Fentanyl Theft

June 2nd, 2009. By janem

The potent and addicting drug Fentanyl is in the news again. This time a former nurse from Boulder, CO admitted to stealing the pain med for up to 290 patients in a Boulder hospital and replacing it with tap water or saline solution.  Fentanyl abuse has been known in the health sector since at least 2004.

 

In August 2006 a wave of fentanyl-related overdose deaths made the painkiller headlines as the newest pharmaceutical to hit the streets, and with it came a rising demand. Two nurses fed that demand and both were convicted for illegal possession of fentanyl. (It makes you wonder how many people in the medical profession haven’t been caught.) No wonder fentanyl is the drug of choice: it has been estimated at roughly 100 times more potent than morphine.  Consequently it has also been associated with many overdose deaths. Isn’t it time this drug was removed from the market?

Note to Hydroxycut: Transparency wins the recall game

June 1st, 2009. By admin

Someone should do a case study on how companies handle product recalls and safety issues—it seems all the learning from the 1982 Tylenol recall may have been lost and some companies need a little lesson in transparency. Or a lesson from Nutro Products. Read on…

Take the recent Hydroxycut recall. Looking for the official company line? Don’t bother going to their website. That is if you can even find their website. Hydroxycut is manufactured by a Canadian firm, Iovate Health Sciences, Inc. But don’t try to find an Iovate website—that would actually be muscletech.com. Like most users, when you get there, you might try to search for Hydroxycut. Go ahead. You’ll get squat in the search results (see image). However, if you know that Hydroxycut was marketed as a Fat Burner, you can go to the “Products” drop down menu and click on “Fat Burners”. That’ll take you to a clearly just-whipped-up site about the recall. And here’s the kicker: Iovate is not mentioned ANYWHERE on the site. Transparent? No.

Reglan: 8 Things you Should Know

May 29th, 2009. By admin

1. Approved for 12-week use. Reglan is only approved to be taken for up to 12 weeks, though it’s often prescribed for longer time periods.

2. Generic name is Metoclopramide. Check your prescription label as you may in fact be taking a generic version of Reglan, but not be aware that you are.

3. Prescribed for more than Acid Reflux (GERD). Reglan is a gastrointestinal stimulant, but it’s also an anti-nauseant. It’s prescribed for Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, Diabetic Gastroparesis (Diabetic Gastric Stasis), and Renal or Hepatic Impairment.

4. Linked to Tardive Dyskinesia. Reglan has been linked to Tardive Dyskinesia, which involves abnormal and involuntary repetitive movement. Tardive dyskinesia is often permanent, and there is no known effective treatment.

Clock Ticking for Psoriasis Drug Raptiva: On it? Get off!

May 29th, 2009. By admin

On Raptiva? Then the clock’s ticking. Your pharmacy will only give you a refill on your prescription till until Monday, June 8^th. While we’re happy that Genentech decided to voluntarily withdraw Raptiva from the market given the drug’s link to the deadly progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) infection, there’s one thing Genentech couldn’t take away: patients’ stress.

Think about it-you’re on Raptiva for psoriasis and you’ve been told that stopping Raptiva at once could either worsen your psoriasis or, worse yet, necessitate hospitalization. That’ll give you pause if you’re considering going cold turkey. But then again, you did receive that letter in the mail from Genentech advising you that you’ll need to stop taking it. Feeling caught between a rock and a hard place? You should be.

But before you stress yourself out even more, see your doctor first. You and your doctor need to come up with a plan to switch to another psoriasis treatment before coming off Raptiva. Beyond that (as if that isn’t enough), if you any questions about what recourse you may have as a result of being on Raptiva and being told you need to come off it pronto, you may want to ask a lawyer about your situation.

Is OSP Risk A Colonoscopy Deterrent?

May 28th, 2009. By janem

It’s uncomfortable and worrisome enough having to go through screening for colon cancer through colonoscopy—which is extremely important in identifying and treating the disease. Now add one more concern to deter people from getting the procedure: Oral Sodium Phosphate (OSP) as a bowel cleanser has been associated with acute kidney injury. C.B. Fleet Company  announced a voluntary recall of its OTC products: Fleet(R) Phospho-soda(R) and Fleet(R) Phospho-soda(R) EZ-Prep(R) Bowel Cleansing System, and the FDA is slapping a black box warning on other OSPs, as well as recommending that only prescription OSPs be used by patients for bowel cleansing prior to undergoing colonoscopy.

 

Researchers set out to determine exactly which parts of the colonoscopy process deterred patients from getting the procedure and, you guessed it, not wanting to take the bowel prep ranked as the No. 1 deterrent. But all OSPs are not created equally; for example, one report says that NutraPrep did the job just as well, if not better than OSPs. And it isn’t associated with kidney injury. So if you’re scheduled for a colonoscopy, ask your health provider about alternative bowel cleansers.