News & Features

September, 2008

September, 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.

Flu Vaccine Update. Timely Warning From Down Under.

Flu vaccination this year will be especially critical due to reports of an alarming jump of 30% in flu cases in Australia, where doctors fear the worst is yet to come. Health services have issued an urgent "get vaccinated" warning; with the new 3 strain vaccine now available here thanks to the early warning from Australia. Last year's vaccine did not cover all the flu strains that developed, leading to many cases of flu in some who had been vaccinated. In keeping with our mission of maintaining the health of our patients, M.D. Pharmacy will be hosting the administration of flu shots on Tuesday, October 14th, from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM at the pharmacy. Please call for particulars, 314-991-1111. This is critical for patients at high risk, the elderly, and very young.

Drug May Halt Alzheimer's Disease Progress.

Test patients in Scotland who took the new medication showed an 81% reduction in cognitive decline in one year. The researchers developed a novel treatment based on a new approach that targets the tangles (bunches of abnormal fibers of protein forming in nerve cells in the brain). They also found the drug had it biggest effect in the memory-critical parts of the brain where the tangle density is highest. This result demonstrates for the first time that it may be possible to arrest the progression of Alzheimer's. If Phase 3 findings confirm the Phase 2 findings, the drug may be available by 2012. (Elink)

Federal Government Surprised... We're Not.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released a report that found the Medicare Part D drug benefit in its first two years has paid about 30% more for prescriptions than Medicaid would have paid for the same medicines, costing the program about $3.7 Billion. (Source: Kaiser Family Foundation, NCPA)

This writer is not surprised that Medicaid (a single-payer government program) which is not administered by any private 3rd party pharmacy benefit managers, would have saved the government roughly the same amount of money that the private insurance companies kept as "administrative costs" and record breaking profits for "managing" the pharmacy benefit program.

Erectile Dysfunction Drugs Boost Chemotherapy For Brain Tumors.

Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center said Viagra (sildenafil) and Levitra (vardenafil) are known to block an enzyme that interrupts a series of biochemical events that cause the decreased blood flow of erectile dysfunction. A laboratory study published in the journal Brain Research found that similar biochemical reactions in the small vessels of the brain play a major role in the blood-brain tumor barrier, which impedes delivery of anti-tumor drugs into brain tumors. The drugs (known as PDE5 inhibitors) were found to open the barrier and increase drug transport in early animal studies. This is the first study to show that oral administration of a drug improves the effectiveness of certain anti-tumor drugs. (Source: UPI/Yellowbrix)

Vitamin D Deficiency Common With Chronic Migraine.

New research showing that vitamin D deficiency is common in patients with chronic migraine suggests that this patient group, like other vitamin D-deficient populations is at increase risk for cardiovascular disease, malignancy, and other serious illnesses that have been linked to low levels of D, the "good health" vitamin. Dr. Steve Wheeler MD, from the Ryan Wheeler Headache Treatment Center said "As far as I am aware, no one has looked at vitamin D deficiency in migraineurs before. (Medscape)

Beware The "Free" Missouri Drug Discount Card.

In yet the latest of egregious practices of the greedy insurance companies, Restat (a PBM) has come up with a new twist to lure more profits into their treasury at the consumer's expense. To lend credence to this very questionable plan, it has unfortunately even been the subject of a front page article in the once-respected St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Call us for information about this bogus "free" plan before you find yourself paying $4 to $4.50 more in Restat's "administrative fees" for your prescription.

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

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