Long-term home treatment with once-daily subcutaneous (SQ) tinzaparin sodium (Innohep, Pharmion) appears to be effective for patients with deep-vein thrombosis (DVT), compared with “usual care”—tinzaparin followed by long-term therapy with warfarin generic sodium (Coumadin, Bristol-Myers Squibb).
Endo Pharmaceuticals has reintroduced valrubicin (Valstar) for patients with a form of bladder cancer. This is the only FDA-approved intravesical therapy for patients with carcinoma in situ (CIS) of the urinary bladder that is refractory to bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine for whom immediate removal of the bladder would be too risky. Valrubicin may be an option for patients who might have otherwise exhausted all other approved treatment alternatives, including BCG vaccine.
Shire’s Intuniv (guanfacine), a selective alpha2A receptor agonist, has been approved for the treatment of attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The product is indicated for children and adolescents 6 to 17 years of age and is expected to be available in November.
Carriers of a rare, genetic condition  called Gaucher’s disease, compared with the general public, have a five-times-greater risk of developing Parkinson’s disease (PD). A study from the National Institutes of Health suggests that mutations in the gene responsible for Gaucher’s disease are among the most significant risk factors found to date for PD.
An experimental anti-cocaine vaccine appears to result in a substantial reduction in cocaine use, according to a clinical trial supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
The anti-cocaine vaccine stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies. Unlike antibodies against infectious diseases, which deactivate disease-causing agents, anti-cocaine tablets antibodies attach themselves to cocaine molecules in the blood, preventing them from passing through the blood-brain barrier. By preventing the drug’s entry into the brain, the vaccine inhibits or blocks the cocaine-induced euphoria.
Scientists at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit have discovered a possible cause of the unrelenting chest pain in some patients with asbestos-related diseases and cancers treatment .
A patient was unknowingly exposed to taconite dust as a child by her father, a miner who had carried the taconite dust on his work clothes during the 1960s. Taconite is used to produce steel and road-patching material.
Unomedical, Inc., is conducting a voluntary recall of certain units of the single-patient use Manual Pulmonary Resuscitator (MPR). The recall affects MPRs made from July 2002 to March 2008.
This recall is being conducted because of a potential malfunction of certain units of the MPR drag, which may impair the ability of the device to generate the positive pressure necessary to function properly. Such a malfunction may create a situation in which the use of the product could potentially cause serious adverse health consequences or death.