• Lamotrigine (LAMICTAL) and Meningitis (August 17, 2010)

  View the entire September 2010 issue in PDF format

• The Dangers of Combining Sleeping Pills With Other Medication
  (September 2010)
  The article list 34 other medications that can harmfully interact with sleeping pills, increasing their sedative properties and causing excessive sedation. Excessive sedation at night could increase the risk of falls, should the person get up in the night for some reason. Moreover, excessive sedation causing respiratory depression could be dangerous for people with certain disorders, such as lung disease.
• Risk of Overdose — Rivastigmine Transdermal (Exelon) Patch for Alzheimer’s Disease
  (September 2010)
  Yet another problem has arisen with this drug which we have listed as DO NOT USE for a long time. There are a growing number of people who have unintentionally overdosed with the EXELON patch, leading to symptoms of toxicity described in the article. We also discuss ways of avoiding this dangerous overdose.
• Life-Threatening Side Effects With Quinine (QUALAQUIN)
  (September 2010)
  Quinine is only approved to treat malaria but most of the use is for treating or preventing nighttime leg cramps, a purpose for which there is no evidence of effectiveness. Among 38 reports of serious side effects, including two deaths and two dozen cases of serious blood reactions, almost all occurred in people using the drug for purposes other than malaria.
• French Court Dismisses AstraZeneca Complaint Against French Health Insurer Regarding CRESTOR
  (September 2010)
  Another blow for Crestor occurred when a French court upheld the right of health insurers to state that the drug does not provide any significant added benefit compared to other medicines and recommended that doctors should only prescribe it in serious cases.
• Beware: Bioidentical Hormones
  (September 2010)
  Many women are using so-called bioidentical hormones, "natural" and implicitly safer versions of prescription drugs such as Premarin, because the latter drugs have been found to cause breast cancer, heart disease and many other serious health problems. The article discusses the fact that these products can be expected to have the same serious adverse effects that con­ventional preparations have and that they have the added disadvantage of not being regulated and thereby having unpredictable amounts of ingredients.

  View the entire August 2010 issue in PDF format

• New Iloperidone (FANAPT) Is Not as Effective as Older Drugs For Schizophrenia Treatment
  (August 2010)
  The article explains why you should not use the new drug for schizophrenia, FANAPT.
• Possible Increased Risk of Fractures With Long-Term, High-Dose Use of Heartburn Drugs
  (August 2010)
  The article reviews evidence that patients 50 years old or older who take proton pump inhibitors (PPIs -- a list of the six approved ones is in the article) or use them for a year or more may be at increased risk of fractures of the hip, wrist and spine. Since much of the use of these drugs is inappropriate and unnecessarily dangerous, the article discusses pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic alternatives to PPIs.
• Vitamins and Minerals: A User’s Guide
  (August 2010)
  Vitamin and mineral supplements are a booming business in this coun­try. Many people are misled by ad­vertising into thinking that taking a supplement will help get rid of many of their health problems. But this is not the case.
• Interactions With Cancer Drug Vincristine (ONCOVIN)
  (August 2010)
  The article lists 34 prescription drugs that can have harmful interactions with vincristine. Recognizing signs of toxicity from vincristine early, as described in the article, is urgent because most of the side effects are reversible when the interacting drug is stopped and the patient receives corrective treatment.

  View the entire July 2010 issue in PDF format

• Zolpidem (AMBIEN) Reinvented As Zolpidem Sublingual (EDLUAR) For Sleep
  (July 2010)
  Learn more about zolpidem sublingual tablets (EDLUAR), a newly approved drug for the short-term treat­ment of difficulty falling asleep.
• Dexlansoprazole (KAPIDEX, DEXILANT): The Sixth Proton Pump Inhibitor for Heartburn
  (July 2010)
  This sixth drug for treating "heartburn" has no advantage for patients over older drugs such as PREVACID, generic name lansoprazole. Any advantage is for the industry because the manufacturer of DEXILANT charges three times more for this drug than the cost of generic lansoprazole, sold by another company and just as effective for patients.
• Preserving Bones with Bisphosphonates: Should You Avoid NSAIDs?
  (July 2010)
  It appears likely that patients who take bisphosphonates (such as FOSAMAX) and NSAIDs at the same time have an increased risk of gastrointestinal ulcers as opposed to taking either drug alone. The article reviews the studies demonstrating this and offers some practical advice on what the cautious drug user should do.
• Severe Liver Toxicity Added to Already Lengthy List of Risks for Diet Drug Orlistat (XENICAL, ALLI)
  (July 2010)
  New evidence of severe liver failure, sometimes fatal, caused by orlistat (over-the-counter as ALLI, prescription version, XENICAL) adds to the many other reasons why no one should use this drug. They include Do not use orlistat. This drug has a meager effect on weight, but its potential to cause serious side effects, including pre-cancerous lesions of the colon (aberrant crypt foci), liver damage and pancreatitis, is significant. The most common side effects of orlistat include oily spotting, gas with discharge, fecal urgency, fatty/oily stools and fre­quent bowel movements. The article lists symptoms of liver failure.
• Alternatives for Sleeping Problems
  (July 2010)
  Experts in sleep and aging have stated, “It’s extraordinarily rare to find an old person who actually requires sleeping pills." This article lists many over-the-counter and prescription drugs that can actually cause difficulty with sleeping and also discusses a variety of non-pharmacologic alternatives to sleeping pills. Sleep experts have also said that “Nonpharmacological treat­ments not only cause fewer side ef­fects, but they can sustain long-term improvements more successfully than pharmacological treatments.”

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• FDA’s Partial Hold on Unethical Diabetes Drug Trial Does Not Do Enough to Protect Patients (HRG Publication #1916) (August 17, 2010)
  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has gone only half-way in stopping the unethical TIDE study by halting the recruitment of any new patients. To allow the experiment to continue at all is a major breach in the FDA’s obligation to protect people in clinical trials.
• Testimony on Rosiglitazone (Avandia) Safety (HRG Publication #1913) (August 17, 2010)
  Rosiglitazone (Avandia) compares unfavorably to Pioglitazone (Actos) and should be removed from the market.