E-DRUG: Independent Drug and Healthcare Newsletter for December 2020
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsletter, December 2020
Independant information by and for healthcare professionals
View the contents
If your friends or colleagues would be interested, forward this email and invite them to sign up for the free Newsletter.
Like what you see?
Subscribe to Prescrire International : Prescrire IN ENGLISH - Offers - Subscribe now, or renew subscription - <span style="font-size:13px">Subscribe or renew online</span>
In Prescrire's Spotlight this month :
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
FEATURED REVIEW
Fexinidazole (Fexinidazole Winthrop°) and sleeping sickness caused by Trypanosoma brucei gambiense
Human African trypanosomiasis (or sleeping sickness) is endemic in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Is fexinidazole more effective than the standard treatments for sleeping sickness due to T. brucei gambiense? Does it have fewer adverse effects? Is it easier to use?
Read more
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FREE DOWNLOAD
In the December issue of Prescrire International: Betibeglogene autotemcel (Zynteglo°) in certain forms of severe beta thalassaemia
Despite the uncertainties, an option for achieving transfusion independence in the absence of a compatible donor.
Read more
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEWS UPDATE
Evaluation of covid-19 vaccines: the questions to ask
November 2020 has seen a flurry of press releases announcing effective, and apparently relatively safe, vaccines against covid-19. However, as no detailed results have been released, it is impossible to assess the quality and relevance of these claims. When we finally have more than headlines to go on, what questions will need to be asked about these clinical trials? The answers will help determine the usefulness of these vaccines and define the vaccination strategy, taking account of the interests of vaccinees and society as a whole.
Read more
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
EDITORIAL
An exemplary initiative
A successful collaboration between the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) and several other entities has shown that it is possible to develop drugs that satisfy a genuine need, with the sole aim of providing a therapeutic advance, without the promise of exclusive market access or huge profits.
Read more
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ADVERSE EFFECTS
Depression: cardiac risks with citalopram (Seropram° and other brands), even greater if combined with omeprazole (Mopral° and other brands)
Citalopram (Seropram° and other brands), an antidepressant, carries a risk of cardiac rhythm disorders and sudden death, all the more so when combined with omeprazole (Mopral° and other brands), which is often used for gastric reflux and peptic ulcers.
Read more
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
OUTLOOK
Drug research: public funding, private profits
Drug companies receive many direct and indirect forms of public aid for pharmaceutical research, but the allocation of this aid lacks transparency, and recipients are not required to market the drugs concerned at affordable prices.
Read more
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
OUTLOOK
Mediator°: all wrong from the very start
In June 2020, at the end of France's Mediator° trial, the two prosecutors concluded that all the defendants were guilty of the offences with which they were charged. The judges' ruling is expected for 2021.
Read more
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMING SOON
Enjoy these features, and more, in our upcoming issues
Esketamine and depression: not acceptable
Tafamidis and transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy: a real advance
SSRI antidepressants and pregnancy
Gout attack pain
The invention of antidepressants...
Subscribe now
Prescrire International <international@prescrire.org>