Why do my medications cost so much? Are there ways to save money on my pills? [more inside]
posted by dances_with_sneetches on Oct 27, 2009 - 37 comments

Ambien Somnambulants. New works by Camille Rose Garcia. [Via] [more inside]
posted by homunculus on Sep 9, 2008 - 5 comments

Drugs in the water A new Associated Press study finds that "A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans." Surely, though, the detected quantities are far too small to have any effect on the public. Maybe not - "scant amounts may exert powerful effects". Also: "What makes pharmaceutical pollution so worrisome is that the usual safeguards that protect us from bacteria and toxins, fail to rid sewage of these chemicals." [more inside]
posted by Kirth Gerson on Mar 9, 2008 - 55 comments

A new peer-reviewed meta-analysis of clinical data demonstrates that four widely-prescribed SSRI anti-depressants, including Prozac and Effexor, are not more effective than placebos. Summary from the Guardian. [more inside]
posted by Rumple on Feb 25, 2008 - 86 comments

"Bill Maher: The Decider" [Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8, YouTube]. Maher at the top of his game.
posted by McLir on Jul 27, 2007 - 87 comments

Dying for Lifesaving Drugs: Will desperate patients destroy the pharmaceutical system that produces tomorrow's treatments?Reason Magazine
posted by BrotherCaine on Jul 26, 2007 - 43 comments

Fake Chinese Gylcerin kills hundreds, possibly thousands. So, if you thought melamine in pet food and food chain animal feed was bad, how do you feel about antifreeze in your medicine? The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning to drug manufacturers, suppliers and health professionals that counterfeit drug additives have been using diethyline glycol, or DEG (commonly used as antifreeze) as a substitute for glycerin in cough medicine, fever medication and injectable drugs. Hundreds, possibly thousands have been killed.
posted by dejah420 on May 7, 2007 - 79 comments

Newsfilter: The trial of a new drug to treat rheumatoid arthritis and leukaemia goes horribly wrong. 6 normally healthy volunteers have a freak reaction to the drug resulting in multiple organ failure. All 6 men are in intensive care. 4 are seriously ill while 2 remain in a critical condition. An eyewitness, fortunate to have taken only a placebo recalls the nightmare as the men around him begin to fall ill.
posted by piscatorius on Mar 16, 2006 - 98 comments

Sine-Off is the first brand of cold, flu and sinus congestion medicine to completely reformulate and remove pseudoephedrine, the key ingredient needed to make Crystal Meth.
posted by ijoshua on Feb 16, 2006 - 100 comments

"Well, a lot of people have said DEA is in the dark on these issues, but that is a little bit much." (.doc; long) Despite a power outage, an FDA-lead panel discusses how to manage abuse of the infamous opiod painkiller OxyContin. Purdue Pharma, its sole manufacturer, had tried to bring its more powerful successor Palladone (.pdf) to the market, before "dosage jump" issues lead to the drug being pulled by the FDA. Meanwhile, trucks loaded with $3mil dollars of "oxys" continue to get hijacked for a $15mil street turnover, despite GPS tracking and other high-tech security measures used for cigarette distribution. Doctors invariably shuffle pills sideways despite tamper-proof presciption pads (long). Purdue only stops selling more profitable and addictive double-doses of OxyContin after government pressure. On the level of the street, addicts who find themselves too tolerant to the drug find their needs more than adequately met when they can buy many more hits of heroin for the same cost. Philadelphia-based writer Jeff Deeney outlines some of these fascinating issues and more as he looks into how race, cost, manufacturing and distribution factors in OxyContin abuse invariably drive the addict to cheaper and more easily accessible heroin.
posted by Rothko on Feb 2, 2006 - 72 comments

The problem of fake pharmaceutical drugs
posted by daksya on Dec 22, 2005 - 21 comments

Pharmaceuticals have many tricks up their sleeves.
posted by reverenddrjice on Dec 2, 2005 - 21 comments

BigPharma investigates the profitable possibilities of the vampire
[flash, fake powerpoint presentation, long, you'll cease being productive for a while].
posted by moonbird on May 23, 2005 - 9 comments

Sovereign nations import prescription drugs from Canada. The latest loophole in the Canadian drugs saga: if you can't figure out a way to get your state to buy them, get Native Americans to import them for you. (Just make sure that they are, in fact, Indians.)
posted by gimonca on Mar 5, 2005 - 14 comments

Viva la Biotech Revolution! Embargo or no, Castro's socialist paradise has quietly become a pharmaceutical powerhouse.
posted by dov3 on Jan 18, 2005 - 16 comments

Tired? Need a boost? Everything you ever wanted to know about one of America's favourite energy boosters. This website contains 25 pages covering the history, uses (both legitimate and illegitimate), and biological characteristics of cocaine and the coca plant. An interesting read for those with time to kill (like me). Possibly NSFW.
posted by LunaticFringe on Dec 17, 2004 - 10 comments

Just Say No To Drug Reps.
posted by Gyan on Dec 4, 2004 - 40 comments

How to think about prescription drugs. Malcolm Gladwell's latest piece in The New Yorker
The emphasis of the prescription-drug debate is all wrong. We've been focussed on the drug manufacturers. But decisions about prevalence, therapeutic mix, and intensity aren't made by the producers of drugs. They’re made by the consumers of drugs.
posted by trharlan on Oct 31, 2004 - 20 comments

Now that Michael Moore's chosen to look at the American healthcare industry for his next film, Big Pharma is apparently on red alert for any of his trademark guerilla tactics. On his pre-election tour, Moore has been reading out a company-wide memo that he attributes to Viagra- and Vioxx-pushers Pfizer, warning employees to be prepared (and keep their gobs shut) in case of an inpromptu visit. Pfizer denies the memo exists, but in response, Moore says that the 'non-existent' memo also includes a Pfizer office number to report sightings. Perhaps we should call +1 212 733 2323 during New York office hours tomorrow and find out for certain? Or, alternatively, just mention that a large, unshaven man in a baseball cap has been lurking around any of these locations? (This one was too good to keep quiet about.)
posted by holgate on Oct 18, 2004 - 56 comments

Nootropics ("smart" drugs) - all wish to be smarter, correct ? And - while exercise, nutrition, learning, travel, and social interaction (the last 3 via release of neurotrophins) effectively do this, Nootropic drugs have been researched since the 1950's and have been shown to cause at least short term cognitive function enhancement. Piracetam, the first of this drugs, shows promise in the treatment of Alzheimer's and Attention deficit Disorder. Alas, as with poor little Algernon, the effect seems temporary. Nootropics can be a little difficult to acquire in the US. Beer is not a nootropic, but sex on the other hand.....
posted by troutfishing on Mar 5, 2004 - 20 comments

Painkillers destroy hearing - Looks like America's fascination with Vicodin, Oxycotin, and other hardcore painkillers has a lasting effect other than addiction. Studies are showing that "rapid hearing loss, even deafness, in some patients who are misusing the drugs". This is serious enough for Vicodin's manufacturer to add a "warning about the potential for hearing loss to the drug's label."

Is Rush Limbaugh's sudden deafness and recent involvement in a painkiller drug investigation simply a coincidence?
posted by Argyle on Oct 3, 2003 - 38 comments

At the WTO: At last, the USA backs away from the policy of putting intellectual property above innocent lives. Good news for everyone who cares about mankind.
posted by Pretty_Generic on Aug 30, 2003 - 10 comments

Want war without remorse? Take only as directed.
posted by LouReedsSon on Jan 22, 2003 - 24 comments

A dangerous drug... Is it possible that the anti-malaria drug Lariam contributed to the recent series of murders at Fort Bragg? Three of the soldiers involved were on the drug, which has been known to cause aggression, paranoia, hallucinations, and thoughts of suicide. After identifying the potential side-effects, why are we still prescribing this drug to our troops?
posted by greengrl on Aug 20, 2002 - 20 comments

The barbie drug, brown and hard anyone?
posted by bittennails on Aug 1, 2002 - 25 comments

Model health law empowers states. "Patients could be forced to take medicines or receive vaccines for contagious diseases that pose a public health threat, such as smallpox, under the model law." (originally published in Boston Globe, but that link is now gone)
posted by kat on Dec 22, 2001 - 2 comments

Why is everybody so happy?
This Thursday, U.S. regulators approved numerous copycat versions of Prozac. I wonder how long it will be until Bayer makes Flinstones Chewable Prozac for teens.
posted by lheiskell on Aug 2, 2001 - 34 comments

US drug patients vs. the world in AIDS crisis. Brazil is making generic AIDS medicine based upon existing drugs created (and of course patented) by US drug companies. the catch? they are giving the drugs away FOR FREE. US Drug companies want their money. the UN agreed ,52 in favor and 1 not in favor, for brazil's strategy for dealing with the AIDS crisis. guess who opposed.
posted by Qambient on May 31, 2001 - 38 comments

Drug companies drop AIDS drugs lawsuit against South Africa. Shamed into it, of course. Paid legal costs too. Perhaps a significant precedent?
posted by aflakete on Apr 19, 2001 - 2 comments

Free Market Failure?
The pharmaceutical companies profits have been rising faster than the S&P Industrials as a whole, mainly due to huge profits from drug patents. Not only are the drug companies milking American consumers, but their stranglehold on IP rights to new drugs prevents much-needed medicines from being affordable in many third-world countries. But, we can't take away patent rights or investors would flee the drug scene and new drugs wouldn't be developed at all. How do we solve this problem? The only institutions with the financial resources to do the same research as drug companies are national governments. And they have the obligation to protect the social welfare. Should we turn over pharmaceutical research and development to government?
posted by daveadams on Mar 27, 2001 - 17 comments

Merck to lower prices of HIV drugs for Africa It's not perfect and it's not much of a decrease, but it's a start and long overdue.
posted by gsh on Mar 7, 2001 - 4 comments

USA Network complies with Tylenol's request to halt production of a drug-tampering movie.
posted by gluechunk on Dec 6, 2000 - 11 comments