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Medicare Drug Bill Passes
17 Mar2010
She Democrats won’t even be able to send a Medicare Part D price negotiation bill through Congress, and it is unlikely that President George W. Bush will sign the bill (H.R. 4) that the House of Representatives passed on December 12 by a vote of 255-170. Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction, has already said that he opposes the House bill, as does Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the top Republican on the committee. As if that weren’t enough to sound the death knell for H.R. 4, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office insists that the bill won’t save Medicare any dollars anyway.
- In: Drugs
- Tags: Medicare Drug
Problem: A 31-year-old man died after being injected with the wrong contrast medium during an outpatient myelogram (spinal radiography). Myelography is safely performed when non-ionic water-soluble radiographic agents are used, as indicated for this route of administration. However, the intrathecal misadministra-tion of ionic contrast media can result in a syndrome of spasms and convulsions, often leading to death.
- In: Main
- Tags: Intrathecal Injection
Rimonabant (Acomplia): DOSAGE
15 Mar2010
It is expected that the usual dose of canadian rimonabant will be 20 mg once daily before breakfast. No dosage adjustment is recommended for the elderly, but this agent should be used with caution in patients older than 75 years of age.
- In: Diabetes
- Tags: Cancer, Diabetes, Rimonabant
Four published clinical trials have assessed the efficacy and safety of rimonabant in the treatment of obesity and cardiometabolic risk factors. Other studies of the drug have been presented as posters at clinical meetings, but they are not reviewed in this article.
The iSmonabant In Obesity (RIO) Program consists of four published clinical trials comparing rimonabant 5 mg and 20 mg with placebo. RIO-Lipids and RIO-Diabetes were one-year trials; RIO-Europe and RIO-North America were two-year trials. Results of RIO- Lipids, RIO-Diabetes, and RIO-North America, as well as the first-year results of RIO-Europe, have been published.
- In: Diabetes
- Tags: Cancer, Diabetes, Rimonabant
Rimonabant [,/V-piperino-5-(4-chloro-phenyl)-1-1(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-4-meth-ylpyrazole-3-carvoxamide] is a CB1 antagonist. At low concentrations, it may also act as an inverse agonist.8 At very high concentrations, canadian rimonabant also behaves as a CB2 receptor antagonist, blocks calcium and potassium channels, and may directly affect cellular gap junctions.
Cannabinoid receptors are members of the G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily of cell-surface heptahelical receptors. There are currently two types of cannabinoid receptors: CB1 and CB2. CB1 receptors are among the most abundant GPCRs in the brain.
- In: Diabetes
- Tags: Cancer, Diabetes, Rimonabant
Rimonabant (Acomplia)
12 Mar2010
INTRODUCTION
The prevalence of obesity continues to rise. Current data indicate that the combined prevalence of overweight and obesity in adults in the U.S. is 66.3%. The prevalence for obesity alone in adults is 32.2%; for extreme obesity in adults, this figure is 4.8%. Approximately 17.1% of children and adolescents in the U.S. are overweight. Overweight is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 25 to 29.9 kg/m2; obesity is defined as a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or greater. Obesity is a significant risk factor for the development of insulin resistance, type-2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, cardiovascular disease, and stroke. Furthermore, it is a contributing factor for pulmonary hypertension, sleep apnea, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, gallbladder disease, hyperuricemia and gout, osteoarthritis, and certain types of cancer.
- In: Diabetes
- Tags: Cancer, Diabetes, Rimonabant
Abuse of Stimulant Medications
11 Mar2010
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a treatable condition that affects more than four million children and nine million adults in the U.S. We are fortunate that today many medication options are available that can relieve the symptoms of ADHD. Research continues to support the use of stimulant medications as the first-line therapy for ADHD, and stimulants have been a reliable option for the past 50 years. Hundreds of randomized controlled trials have shown unequivocally that stimulant medications effectively reduce hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattentiveness. A large-scale study presented at the U.S. Psychiatric and Mental Health Congress in 2006 demonstrated that stimulant medications are significantly more effective than nonstimulant medications in the treatment of patients with ADHD. Without these stimulant medications, untreated ADHD, in combination with conduct disorders, can acutely affect a child’s life.
- In: Drugs
- Tags: drug, Medications