First, their shipments of carboplatin typically used to treat breast, ovarian and many other cancers have been delayed. They were able to switch some patients to cisplatin, another platinum-based drug that is just as effective but may have more side effects. Hence, their cisplatin shipments stopped arriving on time. To hold dwindling supplies longer, doctors have begun rounding patient doses up to 10 percent within professional guidelines and have begun preparing for the need to take more drastic action if shortages persist. It’s part of a nationwide shortage of more…
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14 vital cancer drugs are in short supply. It has reached a crisis level in NJ
A New Jersey health care system meets weekly to discuss its acute drug shortage. Another was forced to communicate regularly. And one oncologist says he has enough life-saving cancer drugs for his patients, at least for now. It really is at a crisis level, said Dr. Eleonora Teplinsky, an oncologist at Valley-Mount Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Care in Paramus. Fourteen cancer drugs are officially in short supply nationwide, according to the US Food and Drug Administration. Among them: two vital chemotherapy treatments carboplatin and cisplatin. Some oncologists in the United States…
Read MorePharmaceutical giant Bayer prevents Clicks from selling cheaper generic blood-thinning drugs
Bayer won an urgent interdict filed over a year ago against Clicks in relation to the drug rivaroxaban. Illustration: Lisa Nelson More than a year after pharmaceutical giant Bayer filed an urgent motion in court, the ruling has been handed down. Pharmaceutical giant Bayer previously secured a ban to stop importing generic blood-thinning tablets It also stopped Clicks from selling the cheapest generics. More than a year after reserving judgment in a pressing question, Judge Colleen Collis has finally delivered her ruling. You confirm the patent rights of pharmaceutical giant…
Read MoreI’m a Doctor: These are the 3 telltale signs your kids are using the study drugs
Thousands of students and schoolchildren are said to use them. Yet their parents may be completely unaware that their children are using powerful “smart drugs” to get through the dreaded exam periods. This is because there are often no obvious indications that a young person is taking pills like Ritalin and Adderall, which can cost as little as £2 and have dangerous side effects, such as increased heart rate, anxiety and weight loss. But Dr Samantha Miller, an NHS doctor based in Scotland, told MailOnline how parents can tell if…
Read MoreAre expired drugs safe?
Getty Images/Jeffrey Coolidge Medically reviewed by Femi Aremu, PharmD Chances are your medicine cabinet contains some medications, including over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, prescriptions, and supplements, that have been out of date for at least a few months. Drug expiration dates appear on most drug labels, including prescription and over-the-counter drugs, vitamins, and supplements. You might wonder how seriously they will take their expiration dates. Could you still use them or should they be trashed immediately? Since 1979, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has required drug manufacturers to label their products…
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