Two prominent lawmakers are following through on a promise to do something about recent rises in generic drug prices, with identical House and Senate bills that would force generic drugmakers to pay state Medicaid rebates when prices rise faster than inflation. [Read more…]
Understanding the Link between Bullying and Suicide
By Melissa Holt, Assistant Professor, Counseling Psychology at Boston University
Bullying and suicide are both significant public health concerns for children and adolescents, and we need to understand the link between the two. Bullying, most of us probably know, can be a tremendously painful experience for a young person. Stories about teens like Phoebe Prince or Amanda Todd who killed themselves after experiencing bullying have driven this point home. All 50 states have some kind of anti-bullying law, and schools are increasingly being called upon to implement bullying prevention programs. [Read more…]
A Measles Mystery: How Could the Vaccine Prevent Deaths from Other Diseases Too?
By Michael Mina, Postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University and MD/PhD candidate at Emory University
If infectious diseases were a monarchy, measles might be king. Not only does measles reign among the most contagious diseases known to man – likely to infect any non-vaccinated individual who stands in the same room as an infected person – measles has long been known to be one of the great killers of children. Before vaccination, measles was responsible for millions of childhood deaths. Today it remains a cause of great illness and death in low-resource countries, killing over 140,000 children worldwide every year. [Read more…]
The Epidemic of Burnout, Depression and Suicide in Medicine: One Doctor’s Story
By James W Lynch, Professor of Medicine at University of Florida
The suicides of two medical residents in New York City last fall have thrown a spotlight on a real problem among health care professionals, particularly physicians. Medical students, residents and practicing physicians commonly report symptoms of burnout and depression. Rates vary depending on the group, but range from 20-60%. [Read more…]
EMA Reviewing Pneumonia Risk With Inhaled Corticosteroids
The European Medicines Agency is taking a hard look at whether patients taking inhaled corticosteroids for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are at higher risk for pneumonia. [Read more…]
FDA Approves Janssen’s Schizophrenia Injection Invega Trinza
Janssen Pharmaceuticals plans to make its long-acting atypical schizophrenia therapy Invega Trinza commercially available by mid-June, following FDA approval Monday. [Read more…]
Two More Compounders Warned for Poor Sterile Drug Manufacturing
Compounding pharmacies continue to be plagued by sterility issues, as the FDA handed warning letters to facilities in Florida and Kentucky — bringing to nine the number of compounders cited for such deficiencies since October. [Read more…]
India Warns Drugmakers Again to Register in Online Database
India’s drug price regulator is again warning drugmakers to immediately register in an online database or face fines and imprisonment. [Read more…]
Supreme Court Denies Last Pending Request for Review in Reglan Preemption Case
The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected the third and final request for review of a Pennsylvania state court ruling that would allow individuals to sue generics makers for failing to update warnings on drug labels. [Read more…]
FDA Amends Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Daklinza Breakthrough Therapy
The FDA has revised Bristol-Myers Squibb’s breakthrough therapy designation for its daclatasvir/sofosbuvir combination hepatitis C therapy to cover patients with advanced cirrhosis or whose infection recurs after a liver transplant. [Read more…]