Health

British surgeons: Ban metal-on-metal hip joints

The British Hip Society, consisting of surgeons and scientists who work with the hip joint, has issued a recommendation that the use of metal-on-metal hip implants be discontinued because of their high early failure rate.

The Daily Telegraph quotes Joe Dias, president of the British Orthopaedic Association, as saying that about 5.5 percent of the large metal-on-metal implants – in which the ball and the socket are both coated with metal — needed to be replaced because of wear-and-tear within five ...

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Frequent, long-term monitoring recommended for hip implants

According to an article in the New York Times, British health regulators are recommending that patients who received a certain type of metal-on-metal hip implant get annual examinations for as long as they have the devices, because of concerns that the implants will shed pieces of metallic debris as they wear.

Previously, the health regulators had recommended that the patients be monitored for five years. But recent data show the hip implants in question – consisting of both a ball and ...

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Formulation with controversial compound approved

The federal Food and Drug Administration has approved a new, lower-dose formulation of a Bayer corporation drug used to treat menopausal symptoms.

The drug Angeliq contains drospirenone, a synthetic progestogen that may elevate the levels of potassium in the body.

“We are pleased by the approval of this important new lower-dose option for menopausal women,” Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals VP and head of U.S. medical affairs Pamela Cyrus said. “The availability of the new lower dose of Angeliq supports current guidelines which recommend ...

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Bayer suing over controversial birth control

Bloomberg reports that a unit of Bayer is suing generic drug manufacturer Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. over allegations that Watson has violated a patent for Beyaz birth control pills.

A spokesman for New Jersey-based Watson said the company intends to contest Bayer’s claims.

Bayer has requested that a judge ban the sale of birth control pills based on the patent.

Beyaz and other birth control pills containing the compound drospirenone has served as the basis of read more.... --> continue reading...

FDA warns of mixing statins, protease inhibitors

The federal Food and Drug Administration put out a warning on March 1 about mixing protease inhibitors, used to treat HIV and hepatitis C, and certain types of the cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins.

The combination of the drugs can cause a form of muscle injury called myopathy, according to the FDA. The most serious form of myopathy, called rabdomyolosis, can lead to deadly kidney failure.

According to the FDA, labels for both the protease inhibitors and the affected statins are being updated ...

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FDA to study misleading ads such as the 2007-2008 Yaz commercials

The federal Food and Drug Administration will study the impact of “corrective” advertising on consumers’ false perceptions of drug safety and effectiveness.

In a notice posted to the Feb. 29 Federal Register, the agency cited ads run by Bayer in 2009 at FDA’s behest to correct false or misleading claims and omissions it had made when advertising Yaz.

But the agency said: “researchers and policymakers currently lack exhaustive empirical literature regarding the various impacts of corrective (direct-to-consumer) advertisements on prescription drug consumers. ...

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