1) Melts in your mouth…
New form of
an older drug for Parkinson's disease takes advantage of new
technology. People with Parkinson's disease can have a terrible
time trying to coordinate the muscles used for swallowing. This
should help a lot!
http://www.ptcommunity.com/Daily/DailyDetail.cfm?chosen=53978
2) $200,000 per diabetes cure?
Using embryonic stem cells, every women of
child bearing age in the U.S. would have to donate 10 eggs for
cloning to just cure the 20 million diabetics in the country if
embryonic stem cells worked. At a price tag of over $200,000 a
patient, only the rich could afford a cure. This doesn't count
the moral costs at all. News release form the Christian Medical
Association:
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040903/35040_1.html
3) When recycling is a bad idea!
The "Legend"
on the dispensed bottles of prescription medication contain a
warning that the drugs are only for the person for which it was
prescribed. There are all sorts of laws pertaining to the
dispensing of medications and the prohibition of "returns" from
again entering the drug distribution chain.
Florida,
Texas, Nevada and Wisconsin are experimenting with returns
within a nursing home environment. This might work because the
medications have been under the supervision of medical personnel
who make sure the drugs are not "distressed" (subject to heat,
humidity, tampering etc.) If this goes to the community then I
will be worried about the safety of this practice.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N01342536.htm
4) If you really want to understand an
issue…follow the money!
Oncologists
and other physicians see a loss of income as specialty
pharmacies fill prescriptions for high cost injectable at a
discount. The clinical issues are completely discounted when the
specialty pharmacies will ship directly to the physician's
office. (A good primer on the issues… and the money at stake).
http://www.biotechmedicine.net/journal/fulltext/1/3/BH0103046.pdf
