E-DRUG: Prescrire International, December 2007 Volume 16 N° 92
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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,
December 2007 Volume 16 N° 92
Editorial - Shocking market approval
- Unethical trials and reckless doctors
New Products . Etoricoxib (joint pain)
Avoid cox-2 inhibitors for pain
Editor's opinion: Etoricoxib - the unethical MEDAL programme
. Exenatide (type 2 diabetes)
For some overweight patients
. Buprenorphine + naloxone (opioid dependence)
No proof of reduced risk of self-administered injection
. Nebivolol (heart failure)
Me-too available in single dose strength only
. Paliperidone (schizophrenia)
Just a metabolite of risperidone
. Clofarabine (acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in children)
A last resort
. Alglucosidase alfa (Pompe disease)
A short-term benefit
. Intra-articular triamcinolone
(juvenile idiopathic arthritis)
Several months of relief
. Leuprorelin, triptorelin
(locally advanced prostate cancer)
Minimally assessed me-toos
. Ibuprofen (migraine attacks)
Don't begin with 400 mg
. Common stems - INNs
-amivir and -arabine
Shortcuts _________
. Tigecycline
. Daptomycin
Adverse effects
. Aluminium-containing transdermal patches:
a risk of burn
. Peripheral neuropathy and statins
. Levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine device
and uterine perforation
. Topical tacrolimus plus oral alcohol :
skin irritation
. Editor's opinion: Market withdrawal urgently needed
. Topical tacrolimus and risk of cancer
. Rimonabant: suicide and depression
. LMWH and renal failure: bleeding
. Glatiramer: cutaneous necrosis
Reviews
. Multiple sclerosis
Interferon beta for some serious forms
Prescrire's advice: Drug treatments for multiple sclerosis
Minireviews
. COPD: don't use fluticasone + salmeterol
. Elderly patients with dementia : towards less
neuroleptic use
. Diabetes prevention: still no effective drugs
Outlook
Editorial
. WHO: do as we say, not as we do...
Prevention
. Nutritional health warnings: just for show
Influence
. Treatment compliance: more complex
than it seems