E-DRUG: Prescrire International, August 2007
-------------------------------------------
Prescrire International is the English language edition of the reference French journal la revue Prescrire. It contains comparative evaluation of new drug interventions, reviews of adverse effects, and papers on drug policy issues.
Prescrire International is totally funded by subscribers, with no support from pharmaceutical industry or government. It is published six times a year and health professionals in low income countries can also benefit from the journal thanks to Solidarity Subscription Rates. Drug companies are excluded from applying to Solidarity Rates.
Contents of Prescrire International,
August 2007 Volume 16 N° 90
Editorial
· Preventing the preventable
The methotrexate lesson
New Products
· Palifermin (oral mucositis)
Inappropriate evaluation
· Sunitinib (gastrointestinal stromal tumours and metastatic renal carcinoma)
For some gastrointestinal stromal tumours
· Sorafenib (second-line treatment of kidney cancer)
A last resort
· Pioglitazone + metformin, Rosiglitazone + glimepiride, Pioglitazone + glimepiride (type 2 diabetes)
Combination products to avoid
Editor's opinion: Avoid prescribing glitazones to diabetes patients, either alone or in combination
· Clopidogrel (myocardial infarction)
Editor's opinion: What a shame!
· Finasteride (benign prostatic hypertrophy)
Sexual disorders
· Lopinavir + ritonavir tablets (new formulation)
A formulation suited to hot climates
· Nasal azelastine for self-medication
Modest symptomatic relief from rhinitis
Adverse effects
· Oral methotrexate: preventing avoidable overdose
Prescrire's proposals: Preventing oral methotrexate overdose
· Leukaemia due to mitoxantrone
· Angiotensin-II receptor antagonist + diuretic + nsaid = danger
· Epoetin: dose-dependent excess mortality
Reviews
· Chronic hepatitis B
A wider range of therapeutic options
Prescrire's proposals: Management of chronic hepatitis B
· Obesity: weight loss without drugs
A balanced diet avoiding high-calorie foods, plus exercise
Prescrire's proposals: Helping obese patients to lose weight without drugs
Minireviews
· Juvenile idiopathic arthritis: some progress but still many uncertainties
Outlook
Editorial
· Duplicate publications of the same trial
About Prescrire
· Association Mieux Prescrire (AMP)
A professional movement aimed at promoting quality healthcare
Guideline watch
· French Health Agency guidelines
Separating the good from the bad
· Drug treatment for type 2 diabetes:
French Health Agency's guidelines highlight heavily-promoted new drugs and ignore some clinical realities
Health and society
· Shaping diseases: marketing departments flex their wings
Refuse commercially-motivated disease definitions