treatment, Lipitor.

March 2005
Type 1 Diabetes Cure
This page is a Question-and-Answer format description of the treatment known as an islet cell transplant that has cured a 61-year-old UK man of type 1 diabetes. (news article about Richard Lane's cure).

March 2005
Paxil CR and Avandamet Seized by FDA

February 2005
Canadian Suspension of the Use of Hyperactivity Drug
Canadian regulators have suspended the use of a commonly prescribed hyperactivity drug Adderall XR indefinitely because the drug was linked to 20 deaths, 12 of those children. Adderall XR and its short-acting cousin, Adderall, are amphetamines known to cause side effects like sleeping problems, appetite loss, and irritability as well as elevated blood pressure and heart rate.
The New York Times reports that "[m]ore than 700,000 Americans take some form of Adderall, which is made by Shire Pharmaceuticals Group of Britain."
Source

Eczema Creams Linked to Cancer
The FDA is considering warnings for eczema creams sold under brand names Elidel and Protopic because of cases of cancer have been reported among adults and children using the creams, and because animal and laboratory studies suggest the drugs could be to blame, according to a new Food and Drug Administration analysis.
Source

Paxil versus St. John's Wort
Contradicting a U.S. trial that found that St. John's wort extract was no more effective for those with moderately severe depression than was a placebo, a recent German study shows that extract of the herb St. John's wort was found to be slightly more effective than the widely prescribed antidepressant Paxil for people with moderate to severe depression. The extract used in the German study was a dietary supplement by Nature's Way products sold under the brand name Perika [ Nature's Way's St. Johns Wort SE purchase information ].
Source

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