Clinical News

A court rules that Mississippi was wrong in issuing a final rule that would have curtailed reimbursement to pharmacists for generic drugs.

FDA has issued a proposed rule, stating that certain ingredients in OTC drug products are not generally recognized as safe and effective or are misbranded.

A new study reveals that generic drugs now comprise 63% of the Medicare Part D market.

Pfizer hopes to stave off the genericization of Lipitor by a year via a deal with Ranbaxy.

A medication therapy management software system has added a new tool to diagnose rhinitis.

The U.S. Senate, following in the footsteps of the House, has introduced a resolution urging FDA to lift its restrictions on the use of estriol in bioidentical hormone preparation.

OIG has released a report on FDA's generic drug review process.

Safewy has launched a $4 generic prescription drug discount program in eastern U.S. and Chicago areas.

Medtronic's recent recall of its implantable infusion systems underscores the need for health professionals to watch for inflammatory masses.

This special report takes a look at the atrial fibrillation drugs in the pipeline.

The AAN annual meeting in Chicago, researchers reported advances in treatments for a variety of neurological diseases

Patients who are taking opioids to relieve their severe pain and who are constipated can now use the new drug Relistor.

Manufacturers are unleasing new over the counter insect repellents just in time for summer.

FDA approves new biologic to reduce symptoms of Crohn's disease

CDC updates vaccine recommendation for herpes zoster.

The largest Indian drugmaker is hooking up with a Japanese pharmaceutical firm.

To better ward off blows by the FDA to compounding pharmacists, IACP has established a satellite office at NCPA's headquarters.

Gut hormones play a key and often overlooked role in weight loss and weight regulation. Changes in weight are determined largely by the balance between energy intake and energy expenditure, but gut hormones can affect both sides of the energy equation.

The range of endothelial interventions for peripheral artery disease (PAD) is proliferating. Today's choices include traditional balloon angioplasty, stents, drug eluting stents and fabric-covered stents. Newer technologies allow clinicians to cut out occlusions, freeze them, scrape them, laser them and kill them.

Hyperglycemia is involved in the dysregulation of endothelial nitric oxide (NO) synthase, leading to endothelial dysfunction and an increased risk of vasculopathy, said Markku Laakso, MD.

Pramlintide injection added to basal insulin at mealtime is similar to titrated rapid-acting insulin in achieving glycemic control but with a lower risk of hypoglycemia and no weight gain in patients with type 2 diabetes, said Matthew Riddle, MD, head, section of diabetes, division of endocrinology/diabetes/clinical nutrition, Oregon Health and Sciences University, Portland.

Coronary artery calcium and abdominal aortic calcium both predicted future cardiovascular events in a Veterans Administration population with type 2 diabetes. The relationship between calcium scores and cardiovascular events was independent of standard cardiovascular risk factors, said Peter Reaven, MD.

Surrogate endpoints in clinical trials (ie, hemoglobin [Hb] A1c) on which drug approvals may be based only explain narrow aspects of complex conditions. For this reason, even when using a drug as labeled, there is always a level of uncertainty over outcomes with the drug, said Saul Malozowski, MD, PhD, MPH.

Clinicians should be wary of health claims made for trace elements such as iron or chromium. While there is no doubt that trace elements are needed for health, there is significant doubt about their utility in preventing or curing diabetes and other diseases, said Eliseo Guallar, MD, DrPH, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore. There are many hypotheses about the beneficial effects of trace elements, but little high-quality data, little reliable population data, few useful biomarkers, relatively crude analytical methods and few mechanistic studies.

Pioglitazone prevented progression to type 2 diabetes in patients with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), reported Ralph DeFronzo, MD. The effect was marked?81% fewer patients assigned to pioglitazone compared with placebo converted from IGT to type 2 diabetes in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study.

British women who have poorer glycemic control before and during pregnancy have poorer outcomes and less-healthy babies. That's the take home message from CEMACH, the Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health, a year-long survey of pregnant women with type 1 and type 2 diabetes across the United Kingdom.

Atherosclerosis and its complications develop in stages. Each of each of these stages is affected by different metabolic abnormalities, said Scott Grundy, MD, PhD, during the annual Edwin Bierman lecture.

Current research suggests that pedal osteolysis, the loss of bone mineral density (BMD) in the foot, may be a useful biomarker for Charcot's arthropathy and other diabetic foot diseases.

An intense glucose-lowering strategy in high-risk patients with type 2 diabetes was associated with an excess of mortality in the ACCORD (Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes) trial, the U.S. counterpart to the ADVANCE (Action in Diabetes and Vascular Disease: Preterax and Diamicron-MR Controlled Evaluation) study.

Several novel classes of agents designed to treat hyperglycemia are under investigation. These agents were the subjects of a symposium here. One such novel class is the sodium glucose co-transporter (SGLT) type 2 inhibitors, which reduce glucose levels by increasing kidney excretion of glucose. The kidney plays an important role in the handling of glucose, said Robert R. Henry, MD, professor of medicine and chief of VA endocrinology and metabolism at the University of California, San Diego. SGLT-2 is expressed almost exclusively in the kidney. About 90% of glucose reabsorption by the kidney is mediated by SGLT-2 under normal circumstances.