AIDS, SARS and now H5NI; just a brief beginning or the end? As the virus moves towards Europe, and millions of birds are slaughtered, interest has risen in a Chinese herb, a patent-sharing controversy and drug stockpiling
The use of unlicensed and off-label medicines for children is widespread, yet over 50% of all pharmaceutical products have no scientific data for young people. With its Regulation on Medicinal Products for Paediatric Use the EU aims to promote the development of more medicines specifically for children.
At over 200 years old, it is also one of the oldest hospitals, yet is classed as one of the most up-to-date institutes in Europe.
Paris, France - The explosive growth in demand for drug eluting stents has shaped a market worth more than six billion euros annually.
USA - The 898-bed Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston - Harvard Medical School's biggest teaching hospital - has awarded a $3.4 million contract for 1,365 syringe pumps to Smiths Medical
Currently, five years of treatment with tamoxifen is considered the 'gold-standard' treatment for postmenopausal women with breast cancer. This drug blocks oestrogen, which can help fuel the growth of tumours in some cases.
Switzerland - Providing heroin addicts methadone or buprenorphine as a treatment for their addiction has led to a decline in the number of new heroin users in Zurich, according to a paper by Carlos Nordt and Rudolf Stohler from the Psychiatric University Hospital, Zurich, published in The Lancet.
USA - Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) could reduce the risk for breast cancer by 71%, according to recent studies published in the journal BMC Cancer. In colorectal cancer, these protective features of painkillers have already been known to exist for a while.
Czech Republic - The US firm Baxter International Inc. is to establish a production facility to produce a quite unique vaccine in CR. First discussed in December 2005, the plan appears to have made a significant step forward. Baxter specialises in medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology, and globally employs around 48,000 people in 64 manufacturing facilities, which include those in…
Following a 12-month examination of the way medical devices are monitored for safety after approval, the USA's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has launched a new programme to `transform and strengthen´ current monitoring of new technology as well as existing products.
England - The Thames Gateway Business Awards
Austria - A call for the EU and national governments to establish and extend a legal framework for environmental standards in society and healthcare facilities was made by the organisers of `CleanMed Europe´, the first European conference to focus on sustainable healthcare products and practices.
Peter Loescher has worked at the cutting edge of the pharmaceutical industry for 17 years. In the latter part of this period, for example, he headed Hoechst's division in Japan, where he was also spokesperson for the European pharmaceutical industry, negotiating with the Japanese government during its healthcare reform in 2002.
Five years of therapy with the drug tamoxifen has become the norm for postmenopausal women with hormone-sensitive breast cancer. However, this has several adverse side effects, and studies have continued to compare the effects of other drug therapies with tamoxifen.
Although most patients do not react badly to prescriptions, a new study has found that one in 16 hospital admissions (in two hospitals) were caused by adverse drug reactions, and these resulted in an average of 8-day inpatient stays, using 4% of the hospitals' bed capacity.
Sildenafil, an active agent used in the impotence drug Viagra, has been administered to seven young mountaineers on an Everest expedition, to test its effect on the lungs. Seven other men on the expedition are receiving a placebo.
Forli, Italy - With construction almost completed, the 550-bed Ospedale Nuovo G B Morgagni can now provide state of the art services for the community it serves.
TB causes three million deaths annually, ranking it higher than any other infectious disease. And TB has resurged in Europe. In August, the British Thoracic Society, British Lung Foundation and TB Alert highlighted its increase in over the last 15 years in the UK alone.
Scientists at biopharm firm Pathogen Removal and Diagnostic Technologies Inc* (PRDT) recently confirmed their identification of lead ligands capable of specifically targeting certain 'challenging' viruses.
A newly invented 'Polypill', composed of currently available drugs, may act as a 'vaccine' against heart disease, according to new research published in the British Medical Journal (28 June. BMJ 2003;326:1419).
'Genetics offers prediction of risk, more precise diagnosis, more targeted and effective use of existing drugs, new gene-based drugs and therapies, and prevention and treatment regimes tailored to an individual's genetic profile.'
Ethyl Chloride skin refrigerants made by the Gebauer Company, of Cleveland, Ohio (established over 100 years ago) have received the CE Mark of approval.
Medication regimes based on cocktails of antiretroviral drugs can reduce the AIDS virus to almost undetectable levels.
France - Four studies of three TAXUS paclitaxel-eluting stents have demonstrated their safety and efficacy, according to the maker, Boston Scientific Corporation of Natick, Maryland, USA.
Todays test formats (gel technology, micro test plates), plus laboratory electronic data processing and automation, have changed the classic format of blood group serological examinations significantly - and reduced the danger of life-threatening errors.
