New Safety Information - Potential drug risks

The U.S. FDA reports serious safety issues with the following drugs:

Potential Signals of Serious Risks/New Safety Information Identified by the Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) January - March 2008

Product Name: Active Ingredient (Trade) or Product Class	Potential Signal of Serious Risk/New Safety Information
Arginine Hydrochloride Injection (R-Gene 10)	Pediatric overdose due to labeling / packaging confusion
Desflurane (Suprane)	Cardiac arrest
Duloxetine (Cymbalta)	Urinary retention
Etravirine (Intelence)	Hemarthrosis
Fluorouracil Cream (Carac) and Ketoconazole Cream (Kuric)	Adverse events due to name confusion
Heparin	Anaphylactic-type reactions
Icodextrin (Extraneal)	Hypoglycemia
Insulin U-500 (Humulin R)	Dosing confusion
Ivermectin (Stromectol) and Warfarin	Drug interaction
Lapatinib (Tykerb)	Hepatotoxicity
Lenalidomide (Revlimid)	Stevens Johnson Syndrome
Natalizumab (Tysabri)	Skin melanomas
Nitroglycerin (Nitrostat)	Overdose due to labeling confusion
Octreotide Acetate Depot (Sandostatin LAR)	Ileus
Oxycodone Hydrochloride Controlled-Release (Oxycontin)	Drug misuse, abuse and overdose
Perflutren Lipid Microsphere (Definity)	Cardiopulmonary reactions
Phenytoin Injection (Dilantin)	Purple Glove Syndrome
Quetiapine (Seroquel)	Overdose due to sample pack labeling confusion
Telbivudine (Tyzeka)	Peripheral neuropathy
Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) Blockers	Cancers in children and young adults

Exercise trumps obesity gene in study

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Vigorous physical activity can help even people genetically prone to obesity keep the weight off, U.S. researchers said on Monday.  They said a study among a group of Amish people found those who had an obesity-related gene called FTO but were very physically active weighed about the same as others who did not carry the gene
Full Text

Ask the Doctor- Ear, Nose & Throat, Hepatitis C, and Liver Transplant

Mount Sinai Medical Center has teamed with MedHelp.org  in opening up three new (free) ask the doctor forums:

Ear, Nose & Throat
Hepatitis C
Liver Transplant

The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The Mount Sinai Hospital is one of the nation’s oldest, largest and most-respected voluntary hospitals. Founded in 1852.

MedHelp, with over 5.5 million monthly users, is the largest online health community site connecting people with shared medical experiences. MedHelp provides its users with access to advice from experts at the top medical institutions such as the Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins, National Jewish Health, Partners Healthcare, and The Mount Sinai Medical Center.

Daily ibuprofen may cause heart risks

Posted by Reuters Health on Thursday, September 4, 2008

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ibuprofen may raise the risk of heart attacks and other fatal and serious problems when elderly people take it daily for arthritis, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.

They said the popular over-the-counter pain reliever was the only drug in the class that includes aspirin and other analgesics to raise the risk of serious heart disease -- along with the now-withdrawn COX-2 inhibitor Vioxx.

Full text at U.S. govermnent Medline Site...

Fish Oil Supplements Help With Heart Failure

From the Washington Post;

Daily supplements of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids -- the kind found in fish oil -- reduced deaths and hospitalizations of people with heart failure, an Italian study found.

But a cholesterol-lowering statin drug had no beneficial effect in a parallel heart failure trial.

"There is a benefit of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids for heart failure patients."

Full text at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/31/AR2008083100444.html