4RXBLOG.COM Money Saving Tips for Health and Medications

Statins May Lower Odds of Pnuemonia Death

4rx Pharmacy Health Blog — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 13:13:00 GMT

By NICHOLAS BAKALAR

Danish researchers have found that statins, the drugs widely used to control cholesterol, may have another beneficial effect: lowering the risk of death from pneumonia.

Scientists examined medical records of 29,000 Danish patients hospitalized for pneumonia over a six-year period. Using regional prescription databases, they found 1,372 who had filled prescriptions for statins within four months of being admitted. Then they calculated mortality rates for statin users and nonusers.

After controlling for age, sex, heart disease, stroke, pulmonary illness, diabetes and 15 other disorders, they found that among statin users the odds of death were reduced by 31 percent within the first 30 days after admission and 25 percent within 90 days.

The study, published Oct. 27 in The Archives of Internal Medicine, includes a large number of subjects, and very accurate records of diagnosis, hospital discharge dates and statin use, all of which give it considerable strength.

Previous investigations of statins’ effect on pneumonia have produced mixed results, and the reasons for the Danish results are unclear. An editorial published with the study suggests that the drugs modify the production of certain proteins that cause the inflammatory response.

These same proteins may also be used by bacteria to help them enter cells and reproduce. By lowering the production of these substances, statins may reduce the number of bacteria that can gain entry into cells.

A study published online Nov. 9 in The New England Journal of Medicine suggested that statins’ anti-inflammatory properties might be useful in lowering the risk of heart disease, stroke and death even in patients with low cholesterol.

The average age of statin users in the Danish study was 73, and more than 60 percent were taking simvastatin, a drug sold in the United States as Zocor.

Statin users may be a generally healthier population that has had better preventive health care than nonusers, and would therefore be more likely to survive pneumonia in any case. But, the authors write, Denmark’s universal health care system makes this conclusion unlikely.

Still, Dr. Reimar W. Thomsen, the lead author, advised caution in interpreting the finding. “Our results show that the chance of survival of infection might be better if you are already taking statins,” he said, “but it’s too early to make recommendations about starting statin use to prevent infection. You should take statins for the present indications only.” Dr. Thomsen is a clinical associate professor of epidemiology at Aarhus University Hospital in Aalborg, Denmark.

Other experts found the work convincing. “This is a rigorous study,” said Dr. Eric M. Mortensen, who has done research in the same field.

“It has solved some of the problems of previous work, and I agree with its conclusions,” said Dr. Mortensen, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, who was not involved in the Danish study.

The Danish government paid for the study, and there was no pharmaceutical industry involvement.

Save Money with Generic Drugs

4rx Pharmacy Health Blog — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 10:06:00 GMT

Having more generic drug alternatives helps people save big dollars on medication costs. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is responsible for reviewing generic drugs before they are approved for sale and use, and the FDA is doing something to get more generic drugs on the market sooner.

What Are Generic Drugs?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration defines a generic drug as one being identical to a brand name drug in dosage form, safety, strength, administration type (oral, injection, etc.), quality, performance characteristics and intended use. The chemical make up of a generic drug is identical to its brand-name equivalent, but generic drugs are priced at big discounts compared to brand-name drugs.

Why Are Generic Drugs so Inexpensive?

Generic drugs can be sold at much lower prices than their brand-name counterparts for several reasons:

Generic drugs do not hold patents as brand-name drugs do.
No research and development costs go into generic drugs because they are essentially identical to the original brand-name drugs that require massive R & D efforts to formulate and test.
Generic drugs have no marketing costs.
Generic drugs do not have to go through all the same clinical trials that the original medications did.

You can see how much less generic drugs cost by comparing prices here to your local pharmacy.

Why Don’t All Drugs Have Generic Alternatives?

When a brand name medication is approved, the manufacturer holds a patent on that medication. This exclusivity allows the drug company to recoup the massive costs that went into developing the drug and to turn a profit. A generic equivalent cannot be offered until the patent expires.

Another factor affecting generic drug options is that major drug companies may stall a generic drug’s FDA review application by using legal measures to challenge the expiration of a patent or extend patent protection on their brand name drugs.

However, many of those brand-name drug patents have expired in recent years, resulting in a huge influx of generic drug applications that have been back-logged at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration offices. To work toward streaming the generic drug approval process so more generic alternatives can be offered to consumers sooner, the FDA has launched the Generic Initiative for Value and Efficiency, or GIVE. Using the GIVE program, the FDA review process for generic drugs will be more efficient and applications will be processed faster.

Are Generic Drugs Safe?

The limited testing that generic drugs require may sound like a cause for concern. However, generic drug alternatives are the same medication that people have been using for up to 20 years already.

Do not be suspicious of a generic drug because it may be a different color or shape than its brand-name counterpart. The reason for this is that United States trademark laws prohibit the two medications from looking identical, however the two medications must have the same active ingredients.

In a recent FDA Consumer Update, Gary Buehler, R.Ph., Director of FDA’s Office of Generic Drugs stated, “The standards for quality are the same for brand-name and generic products.” Buehler went on to say that generic drugs “must scientifically demonstrate that their product is bioequivalent. This means that it performs in the same way as the brand-name drug.”

Should You Save Money with Generic Drugs?

The decision to use generic drugs in place of brand-name pharmaceuticals is up to you and your doctor. Given the rigorous testing generic drugs undergo and the savings of up to 50% on the cost, generic drugs should be a part of your budgeting efforts whenever possible. Although any pharmacy can dispense generic prescriptions, you will often save even more at big box stores like Target, which is competing with Wal-Mart $4 generic prescriptions.

New Generic Statins Mean Big Savings on Cholesterol Drugs

4rx Pharmacy Health Blog — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:03:00 GMT

Zocor loses patent protection; generic simvastatin and pravastatin added as ‘Best Buy’ picks by Consumer Reports

(Washington, D.C.) – Consumers who need medicine to lower their cholesterol should talk with their doctors about two new generics that could save them up to $1,800 per year, according to the latest report from Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs.

The updated report on a class of drugs called “statins” adds generic simvastatin and pravastatin as Best Buys for millions of people who need a cholesterol-lowering drug. About one in 10 people over age 20 now takes a statin; one in four aged 65 and over do.

Simvastatin is the generic name of Zocor, which lost patent protection on June 23. Generic pravastatin became available in April when the patent expired on Pravachol. The two generics join lovastatin as Best Buy alternatives to relatively expensive brand-name statins, such as Crestor, Lipitor, and Vytorin.

The statin report is one of 13 in a series comparing the effectiveness and cost of prescription drugs to treat a range of illnesses and conditions. All the reports are available to consumers free at www.CRBestBuyDrugs.org.

Both new generics will be less expensive than brand-name statins in coming months. But they may not drop sharply in price until late 2006 and early 2007 when more generic copies from other manufacturers come to market.

The cost of simvastatin could drop to the $15 to $30 range in early 2007. Assuming an average price (including discounts) for Lipitor and other brand statins of $65 per month by then, the potential savings to consumers, employers, insurers, and government health plans (taxpayers) is in the range of $7 billion to $11 billion per year. For consumers with insurance coverage, out-of-pocket payments would decline because most generics now require a lower co-pay – usually $7 to $10 per prescription versus $25 or more for brands.

Simvastatin’s availability is widely viewed as particularly important because it is the first potent statin to become a generic. Statins vary in their potency to reduce LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels in the blood. Lovastatin and pravastatin are fine for people who need up to about 30 percent reduction in their LDL. Anyone needing greater LDL reduction – and especially people at higher risk for heart disease or who have heart disease or diabetes – must take a more potent statin.

The new report presents guidance to consumers on their choice of a statin and compares all six statins on effectiveness, potency, safety, and cost. Taking these and other factors into account, the report recommends:

• Generic lovastatin or pravastatin for people who need to lower LDL cholesterol by less than 30 percent

• Generic simvastatin for some people who need less than 30 percent LDL reduction; for people who need 30 percent or greater LDL reduction and/or have heart disease or diabetes; and for some people who have had a heart attack or have acute coronary syndrome

• Lipitor (atorvastatin) for some people who have had a heart attack or have acute coronary syndrome; with use advised for two years and then reevaluated

Acute coronary syndrome is a term for a diagnosis encompassing people with chest pain and EKG signs of heart disease and high risk of heart attack.

The report advises people who need and are already taking a potent statin to talk with their doctors about switching to simvastatin. For those now taking Zocor, that switch should happen as soon as possible. More caution may be in order for people taking other potent statins. Some may be advised by their doctors for good medical reasons to remain on the drug they are taking.

The report emphasizes that diet and lifestyle changes should be part of any treatment plan to reduce heart disease risk. It also recommends that people take the lowest dose of a statin that reduces their LDL cholesterol to an acceptable level. High doses pose greater risk of muscle and liver problems. However, some people – such as those who have had heart attacks – may need the highest dose, the report says.

Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs is a public information and education project. Its reports are based on independent, scientific reviews of the medical evidence by the Drug Effectiveness Review Project, a 15-state initiative based at the Oregon Health & Science University. The initiative compares drugs on effectiveness and safety for state Medicaid programs. Every report is also peer-reviewed by medical experts. The project is supported by grants from the Engelberg Foundation, a private philanthropy, and the National Library of Medicine.

New Diet Drug Shows Promise

4rx Pharmacy Health Blog — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 13:00:00 GMT

Obesity drug shows 9% weight loss

Drug developer Vivus Inc has said the first of three late-stage trials found that obese patients treated with the highest dose of its experimental drug Qnexa on average lost 9.2% of their weight.

Vivus said the 28-week, 756-patient study met its main goal of superior weight loss with two different doses of Qnexa, compared with the drug’s individual components and a placebo pill. Patients in the placebo group on average lost 1.7% of their weight, while patients on “mid-dose” Qnexa lost 8.5%.

Qnexa is a combination of phentermine - half of the recalled fen-phen diet pill - and the epilepsy drug Topamax, or topiramate. Timothy Morris, Vivus’ chief financial officer, said weight loss results for the two components were also significantly better than placebo and will be disclosed at a meeting with analysts and investors.

Vivus said 66% of patients treated with full-dose Qnexa achieved weight loss of 5% or more. The company said Qnexa was well-tolerated - the most common side effects were itching, dry mouth, altered taste and constipation.

How the study was done

Reported drug-related adverse events for depression and altered mood were 1.9 percent for full-dose Qnexa, 0.9% for the mid-dose and 1.8% for placebo patients.

Patients in the trial were asked to restrict calories by 500 a day and advised to exercise three times a week. Morris said Vivus expects results in mid-2009 from two larger phase III trials of Qnexa and plans to file for US Food and Drug Administration approval late next year.

He also said the company will begin to assess partnering opportunities once it has the data from the year-long studies in hand. Vivus is also studying Qnexa as a treatment for diabetes, but Morris said the company needs to conduct a study of how the drug compares with phentermine and topiramate before it can launch a phase III diabetes trial. – (Reuters Health, December 2008)

Depression May Increase Heart Attack Risk

4rx Pharmacy Health Blog — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 03:27:00 GMT

(WebMD) Cardiac patients who are depressed are less likely to exercise, which increases their risk of a cardiac event such as a heart attack or heart failure, a new study suggests.

So heart patients who experience depression may be able to lower their cardiac risk simply by getting more physical activity.

It's long been recognized that patients who suffer from depression are more likely to have heart attacks or other cardiac events. But the reason for the association has been unclear.

According to the new study, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, the higher risk may be due to behavioral factors, especially physical activity levels.

Researchers looked at 1,017 heart disease patients. All were outpatients at clinics in the San Francisco area. They were recruited between 2000 and 2002, and followed until early 2008.

Participants completed a questionnaire to gauge whether or not they had depressive symptoms. Out of the group, 199 had depressive symptoms. The depressed patients were more likely to smoke, were less likely to take their medications as prescribed, and were less physically active.

Among the participants with depression, 10 percent had a cardiac event during the follow-up period. Among the non-depressed participants, 6.7 percent had a cardiac event. Cardiac events included heart failure, heart attack, stroke, transient ischemic attack (sometimes referred to as a "mini-stroke"), or death.

Even when the researchers made mathematical adjustments that accounted for other health issues and the severity of heart disease at the outset of the study, the group with depression was still 31 percent more likely to have a cardiac event than the group without depression. However, when lifestyle factors were also accounted for, there was largely no difference between the likelihood of a cardiac event for the depressed group and for the non-depressed group. In the final statistical model, the researchers found that physical inactivity alone was associated with a 44 percent greater rate of cardiovascular events.

"These findings raise the hypothesis that the increased risk of cardiovascular events associated with depression could potentially be preventable with behavior modification, especially exercise," the researchers write. "Exercise training can improve both depressive symptoms and markers for cardiovascular risk."

The researchers point out that their study could not discern whether depression led to inactivity or if inactivity led to depression. Regardless, the incorporation of exercise into a comprehensive depression treatment plan may be beneficial to many patients who suffer from both depression and heart disease.

Cancer Stats Have NEVER Been Better

4rx Pharmacy Health Blog — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 03:23:00 GMT

(CBS) Better cancer detection, better treatments and fewer people smoking - all of these factors are driving cancer statistics that have never been better, CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook reports.

"For the first time in the history of this report, both the rate of cancers and the rate of cancer deaths are both declining significantly," said Robert Croyle, director of the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences at the National Cancer Institute.

The most common cancers have seen the most dramatic declines in new cases, according to an annual report by the NCI, the American Cancer Society and other groups.

"We're seeing decreases in prostate cancer at about a 4 percent decrease per year and in breast cancer at about 2 percent and colon cancer at a rate of 3 percent per year," he said.

In men, lung, prostate and colorectal cancer have dropped.

In women, breast and colorectal cancer are down - while lung cancer has leveled off.

But it's not all good news.

For example, rates have increased for cancers of the liver, kidney and esophagus. One likely reason? Obesity.

"We're concerned that obesity may be the tobacco of the 21st century," Croyle said.

Dr. Charles Lightdale treats esophageal cancer, and is concerned about obesity because it may increase acid reflux, which over time can cause cancer in the lining of the esophagus.

"Esophageal cancer is really rising extremely rapidly. The rate of acceleration is faster than any other cancer in the United States today," said Lightdale, a professor of clinical medicine at New York Presbyterian and Columbia University Medical Center.

After years of heartburn, 61-year-old Jim O'Beirne was recently diagnosed with esophageal cancer.

"I ate the wrong food. You know, not smart about watching what I was eating and it was just a result of overeating," O'Beirne said.

But his odds improved dramatically, because his symptoms led to early diagnosis.

"That's the key because if we detect it early, we can cure it," Lightdale said.

Six Skin Cancer Myths

4rx Pharmacy Health Blog — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 13:02:00 GMT

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in this country. About one in 55 of us will get the most deadly form -- melanoma -- in our lifetime. Last year, more than 8,000 Americans died of melanoma. Now, six common myths about skin cancer.

We all love a sunny day, but do you know how harmful those rays can be? You might not think you're at risk, but everyone is, which brings us to our first myth: only fair-skinned people get skin cancer.

"Darker skin types can be under diagnosed for skin cancer," Michelle Pelle, M.D., a dermatologist at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego, Calif, told Ivanhoe. In dark-skinned people, it often shows up under fingernails or on the soles of feet.

Another myth – only burns lead to skin cancer. "No tan is safe," Dr. Pelle said. "Every time you're sun exposed, you're damaging DNA."

And what about lip gloss? A new study shows the shine may actually attract UV rays and increase the risk of skin cancer. "The lip is a very sensitive area of skin and tends to get burned more frequently," Dennis L. Rousseau, M.D., Ph.D., a surgical oncologist at the Florida Hospital Cancer Institute in Orlando, told Ivanhoe.

And tanning beds are not safer! Twenty minutes in a bed is equal to about four hours in the sun!

Another myth -- your clothes protect against the sun. "A t-shirt might have an SPF of six to eight, which is not really adequate," Dr. Rousseau said. So apply sunscreen -- even under clothes. And use enough -- about a shot glass-full for the entire body. Try non-glossy chap stick, cover up, and check yourself monthly for suspicious moles.

"Most normal moles have a uniform color, have fairly regular borders and are smaller than six millimeters in size," Dr. Rousseau explained.

One last myth -- it's not just in your genes. Research shows less than 10-percent of melanomas are genetic. The majority are caused by something you can avoid … the sun.

Recent research has shown women with a vitamin D deficiency are more likely to develop breast cancer. Although vitamin D can be obtained from the sun, experts say you can also get it through proper nutrition, which is safer!

For More Information, Contact:

Florida Hospital Cancer Institute

Orlando, FL

(800) 375-7761

http://www.floridahospitalcancer.com/

Tips for Saving Money on Prescription Medications

4rx Pharmacy Health Blog — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:35:00 GMT

We are a pill-popping nation. From TV and magazine ads hawking the latest cures to the estimated $287 billion prescription drug business, Americans are taking medicine for everything from heartburn to erectile dysfunction.

But a growing number of people are having trouble paying for medicine. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 29 percent have not filled prescriptions in the last two years because of cost.

And insurance seems to be picking up less and less of a share of the cost, says Edward Jardini, M.D., author of "How to Save on Prescription Drugs."

"There's a good chance you're paying more than you need to," Jardini says.

Here are some of his tips on how to be a smarter patient and stretch your health-care dollars:

Split double-dose tablets
Splitting a tablet that is twice your dose saves up to 50 percent on prescription costs. This is because different tablet strengths of a particular drug are often priced the same. (Or if not, the cost per milligram is usually less at higher strengths.) Ask your doctor about prescribing double-strength tablets at half-tablet dosing as a cost-saving measure.

Shop!
Few consumers realize that the retail price of a prescription can vary among local drugstores by 300-400 percent; shopping around can save plenty. Mail-order pharmacies and online retailers offer even greater savings. The value of drug purchases also varies with the quantity of medicine purchased. Maximize savings by finding out what quantity of pills gives the best value and by purchasing your medicines from the retailer offering the best price.

Find out the retail price of a prescription before using a prescription drug insurance plan
Your prescription drug co-payment may be higher than the retail price! Always find out what your drug costs retail before using any prescription coverage, then you can choose the most economical way of paying for it.

Insist on treatment with generic drugs
Generic drugs cost up to 90 percent less than their brand-name counterparts. Insist your doctor prescribe medications that are generically available. Obtain generic substitutions for expensive brand names whenever possible.

Ask your doctor about using one drop of eye medication at a time
Because the eye can only hold one drop of medication, instilling a second drop is wasteful. Eye specialist consultants to the Medical Letter on Drugs and Therapeutics agreed that “... all eye drops should generally be given as one drop,” a practice that can save you 50 percent on your eye prescriptions and reduce side effects.

Start new prescriptions with a small supply
Insist on a prescription for only a few weeks’ supply of a new long-term treatment, such as for high blood pressure. That way, if the medicine is not satisfactory, you won’t have paid for a large supply of pills you can’t use.

Take advantage of assistance programs
Most drug companies have programs providing prescription drugs at no cost to those who can least afford them. The Partnership for Prescription Assistance (888-477-2669) offers a single point of access to more than 475 public and private patient-assistance programs, including more than 180 programs offered by pharmaceutical companies. The Web site is helpful in linking your medication needs with one or more programs for which you qualify.

The Free Medicine Program (573-996-3333) is an advocacy group that will go through the assistance program application process for you. It was established by volunteers who ask only for a one-time fee of $10 that can be refunded if they don’t get you your medicines for free. Avoid patient-advocacy groups that have ongoing monthly charges.

Insist on cheaper medicines within the same class, or a cheaper class of medicine for the same treatment
Since doctors don’t often consider cost when prescribing medication, they tend to choose the latest, most expensive drugs. There are usually cheaper medication choices. Ask your doctor if a substitution for an expensive drug would be an appropriate way to bring prescription costs within your budget.

Generic Drugs, Are They As Good as Brand-Names?

4rx Pharmacy Health Blog — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:09:00 GMT

Medical Author: Melissa Stoppler, M.D.
Medical Editor: Barbara K. Hecht, Ph.D.

Almost half of all prescriptions today in the US are filled with generic drugs. Still, I am often asked if generic drugs are really as good as their brand-name counterparts. After all, goes the reasoning, don't you get what you pay for?

Generic drugs are copies of brand-name drugs that have exactly the same dosage, intended use, effects, side effects, route of administration, risks, safety, and strength as the original drug. In other words, their pharmacological effects are exactly the same as those of their brand-name counterparts.

An example of a generic drug, one used for diabetes, is metformin. A brand name for metformin is Glucophage. (Brand names are usually capitalized while generic names are not.) A generic drug, one used for hypertension, is metoprolol whereas a brand name for the same drug is Lopressor.

Many people become concerned because generic drugs are often substantially cheaper than the brand-name versions. They wonder if the quality and effectiveness have been compromised to make the less expensive products. The FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) requires that generic drugs be as safe and effective as brand-name drugs.

Actually, generic drugs are only cheaper because the manufacturers have not had the expenses of developing and marketing a new drug. When a company brings a new drug onto the market, the firm has already spent substantial money on research, development, marketing and promotion of the drug. A patent is granted that gives the company that developed the drug an exclusive right to sell the drug as long as the patent is in effect.

As the patent nears expiration, manufacturers can apply to the FDA for permission to make and sell generic versions of the drug. Without the startup costs for development of the drug, other companies can afford to make and sell it more cheaply. When multiple companies begin producing and selling a drug, the competition among them can also drive the price down even further.

So there's no truth in the myths that generic drugs are manufactured in poorer-quality facilities or are inferior in quality to brand-name drugs. The FDA applies the same standards for all drug manufacturing facilities, and many companies manufacture both brand-name and generic drugs. In fact, the FDA estimates that 50% of generic drug production is by brand-name companies.

Another common misbelief is that generic drugs take longer to work. The FDA requires that generic drugs work as fast and as effectively as the original brand-name products.

Sometimes, generic versions of a drug have different colors, flavors, or combinations of inactive ingredients than the original medications. Trademark laws in the United States do not allow the generic drugs to look exactly like the brand-name preparation, but the active ingredients must be the same in both preparations, ensuring that both have the same medicinal effects.

Resource: Office of Generic Drugs, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville MD 20857.

Congress approves bill to stop 'rogue' pharmacies operating over the Internet

4rx Pharmacy Health Blog — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 12:59:00 GMT

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Senate approved a House version of legislation sponsored by U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) to stop rogue pharmacies operating on the Internet and protect the safety of consumers who fill legitimate prescriptions online.

     The legislation also would require a health practitioner to conduct an in-person examination of a patient in order for a prescription to be considered valid. Reps. Bart Stupak (D-MI), Mary Bono-Mack (R-Calif.) and Lamar Smith (R-Texas) co-sponsored the House version.

The legislation now heads to President Bush for his signature.
"Finally we can stop these rogue online pharmacies once and for all," Feinstein said. "We know of at least 18 people that have died due to overdoses from drugs purchased on the Internet through these pharmacies and even more who have entered rehabilitation or suffered injuries due to these drugs. No more. I look forward to this important legislation becoming law."

"Passage of the Online Pharmacy Protection Act is a critical step toward blocking the sale of illegal prescription drugs over the Internet," Sessions said. "Controlled substances are too easily obtained without valid prescriptions and without proof of the buyer's age or identity. Law enforcement reports that this is a growing problem among children and adolescents, and it is important that we take steps to shut down these unscrupulous vendors. I am pleased Sen. Feinstein and I have worked together to see this important piece of legislation to fruition, and I look forward to President Bush signing it into law."

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University reported earlier this year that controlled substances are readily available on the Internet. CASA identified 365 Web sites that advertising or sell controlled substances online. Even worse, 85 percent of these sites did not require a prescription by the patient's physician.

Feinstein first drafted legislation to stop the dangerous practices of rogue online pharmacies after Ryan Haight, a California high school honors student and athlete, died in 2001 from an overdose of the painkiller Vicodin. He had purchased the painkiller from an online pharmacy after simply filling out an online questionnaire describing himself as a 25-year-old male suffering from chronic back pain. The doctor prescribing the drug never met or personally examined Ryan.

The legislation approved, "The Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2007," was named in his honor. Sessions was the lead sponsor of the measure in the 109th Congress. The bill is designed to stop Internet pharmacies that sell controlled substances without a valid prescription, not pharmacies that sell drugs at a low cost to individuals who have a valid prescription from their U.S. doctors.

Bill summary

The Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2007 amends the Controlled Substances Act. It would:

* Bar the sale or distribution of a controlled substance via the Internet without a valid prescription. A practitioner must conduct an in-person examination of a patient in order for a prescription to be considered valid.

* Require online pharmacies to display information identifying the business, the pharmacist and any physician associated with the Web site.

* Create tough penalties for pharmacies that continue to operate outside the law.

* Increase the penalties for illegal distributions of Schedule III, IV and V substances as categorized by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

* Allow a state attorney general, after giving the U.S. Department of Justice notice and an opportunity to intervene, to shut down a rogue site across the country, rather than limiting their relief to stopping sales only to consumers of his or her state.

Give the Gift of Medication to a Woman with Breast Cancer

4rx Pharmacy Health Blog — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:27:00 GMT

Seattle, WA, October 08, 2008 --(PR.com)-- Visitors to The Breast Cancer Site (www.thebreastcancersite.com) can now help underinsured patients pay for their cancer medications. Through the site’s new Gift That Gives More™, visitors can donate to the Patient Access Network (PAN) Foundation, funding a day’s or a week’s worth of breast cancer medication.

Like other Gifts That Give More available from The Breast Cancer Site, 100% of the donation will go to the charity and the Gift is tax-deductible in the United States. The “Help a Woman During Breast Cancer Treatment”. Gift is available in three different donation levels: $21 pays for a day of breast cancer medication, $48 pays for a week of anemia medication (to prevent a common side-effect of chemotherapy), and $144 pays for a week of breast cancer medication.
The Patient Access Network (PAN) Foundation is an independent non-profit established in 2004. PAN assists the underinsured in accessing health care treatments throughout all 50 states and three U.S. territories.

More on the Breast Cancer Site (www.thebreastcancersite.com)

Launched in October 2000, The Breast Cancer Site provides funding for the National Breast Cancer Foundation’s free mammogram program and for breast cancer research through three important channels: the company’s innovative Click to Give™ program, direct donations through such site programs as Gifts That Give More™, and contributions paid for by items sold through the Breast Cancer Site’s store.

Every month, millions of visitors click on The Breast Cancer Site’s big pink button, helping to raise money for free mammograms for women in need. Throughout 2008, the site has raised funding for more than 200 free mammograms each month. The Breast Cancer Site records its highest traffic in October during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

“We appreciate the support of our loyal visitors and hope that others will join them this month and every month,” said Tim Kunin, CEO of GreaterGood Networks which operates The Breast Cancer Site. “It only takes a second to click and can make an enormous difference in a person’s life. Early detection is key to the successful treatment of breast cancer.”

The Click to Give™ program allows visitors to the Beast Cancer Site to provide funding for free mammograms by simply clicking on the pink button located at the top of the homepage (www.thebreastcancersite.com). Each Click to Give™ on the site’s homepage is paid for by advertisers and 100% of this ad revenue goes directly to support the work of the charities listed on the site.

In 2007, the Click to Give™ program funded more than 3,801 free mammograms—visitors to the site paid nothing to participate in the program. The totals of the 2008 Click to Give program are posted on the Breast Cancer Site’s results page and are updated daily.

Further funding for free mammograms and other breast cancer projects come from the sale of items such as Pink Ribbon clothing and jewelry at The Breast Cancer Site’s Pink Ribbon Store. . Purchases from The Breast Cancer Site store in 2007 funded an additional 3,349 mammograms for women in need.

In total, working with its charity partner the National Breast Cancer Foundation, the site provided funding for 7,151 mammograms for low income, uninsured, and working poor women throughout the United States and Puerto Rico last year.

In recent years, The Breast Cancer Site has supported the Mayo Clinic's research into a cure through the site’s Gifts That Give More™ program. This October, a $75,000 gift was made for the second year in a row to Mayo to pay for a researcher’s salary for a year.

The Breast Cancer Site is part of the GreaterGood Network of websites. To learn more, visit www.thebreastcancersite.com or www.greatergood.org.

A Family Doctor Rails Against Insurance Pre-Authorization

4rx Pharmacy Health Blog — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:41:00 GMT

October 1, 2008, 8:25 am

Posted by Jacob Goldstein

Doctors want to do whatever they think is best for patients. Yet there’s lots of evidence that shows doctors don’t always follow the best available evidence.

Doctors will tell you this is because no two patients are the same, so you can’t always rely on existing studies. Often you have to follow your instinct. On the other hand doctors who have a financial incentive to perform a procedure will perform it more often than those who don’t, suggesting that the patient’s best interest isn’t the sole motivator for all docs.

Insurance companies, for their part, have a financial incentive to keep costs down. So they sometimes require doctors to get authorization before prescribing certain drugs or doing certain procedures. This drives doctors and their patients up the wall.

In his WSJ.com column today, Ben Brewer writes of an arthritis patient he’s been treating for 11 years. The man hasn’t been helped by over-the-counter painkillers, and Brewer wants to prescribe Celebrex, a Pfizer pain drug that costs $120 a month.

The insurance company wouldn’t allow the prescription unless Brewer faxed them a form explaining why he thought it necessary. He wasn’t pleased.

They want me to incur the overhead and frustration that comes with trying to prove to a non-doctor that I know my patient and what I’m talking about. They want to cut costs, and they don’t really care about how it affects my patients or my practice. If they make the process hard enough, they hope I’ll just give up.

The day the Celebrex prescription was denied, Brewer saw 28 patients. He didn’t manage to find the time to get the prescription approved.

Over 500 Million persons suffer genital herpes!

4rx Pharmacy Health Blog — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:37:00 GMT

Latest reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) bulletin, reveal that no fewer than 500 million people are infected worldwide with the virus that causes genital herpes and more than 20 million people become newly infected each year.

This first-ever estimate of the global burden found that roughly 16 of the world’s population in the 15-49 year-old age group were infected, with considerable geographic variation. Women are more commonly infected than men, with the highest prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa where up to 70 percent of women are infected.

Reports available shows that in countries like Nigeria the prevalence is put at over four million annually. A study conducted by ONI, AA, Adu FD, Ekweozor CC in 1994 in Nigeria reported that despite the public health importance of herpes simplex virus infection in Nigeria, attempts have not been made to isolate and identify the virus.

The study which was to isolate, identify, and type the virus from patients attending a sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic in Ibadan, designed 153 clinical samples from 116 patients were taken and inoculated into tissue culture for virus isolation.

Herpes simplex virus type 2 is commonly spread through sexual contact and leads to lifelong infection. While painful genital ulcerations are the classical symptom, most people have mild symptoms and don’t know that they are infected.

These persons can thus unknowingly infect others. Dr George Schmid, Department of HIV/AIDS at the WHO says “Serious consequences include an increased risk of acquiring, and likely transmitting, HIV, and transmission from infected mothers to their babies during birth, which can cause brain damage and death.

Managing genital herpes during pregnancy is very important to the health of the soon-to-be-born infant. Infants exposed to the herpes simplex can experience brain infection, seizures, prolonged hospitalisation, mental retardation, and death if the infection takes hold.

With such a frightening prospect for potential harmful or fatal effects on the baby, then persons who have genital herpes must give careful thought to the risks associated with childbearing when one or both future parents have genital herpes.

Lifestyle Medications Now Affordable!

4rx Pharmacy Health Blog — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 12:25:00 GMT

Lifestyle medications are now affordable. What does that mean? First, you need to understand what a lifestyle medication is. Your insurance company realizes what a lifestyle drug is because they will not pay for any of it. A lifestyle drug is one that is deemed to improve your way of living, or lifestyle, but is not necessary to cure or reduce the symptoms of any life threatening disease or sickness. Great examples of lifestyle drugs are Viagra, Levitra, Cialis, Propecia and Acomplia.

Viagra, Cialis and Levitra are prescribed to cure erectile dysfunction. These are definitely lifestyle drugs. They are not necessary for survival but will most definitely improve the quality of your life, sex life that is. Propecia is the most popular medication used for the treatment of male pattern baldness. Propecia is also a lifestyle drug because there is nothing life threatening about balding, even though some men would tend to disagree, me included. Acomplia is the new breakthrough drug highly praised in European countries for weightloss. Acomplia, generic name Rimonabant, reduces your weight by reducing your appetite. If your brain tells you to eat less, then you will consume less food and lose weight. The problem with all these medications is threefold. First, insurance companies do not like to pay for them. Second, they are protected by patents and are extremely expensive. Third, even though the need is self diagnosed, they require a doctor’s prescription to obtain these drugs.

Why are these medications so expensive? Well, Pfizer would state that Viagra is so expensive because we, the consumer, need to pay for the research and development of that drug. (Even though all research and development is completed by the time the drug reaches market.) I find that response curious. Who pays for the 20 Viagra commercials that are played during each and every NFL football game? Who pays for the Viagra NASCAR sponsorship? Who pays for the full page Viagra ads in the popular magazines such as Men’s Health or Sports Illustrated? Us, the consumers pay for all the media that Pfizer uses to convince us that we have a medical condition requiring their medication.

I previously used to lie in bed at night, unable to sleep, and blamed it on a stressful day and would get up and watch some TV until I was tired enough to sleep. Now, thanks to modern medication and TV advertising, I realize that I have insomnia and need the Lunesta butterfly to lull me to sleep. Or, could it be those restless legs that are keeping me awake. They are moving around a lot. That could mean “restless legs syndrome”. Restless legs, are you kidding me? Is this a real diagnosis? Who thinks of this stuff? Obviously it is because there is big money to be made in convincing us we have a medical condition requiring a particular medication. When a pharmaceutical company develops a new drug, they usually receive a 10-13 year patent. This means that no other drug company can reproduce that drug, not even in a generic form. To pharmaceutical companies this means 10-13 years of exclusivity and price gouging.

How do we battle price gouging? We go to the internet and search for reputable online pharmacies from other countries that are not tied down by the USA’s stringent patent laws. A couple of websites that I have located are delivering authentic generic versions of highly popular medications at up to 90% off retail prices and do not require existing prescriptions. These sites are 4rx.net and xlpharmacy-rx.com. I have ordered several medications from both sites and have always received factory sealed medications in a timely fashion. I have always been impressed with the quality of the medications and the customer service if I have questions or problems.

How do these sites sell the same medication so cheap? Well, you will never see a full page color ad for 4Rx in a major magazine. You will never see an XL Pharmacy NASCAR racecar making laps around the track. You will never see 30 ad spots for online pharmacies during football games or the Superbowl. They only produce an honest product and request an honest dollar in exchange.

Am I the only one that smelled a rat when Claritin just recently outlived its patent and suddenly became available “Over the counter at the same prescription strength”? Why was it not “over the counter” the entire time? Because they can demand a higher price as a prescription medication and insurance companies will not pay for over the counter medications. End result is these giant pharmaceutical companies are ripping off the insurance companies, who in turn need to charge us higher premiums to make a profit. And we get mad at the insurance companies. Are we mad at the right people? I should say NOT! This “rat” returned when Zyrtec outlived its patent. Yep, you guessed it! Now available over the counter at a new reduced price and the same prescription strength.

Before you vote the next politician into office that claims Internet pharmacies are bad and need to be outlawed. Question which companies were MAJOR supporters in his political campaign. I would wager a bet that it is one of the major pharmaceutical companies. They are actively involved in all political fundraising events. Fight for your right to save money. Fight for legitimate Internet pharmacies such as 4rx.net!

Lifestyle Drug Market Booming

4rx Pharmacy Health Blog — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 12:15:00 GMT

Lifestyle drugs—medicines that treat conditions associated with lifestyle such as weight-loss tablets, anti-smoking agents, impotence therapies and hair restorers—are now a major research and development area for the pharmaceutical industry. In fact, companies have invested over $20 billion in research into such drugs since the 1990s. The reason why is clear: the market lifestyle for drugs is forecast to rise to over $29 billion by 2007 from its current $20 billion.

The market is driven predominantly by Western countries, where an image-conscious, aging society is prepared to pay high prices for compounds that promise to slow the aging process, improve mental agility, reduce weight gain and rejuvenate sexual function.

Perhaps the first lifestyle drugs were Viagra for erectile dysfunction (ED) and the anti-depressant, Prozac, whereas newer products include the anti-wrinkle agent, Botox. Although the sector is far from saturated, competition is already tight. For example, in the area of ED, new products include Abbot's Uprima (apomorphine), which was launched in Europe in May 2001, and Lilly ICOS's Cialis (tadalafil), which is expected to receive marketing authorization in the EU later this year. Both are considered to offer advantages over current therapies such as faster onset of action and duration of efficacy and will undoubtedly cannibalize Viagra's share of the ED market—worth an estimated $2 billion in 2001.

Weight-loss drugs also represent a potentially large and profitable market as only two prescription medicines are currently available (Xenical and Reductil/Meridia). Novel products such as Regeneron's Axokine and Phytopharm's P57 are expected to show great promise as new and efficacious anti-fat drugs. Pharmaceutical companies will doubtless be showing keen interest in newly discovered properties of the leukemia drug, Geevec. Apparently the compound restores color to gray hair (NEJM 347, 446; 2002).

In other areas of lifestyle drugs, smoking cessation drugs include GlaxoSmithKline's GW468816 (glycine receptor), which is currently in phase 1 trials, and Roche's Tempium (lazabemide) in phase 3 trials. GlaxoSmithKline's Zyban (bupropion) is currently the only available drug to assist in smoking cessation and had sales of $174m in 2000.