E-DRUG: Independent Drug & Healthcare Newsletter November 2015
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In Prescrire's Spotlight this month
E-cigarettes: similar efficacy to other nicotine delivery devices, but many uncertainties
FEATURED REVIEW How effective are e-cigarettes as an aid to smoking cessation, and what are their known adverse effects? To answer these questions, we conducted a review of the literature using the standard Prescrire methodology.
Full review (6 pages) available for download by subscribers.
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In the November issue of Prescrire International -
Ivabradine: European authorities have instituted precautionary measures, but stopped short of withdrawing this drug
FREE DOWNLOAD
Ivabradine offers no advantages over other options and is known to have sometimes fatal cardiovascular adverse effects. Since European health authorities have not yet decided to withdraw this drug from the market, it is advisable to simply avoid it.
Full text available for free download.
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Pharmacovigilance: don't rely on pharmaceutical companies
Various scandals have shown that pharmaceutical companies sometimes hush up data on adverse effects. And these scandals are not one-offs, as a US study shows.
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Atypical neuroleptics: renal failure in elderly patients
In addition to their many known adverse effects, neuroleptics expose elderly patients to renal failure.
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Pharmacovigilance: the contribution of France's regional centres
France's annual event "Les journées françaises de pharmacovigilance" allows a glimpse into the adverse effects reports gathered by the country's regional pharmacovigilance centres, and into the country's national database of pharmacovigilance information. Information that is useful for improving patient care.
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"Adaptive licensing" or "adaptive pathways":
Deregulation under the guise of earlier access (October 2015)
Joint briefing paper. "Adaptive pathways" raise numerous concerns from a public health perspective. The organisations that endorse this statement have closely monitored developments in EU pharmaceutical regulation for many years and put forward a critique of the "adaptive pathways concept". Implementing adaptive pathways could lead to a situation where premature marketing authorisations become the rule, even when no genuine public health need exists, therefore putting EU citizens' health unnecessarily at risk.
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