The Vienna Declaration: A Global Call to Action on Illicit Drugs Policy
2008 Nobel Laureate and International AIDS Society (IAS) Governing Council member Prof. Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, co-discoverer of HIV. (University of Cambodia )
Three leading scientific and health policy organizations today launched a global drive for signatories to the Vienna Declaration (www.viennadeclaration.com), a statement seeking to improve community health and safety by calling for the incorporation of scientific evidence into illicit drug policies. Among those supporting the declaration and urging others to sign is 2008 Nobel Laureate and International AIDS Society (IAS) Governing Council member Prof. Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, co-discoverer of HIV.
The Vienna Declaration is the official declaration of the XVIII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010), the biennial meeting of more than 20,000 HIV professionals, taking place in Vienna, Austria from 18 to 23 July 2010 (www.aids2010.org).
“Many of us in AIDS research and care confront the devastating impacts of misguided drug policies every day,” said AIDS 2010 Chair Dr. Julio Montaner, President of the IAS and Director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS. “These policies fuel the AIDS epidemic and result in violence, increased crime rates and destabilization of entire states – yet there is no evidence they have reduced rates of drug use or drug supply. As scientists, we are committed to raising our collective voice to promote evidence-based approaches to illicit drug policy that start by recognizing that addiction is a medical condition, not a crime.” (more…)
Drug Ads Can Be Harmful To Your Health
While the debate over prescription drug advertising persists, a new study released online in the American Journal of Public Health offers guidelines for improving drug ads in order to minimize potential harm and maximize benefits. The study reveals that while there are some benefits from prescription drug direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA), there are significant risks that are magnified by the prominence of DTCA.
“American television viewers see as many as 16 hours of prescription drug advertisements each year, and the reality is that these ads are not doing a good job of helping consumers make better decisions about their health,” said Dominick L. Frosch, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles and lead author of the study. “If the pharmaceutical industry isn’t willing to change the ads to make them more useful to consumers, Congress should consider passing legislation that will regulate the ads to improve the information provided in order to help patients make more informed choices.”
Several members of Congress, including Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., are calling for changes to FDA regulations of DTCA. Advocates for prescription drug ads claim that these ads educate consumers, improve the quality of care and contribute to better patient adherence. Opponents argue that they lead to inappropriate prescribing and portray nonmedical problems as treatable medical illnesses. (more…)
Computerized Support Keeps Prominence of Name Brand Drugs at Bay
Electronic alerts persuade clinicians to switch from costly drugs to generic brands.
Simple computerized alerts can help curb the impulse to prescribe unnecessarily expensive, heavily marketed drugs, according to a study in the August issue of Journal of General Internal Medicine. The study found that when clinicians received computerized alerts, which compared medication brands, they changed 23.3 percent of prescriptions for four heavily marketed sleep medications to comparable generic equivalents.
The alerts provided links to supplementary information, including supporting evidence for the recommendations, specific co-payment information and patient educational materials about sleep hygiene and insomnia. They were triggered when a new prescription for a heavily marketed drug appeared in the electronic health records system.
“Prescription drugs remain a key component of health care expenses, totaling more than $216 billion per year. If we can reduce unnecessary prescriptions for high-priced, heavily marketed drugs that are prescribed, we can directly lower some of the high costs associated with health care,” said Robert J. Fortuna, M.D., M.P.H., a senior instructor of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center. (more…)
Growing Evidence of Marijuana Smoke’s Potential Dangers
Smoking marijuana causes more damage to cells and DNA than smoking tobacco, scientists say. (Wikimedia Commons)
In a finding that challenges the increasingly popular belief that smoking marijuana is less harmful to health than smoking tobacco, researchers in Canada are reporting that smoking marijuana, like smoking tobacco, has toxic effects on cells. Their study is scheduled for the Aug. 17 issue of ACS’ Chemical Research in Toxicology, a monthly journal.
Rebecca Maertens and colleagues note that people often view marijuana as a “natural” product and less harmful than tobacco. As public attitudes toward marijuana change and legal restrictions ease in some countries, use of marijuana is increasing. Scientists know that marijuana smoke has adverse effects on the lungs. However, there is little knowledge about marijuana’s potential to cause lung cancer due to the difficulty in identifying and studying people who have smoked only marijuana. (more…)
Manipulating Antidepressant Clinical Study Results by Cherry Picking Participants
"Results from research studies suggest more optimistic outcomes than may exist for real-world patients receiving treatment for depression," said Stephen Wisniewski, Ph.D., professor of epidemiology and co-director of the Epidemiology Data Center, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.
Findings from clinical studies used to gain Food and Drug Administration approval of common antidepressants are not applicable to most patients with depression, according to a report led by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. Published in the May issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, the study suggests only a small percentage of people with depression qualify for these studies, and those who do not qualify are often treated with the same medications but may suffer poorer clinical outcomes.
A part of the National Institute of Mental Health-funded Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) project – the largest study of the treatment of depression conducted in the United States – researchers compared symptoms and outcomes in depressed patients who met phase III study inclusion criteria to those who did not. Phase III studies for antidepressants determine the effectiveness of the drug in comparison to a placebo. The inclusion criteria for these studies are not standardized nor subject to federal guidelines, resulting in some variation from study to study in the profile of eligible patients. Typically excluded are patients with milder forms of depression, who might be more likely to respond to a placebo drug, and those who may have chronic depression or psychiatric and medical co-morbidities – additional illnesses or conditions. (more…)
Drugs Sold in Sweden Cause Serious Environmental Harm Elsewhere
Main building of University of Gothenburg.
Many of the substances in our most common medicines are manufactured in India and China. Some of these factories release large quantities of antibiotics and other pharmaceutical substances to the environment. There is an obvious risk of these releases leading to resistant bacteria.
Research from the Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Sweden, shows that Sweden is a major consumer of pharmaceutical substances from factories that fail to adequately treat their wastewater. As it is difficult to find out where the pharmaceutical substances are manufactured and how much is released, it is impossible at present for consumers to avoid contributing to this environmental harm.
These findings are presented in the medical journal Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology and are highlighted today in a news article in Nature. Last week the research of the Swedish group became headline news in New York Times, Washington Post and Times of India. (more…)
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