News & Features

May, 2008

May, edition of M.D. Pharmacy's monthly newsletter. Articles regarding your medications, their safety, and the politics behind the price you pay for them. Please share this with your neighbors.

Celebrex at high doses may raise heart attack risk.

A new study by the American College of Cardiology shows that Pfizer's arthritis and pain drug Celebrex, which was prescribed 11 million times last year, may pose a danger to the hearts of people taking high doses or who have heart disease, high cholesterol, diabetes, and smokers. Patients taking the largest dose of Celebrex of 400mg. twice daily tripled their chance of heart attack or stroke compared with people taking a placebo. A lower dose of only 200mg. twice daily still resulted in double the risk of heart attack. Celebrex is of the same class of drug as Vioxx, which was pulled from the market in 2004 for increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke. Doctors had been cautioned at that time that Celebrex and other painkillers, including Ibuprofen (Advil) and Naproxyn (Aleve) should be prescribed at the lowest possible dose. (Bloomberg News)

Vytorin study slaps makers.

Two year old clinical data show that the combination cholesterol drug ‘Vytorin' (Zocor + Zetia) was no more effective at limiting plaque buildup than Zocor alone. Zocor is one of several statin drugs that are now available generically, at substantial savings for patients. New York State and Federal officials have been investigating why results of the study were not released for nearly two years after the study ended. Ironically, the makers of Vytorin (Merck and partner Schering-Plough) continue to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in direct to consumer ads, including full page ads in major newspapers across the country, and ubiquitous television commercials to boost sales of their $5billion a year product. The Senate Finance Committee said that even the researcher who led a crucial study of the drug angrily accused the makers of withholding negative results to boost sales. (Associated Press).

Blood Pressure Drugs Help Elderly.

Some doctors believe that higher blood pressure readings in older people are natural and therefore do not treat it. But the Imperial College London study of nearly 4000 elderly patients with high blood pressure found drug treatments reduced their death rates by a fifth. Two thirds of people over 80 have high blood pressure which increases the risk of strokes and heart problems. (BBC News).

Medication Worsens Alzheimer's.

Anti-psychotic drugs commonly given to Alzheimer's patients often makes their condition worse, a UK study suggests. The drugs in question, known as neuroleptics, which include Mellaril, Thorazine, Haldol, Stelazine and Risperdal, provided no benefit for patients with mild behavioral problems, but were associated with a marked deterioration in verbal skills. Up to 60% of Alzheimer's patients in nursing homes are given the drugs to control problems such as aggression. The Alzheimer's Society said previous research had also shown that the anti-psychotic drugs (neuroleptics) raised the risk of stroke and death for people with dementia. The use of these major tranquilizing drugs in nursing homes indicates that they are being used to make patients more controllable by the staff. (BBC News).

ADHD drugs not linked to future drug abuse.

Contrary to long-held suspicions, using stimulants like Ritalin to treat attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder in children does not seem to boost the risk of later substance abuse. Paradoxically, in adults these same drugs can be stimulating, very addictive, and tend to be abused, but their use in already hyperactive children has the opposite effect, producing a calming effect, enabling the children to be less disruptive in school, more attentive, and increasing their concentration and positively affecting their impulsive behavior. (Reuters).

Lipitor Provides Unexpectedly Potent Heart Benefit.

Pfizer recently announced that Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium) 80mg showed unexpectedly potent reduction in myocardial ischemia (a condition defined by insufficient blood supply and oxygen to the heart) in patients with chronic stable angina (chest pain). Lipitor reduced the average number of ischemic events by nearly 70% and total duration of events by more than 60% from baseline.

The pharmacists and staff at M.D. Pharmacy, your neighborhood pharmacy.

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