Antidepressant Suicide Reports Continue to Mount

May 28th, 2009. By Evelyn Pringle

This week, journalist Philip Dawdy reported on the popular website Furious Seasons that Wyeth’s Effexor me-too drug Pristiq, FDA approved in early 2008, had already generated 1,272 adverse event reports in the FDA’s MedWatch system through the end of 2008, and wrote with live links to the reports:

“It’s discouraging that 17 of those reports involve completed suicides through the end of 2008. There are also 48 reports of suicidal ideation through the end of 2008.”

“That’s a lot in such a short period of time, especially considering that this drug isn’t exactly widely used,” Dawdy points out. Read the rest of this entry »

Flu Vaccinated Kids More Likely to Be Hospitalized

May 26th, 2009. By Evelyn Pringle

On May 19, 2009, researchers presented a study that found children who received the trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine [TIV] had a three times greater risk of hospitalization for the flu than kids who were not vaccinated at the International Conference of the American Thoracic Society in San Diego.

To determine whether the vaccine was effective in reducing the number of hospitalizations over consecutive flu seasons for 8 years, the researchers conducted a study of 263 children between the ages of 6 months and 18, evaluated at the Mayo Clinic between 1996 and 2006, with laboratory-confirmed influenza and reviewed records to determine which kids had received a flu shot before the illness and hospitalization. Read the rest of this entry »

California Labor sees Job Market Shift?

May 25th, 2009. By admin

Came across this one, had to share…wonder if anyone asked about overtime?

job_market_2009_311

Add Stress to Raptiva Side Effects

May 23rd, 2009. By janem

When it comes to a drug like Raptiva, the risks most certainly outweigh the benefits. On its extensive list of side effects—including a brain damage disease called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) that is lethal—the drug company should add STRESS. I’ve talked with several people and one nurse in particular, who took this psoriasis drug for a few years before noticing any side effects. None of the psoriasis sufferers I spoke with have been diagnosed with PML, but not a day goes by that they aren’t fearful. And because the disease is rare, not much is known about it. Gloria, the nurse I spoke with, said that much of the medical community hasn’t put 2 and 2 together. In Gloria’s case she was hospitalized for neurological problems. ” The doctors couldn’t say that Raptiva was the direct cause, but they didn’t rule it out either,” she said.

Feds Turn Up the HEAT on Medicare and Medicaid Fraud

May 21st, 2009. By Evelyn Pringle

On May 20, 2009, US Attorney General Eric Holder and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the creation of the Heath Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team to take up the battle against Medicare and Medicaid fraud with senior officials from HHS and the US Department of Justice working together.

“With this announcement, we raise the stakes on health care fraud by launching a new effort with increased tools, resources and a sustained focus by senior-level leadership,” Attorney General Holder said in a May 20, 2009 DOJ press release. Read the rest of this entry »