prescription drugs

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More Students Get Fix From Study Drugs

Adderall, Ritalin used to boost concentration despite health risks

(Newser) - Attention-deficit disorder drugs such as Adderall and Ritalin are gaining popularity on college campuses as an easy way for students to knuckle down, NPR reports. The drugs offer a “perfect kind of transition into a study mentality,” says one student, and can make work more pleasurable. But they’...

Abdul Stalker Committed Suicide by Overdose

(Newser) - The American Idol hopeful and Paula Abdul fan found dead outside the celebrity’s LA home in November committed suicide with prescription drugs, the AP reports. A coroner’s report, delayed for toxicology tests, did not specify which drugs killed Paula Goodspeed. Police had long suspected suicide, though no note...

Drug Ads Losing Power, Study Says

Most patients don't ask for drugs by name

(Newser) - Maybe it's the extensive warnings at the end of drug commercials, but few Americans request prescription drugs by name, a new study shows. In Colorado, only 3.5% of patients—half the number of 2003—requested specific medicine from doctors. This is despite more than $5 billion pharmaceuticals pay to...

Bush's Top 10 Successes
 Bush's Top 10 Successes 

Bush's Top 10 Successes

From rejecting the Kyoto Protocol to the surge

(Newser) - Forget what you’ve heard about W’s presidency, writes Fred Barnes in the Weekly Standard. His decisive courage gave his term many successes:
  • Rejecting the Kyoto Protocol: The treaty was broken—it exempted India and China from carbon emissions responsibility—but only Bush had the courage to say so.
...

Sopranos Actor Gets Reduced Sentence for Deadly Robbery

Brancato gets 10 years for role in cop killing

(Newser) - Lillo Brancato was given a reduced sentence of 10 years in prison for the attempted burglary that ended in the murder of an off-duty police officer, the New York Daily News reports today. The ex-Sopranos actor, 32, also got 5 years of probation for the botched prescription-drug robbery, during which...

Seniors, Remember Ledger: Don't Mix Meds

Seniors in danger from drug interactions

(Newser) - Millions of older Americans take so many prescription and over-the-counter drugs that they risk serious side effects from the drugs’ interactions, USA Today reports. A new study found that about 30% of people aged 57 to 85 now take at least five prescription drugs regularly—plus non-prescription medications and supplements—...

New Yorkers Fight Crisis With Pills

Prescriptions shoot up in Sept., Oct.

(Newser) - At least there's one market that's booming in New York—the market for pills for your sleeplessness, anxiety, and depression, Crain’s New York Business reports. The meltdown in the financial industry has caused a surge in prescriptions: In September, as Lehman Brothers was collapsing, and AIG and Merrill Lynch...

Money or Your Life? Brits Weigh Drug Cost Vs. Benefit

With its restrictions forcing companies to lower prices, some see 'workable paradigm' for US

(Newser) - A British government institute that approves drugs based on cost-benefit analysis is coming under fire at home even as other countries are seeing it as a model for bringing down costs, the New York Times reports. Though the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence often balks at expensive life-prolonging...

Drug Companies Hide Data From Docs
Drug Companies Hide Data
From Docs

Drug Companies Hide Data From Docs

Edited info could mislead those prescribing meds

(Newser) - Pharmaceutical companies aren't as upfront with doctors as they are with the government about their new products, a study finds. Though drug companies must provide the FDA with all of the data from clinical trials, related papers published in medical journals were found to omit info from 20% of the...

Winehouse Back in Hospital
 Winehouse Back in Hospital 

Winehouse Back in Hospital

Singer has bad reaction to drugs

(Newser) - Troubled singer Amy Winehouse was back in the hospital Sunday following a bad reaction to medication, the AP reports. Sources told the Sun the real cause was a drink-and-drug binge following a “screaming row” with husband Blake Fielder-Civil, which ended with Winehouse collapsing in a seizure. A spokesman for...

Medicaid Spends Millions on Drugs FDA Never Approved

FDA loophole allows potentially-lethal drugs to stay in market

(Newser) - Taxpayer dollars still pay for unapproved prescription drugs that have sold for decades and are linked to dozens of deaths, the AP reports. In the past 5 years, at least $200 million has been paid for drugs like cold and pain medications that were never approved by the FDA, yet...

Warning Labels Can Be Hazardous to Your Health

Prescription labels, doctor's cues can trigger symptoms

(Newser) - Ignorance truly is bliss when it comes to prescription drugs. The side effects listed on warning labels have a self-fulfilling quality, researchers tell the Wall Street Journal. People sensitive to this "nocebo effect" should think twice before reading that their pills can cause nausea, vomiting, irritability, or difficulty concentrating....

Locklear Indicted on DUI Charge
Locklear Indicted
on DUI Charge

Locklear Indicted on DUI Charge

(Newser) - Prosecutors today charged Heather Locklear with driving under the influence of drugs, People reports. Filed by the district attorney in Santa Barbara, Calif., 2 months after Locklear's DUI arrest, the misdemeanor charge blames her intoxication on "prescription medications." A conviction could force the actress, 47, to pay...

Pinched Patients Skimping on Vital Medication

Docs warn trend could cause health care time bomb

(Newser) - Cash-strapped consumers nationwide are risking their health by cutting back on prescription drugs, the New York Times reports. Some try to stretch out their supply by splitting their pills in half or taking them every other day. Others choose for themselves which medications to stop taking, increasing the chances of...

Feds Bust One of World's Largest Spammers

Feds say network sent 10B emails a day

(Newser) - Thank the feds if you find fewer offers for Viagra in your inbox today. The FTC says it shut down one of the world's largest spam operations, which promoted the sale of prescription drugs and male enhancement pills by way of billions of illegal email messages, the Chicago Tribune reports....

Tight Budgets Pinch Health Care Spending

As consumers prioritize, medical expenses lose out

(Newser) - Yet another casualty of the recession could wind up being an irreplaceable one: Americans' health. Consumers are increasingly skipping doctor visits and skimping on prescription meds, the Wall Street Journal reports. "It's hard to get people to follow up when they're having to decide between the gas bill, the...

Overdose Deaths Spike
 Overdose Deaths Spike

Overdose Deaths Spike

Problem linked to patients sent home early with powerful prescriptions

(Newser) - The number of deaths caused by fatal combinations of prescription medications with alcohol or street drugs has exploded in recent years in part because patients are being released from hospitals early, according to researchers. Such deaths rocketed from 92 in 1983 to 3,792 in 2004, reports MSNBC.

Parkinson's Drugs Trigger Compulsive Behavior

Patients report sudden onset of addictions

(Newser) - Drugs for Parkinson's disease can be enormously beneficial, relieving patients' tremors and rigid muscles. But some patients are now complaining of an unusual side effect—extreme compulsive behavior. One woman began taking Mirapex to combat symptoms and suddenly found herself with a $200-a-day scratch-off lottery ticket habit, reports the Chicago ...

Mental Illness Drove NIU Killer to Suicide Tries

Army kicked gunman Kazmierczak out over mental health history

(Newser) - The shooter who left 5 dead and 15 injured at Northern Illinois University in February had tried to kill himself four times, an investigative effort by Esquire finds. “I want to die. Life sucks,” Steve Kazmierczak told a nurse after attempting to overdose on prescription medication while in...

Popular Cancer Drug Is Iffy and Expensive

Widely prescribed Avastin doesn't prolong life, studies say

(Newser) - Avastin is one of the most widely prescribed cancer drugs in the world, but it might not work, the New York Times reports. The drug, made by Genentech, brings in about $2.3 billion a year in the US alone, but recent trials have shown that though the drug shrinks...

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