Altruistic vaccines

I wrote an article in today's Toronto Star about a novel way to fight Dengue Fever -- or potentially any other disease passed on by mosquitoes.

The idea is an "altruistic vaccine" that does nothing to help the person actually getting the shot. Instead, the person's blood is rendered poisonous to any mosquitoes who bite the vaccinated person -- making the little critters unable to spread the disease.

The vaccine is being developed at Queensland University, in a part of Australia with a fast-growing Dengue problem. Global warming is being blamed for its rapid spread. The Bill and Melinda Gate Foundation is funding the work.

The video Pfizer doesn't want you to see

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has asked a judge to order that a video be take off YouTube, saying it could prejudice juries in upcoming court cases.

It's the latest twist for a company caught for months in allegations of ghostwriting.

The video, entitled Prempro News Segment, was made by the law firm behind a $78 million (US) court-ordered settlement in the fall of a lawsuit brought against the company. The Philadelphia jury found that Wyeth, a division of Pfizer, failed to warn women that taking its hormone drug Prempro could cause breast cancer.

Plaintiff’s counsel should be compelled to remove this video from the Internet and refrain from making any further inflammatory and prejudicial public statements” until the litigation is resolved, Pfizer’s lawyers said in a motion filed yesterday in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court.

Swine flu ethics

Hong Kong says it will detain in hospital anyone arriving there who has a fever, at least until it can be proven that they don't have swine flu.

Hardly a surprising reaction by a place that was the epicentre of the SARS outbreak six years ago, but it raises interesting ethical questions about the needs of the many versus the rights of individuals.

Is it ethical to effectively jail someone merely on the suspicion of illness? On the other hand, with thousands, perhaps millions, of lives at stake if this thing becomes a pandemic, would it unethical not to detain people?

Tough questions, to be sure, but ones that I suspect we'll be hearing more about in the coming days as swine flu continues scaring people around the world.

Pfizer conflict controversy continues

The controversial appointment of Pfizer Canada executive Bernard Prigent to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research was the lead item on the CBC's national morning radio show, The Current.

A podcast of the show is available.

In the show, Francoise Baylis, Canada Research Chair in bioethics at Dalhousie University, says it is impossible for Prigent to avoid a conflict of interest in the new posting because his job as a Pfizer vice president is to sell as many drugs as possible. The job of the CIHR, however, is to ensure public safety. The two are not always the same thing, she said.

Dr. Jean Rouleau, dean of medicine at the University of Montreal and a member of the CIFR's governing council told the CBC's Anna Maria Tremonti that the group needs to hear from people in the pharmaceutical industry.

Pfizer Canada facing two conflict fights

Drug giant Pfizer Canada finds itself at the centre of two conflict of interest controversies after one of its executives was appointed to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and it signed a deal to provide $780,000 for the Canadian Medical Association to set up educational programs for doctors.

The controversies have also touched the Canadian Medical Association, which is coming under fire for taking $780,000 from Pfizer to set up the education programs.

My feeling is that the pharmaceutical industry has no business at all educating doctors,” said Arnold Relman, professor emeritus at Harvard Medical School and former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine. “There's no question that if you're paying the piper, you influence the tune that the piper is going to play.

Paxil costs Glaxo $1 billion or more: report

Settling lawsuits over its controversial anti-depressant Paxil has cost Glaxo SmithKline some $1-billion in court-ordered and out-of-court settlements, Bloomberg News reports.

I don’t think this is within the boundaries of current assumptions for analysts.” Navid Malik, an analyst at Matrix Corporate Capital in London, is quoted as saying.

Another analyst, Savvas Neophytou, a Panmure Gordon analyst in London, says a $1.5 billion liability is possible.

The settlements result from suits in which people taking the drug caused them to contemplate suicide or birth defects in their children. In each of the cases, the plaintiffs allege that Glaxo knew of the dangers.

Glaxo implicated in ghostwriting scandal

Court documents uncovered in a California lawsuit against GlaxoSmithKline over its antidepressant Paxil show that the big pharmaceutical company made extensive use of ghostwriters to promote its drug, later found to be highly addictive and to cause suicidal thoughts in some cases, the Associated Press reports.

WASHINGTON — Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline used a sophisticated ghostwriting program to promote its antidepressant Paxil, allowing doctors to take credit for medical journal articles mainly written by company consultants, according to court documents obtained by The Associated Press.

An internal company memo instructs salespeople to approach physicians and offer to help them write and publish articles about their positive experiences prescribing the drug.

Tricyclic Antidepressants - Uses and Precautions

Type of drug:

Antidepressants; mood-elevating agents.

How the Drug Works:

Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) appear to adjust or rebalance the brain's own natural chemicals (neurotransmitters), which control mood, feelings, and behaviors. The effect may take a few weeks (1 to 4) to be noticed.

Uses:

For the relief of symptoms of depression (except clomipramine).

Clomipramine: Only for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Doxepin: To treat anxiety.

Imipramine: For the treatment of bedwetting in children 6 years of age and older after possible organic causes have been excluded by appropriate tests.

Vectical

Vectical

Generic Name: calcitriol (topical) (kal SIT ree ol TOP ik al)

Brand Names: Vectical Ointment

What is Vectical?

Vectical (calcitriol) ointment is a form of vitamin D. It works by decreasing the rate of skin cell reproduction.

Vectical is used to treat mild to moderate plaque psoriasis (raised, silvery flaking of the skin) in adults 18 years and older.

Vectical may also be used for other purposes not listed in this medication guide.

Important information about Vectical

You should not use Vectical if you have a severe form of psoriasis (with pus, skin peeling, severe redness).

Before using Vectical, tell your doctor if you have low or high levels of calcium in your blood, a calcium disorder or metabolic imbalance, or if you are receiving UV light treatments (phototherapy) for your psoriasis.

Side Effects of Androgens and Androgens

Type of Drug:Male hormones.

How the Drug Works:

lostosterone is the primary natural androgen (male sex hormone) produced by the testes. Androgens promote normal growth and development of male sex organs (eg, prostate, seminal vesicles, penis, scrotum) and affect fertility. They also produce the distinctive male characterisis of hair distribution, voice depth,

Uses:

To treat testosterone deficiency. Prolonged treatment is required to maintain male sex characteristics.

For hormone deficiency due to developmental defects of the testes. To treat delayed male puberty (brief treatment with low doses) in carefully selected patients. To treat male impotence caused by androgen deficiency (methyl testosterone only).

Pramipexole Drug - How does Pramipexole Works?

Type of Drug:

Antiparkinson agent.

How the Pramipexole Product Works:

Parkinsonism is a neurological disease with a variety of origins characterized by tremor, rigidity and disorders of posture and balance. The onset is slow and progressive with symptoms advancing over months to years. There is no cure for the disease. The goal of therapy is to provide relief from the symptoms, and to attempt to maintain the independence and mobility of the patient.

It is thought that the involuntary muscle movements (shaking) of Parkinson disease are caused by reduced amounts of dopamine in the nervous system. Pramipexole may exert its effects by stimulating the dopamine receptors in the nervous system.

Popularity of Using Contact Lenses

With the growing popularity of using contact lenses instead of glasses, the lens market has during the last decades become enormous. The contact lenses nowadays can be used by most people that need sight correction, and with the size of the market, there's naturally a great choice of lens types and models to choose from. Popular models on the market such are for example the 1 day Acuvue and the Focus dailies, but there are also many other lenses.

The first thing to decide on is what kind of contact lens that best suits you. There are disposable lenses, that you throw away every night, and lenses that you can wear for over a year, if you treat them right. There are color lenses, that can change your eye color if you want, and there are even lenses on the market that help you improve your golf play! What they all have in common however, is that they all give you a great, clear vision. The huge demand has created a strong development in the lens market, and the products are constantly improving. Make a little research to find the lens that suit you best, and you want be disappointed.

How to Locate Best Weight Loss Pills?

The weight loss pills are preferred before other weight loss programs, but these pills are not spared from having their share of disadvantages. It has been proven that certain diet pills are capable of posing threat to nervous system and other organ systems of the body. Thus, if you are desperate to reduce your body fat with most apposite fat loss pills, you must seek guidance to choose the best available pills.

It is not an easy task to choose best diet pills, especially when different manufacturers have flooded the market with a horde of pills. In such situation, expert websites emerge on the scene and take advantage of their online presence to recommend its visitors the best weight loss programs.

Guidelines for Usage Of Tricyclic Antidepressants

Use exactly as prescribed.

Lower dosages are recommended for elderly, adolescent, and outpatients, as compared to hospitalized patients who will be under close supervision. Initiate dosage at a low level and increase gradually, noting carefully the clinical response and any evidence of intolerance. Once depressive symptoms are controlled, maintenance doses will be required for a longer period of time, at the lowest dose that will maintain symptom control.

For many of these medicines, it is not possible to prescribe a single dos­age schedule that is therapeutically effective in all patients. Consequently, the recommended dosage regimens are only a guide, which may be modified by factors such as age, chronic disease, severity of the disease, medical condition of the patient, and degree of psychotherapeutic support.

Getting Naturally Thinner with Aloe Vera

Aloe Vera, when taken in the form of a pill can have a lot of health benefits. It can help you lose weight as well. However, these pills work only when you consume them on regular basis along with following a set schedule of excise and strict diet plan.

Aloe Vera is a plant that proves out to be of great importance for all of us. It represents its various medical uses. Aloe Vera is a source of Vitamin B12, A and E, and helps to digest the food easily and thus keeps the body away from several problems of indigestion and metabolism, including detoxification to support weight loss. It also helps to ease ulcers and heartburns. Apart from this, Aloe Vera gel helps can help us to get rid of serious infections and skin acne problems. Aloe Vera, with its multiple benefits, is used all across the universe by various manufacturers to produce beauty products and other over-counter medications. Any of the product or medicine primed with Aloe Vera do not cause any harm or to the body.