Pharmalot… Pharmalittle… The Weekend Nears
1 CommentBy Ed Silverman // November 6th, 2009 // 7:40 am
After a long and busy week, a little downtime is in order. What will you be doing this weekend? The pumpkin patches are likely empty, so perhaps raking leaves is the thing to do - the exercise can’t hurt and leaf blowers, after all, are noisy. Or perhaps a long walk with the dog? Maybe toss a football? Our agenda includes another installment in the nostalgic ‘See-Them-Before-They-Die’ concert series. Meanwhile, a few more deadlines and what-not beckon. So here you go, and enjoy, everyone…
Glaxo Gets WHO Approval For Pneumoccocal Vaccine (Reuters)
Genmab Cuts 300 Jobs Amid Reorganization (Dow Jones)
CVS Is Being Investigated By The FTC (Associated Press)
J&J Patent Victory Over Abbott Labs Is Upheld (Bloomberg)
Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons Joe S
JaT
In the ‘Is It Legal’ department…
I continue to be frustrated that FDA decided to put a warning for suicidal ideation on “epilepsy” medications- mostly based on people taking them for other uses (stop approving them for other uses then!).
That warning is not accurate or fair for people with epilepsy.
Still, they called them “epilepsy” drugs in their wording, for these medications now used for the wide range of conditions they are approved to treat.
Their study did NOT show substancial instances of suicidal ideation in epileptics, based on consumption of necessary medications.
How similar is lamotrigine to divalproex sodium? (I’ll have to look that up). Or have we just concluded that all epliepsy meds are equally important for those with bipolar disorders?
November is National Epilepsy Awareness Month. Pffft, I don’t want a month. I don’t want to be coddled. I simply want to say that FDA and drug makers have made things more difficult for one group of people. How?
Well now if the FDA approved inconsistencies in medications results in someone feeling so bad that they would rather die, FDA has covered themselves & drug makers appropriately.
They are aware of the dangers and continue to ignore them in allowing for a potential swing (+/- 20% is it?) , from lot to lot, in medications that require precise dosing.
If you are trying to conduct yourself in a manner that resembles normalcy (hold a job, drive, work with children, etc.) you have been strapped with an additional label of being considered, by FDA, as potentially suicidal (the study did not show that), on top of potentially flopping on the floor in a very scary scene, even if you have your condition well under control.
The wording in that warning contributes to discrimination, which has to be illegal, unless you are a government agency.
Anyone?