Drug patch stolen from senior's arm

I would suspect that the patch in question contained fentanyl. I'm pretty sure it's the only narcotic transdermal patch on the market. It's kind of scary, but I'm also surprised that this hasn't happened before (that I can recall).

From UPI:
Canadian police in the northern Ontario city of Thunder Bay were investigating the theft of a prescription patch from a man's arm in a nursing home.

The Chronicle Herald reported the theft happened around 11 a.m. Sunday, when a woman entered the unidentified 65-year-old man's room at Roseview Manor and ripped off the patch.

Neither the facility nor police would say what medication
was in the patch, the newspaper said. ...more

Some anti-acid meds may reduce Plavix efficacy

From CTV News:
Patients who are prescribed popular blood-thinning drug to prevent a heart attack while at the same time take certain anti-acid medications may actually boost their risk of having a heart attack, a new study suggests.

Canadian researchers have found that heart attack patients who take the blood-thinning drug clopidogrel (Plavix) have a 40 per cent greater risk of suffering another heart attack if they are also taking one of a number of proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs).

PPIs block the production of stomach acid and are used to treat conditions such as ulcers and acid reflux disease.

The PPIs linked to the increased heart attack risk are: omeprazole (Losec), lansoprazole (Prevacid) and rabeprazole (Pariet).

The researchers, who hail from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) in Toronto, say that they did not find an increased heart attack risk among patients taking the PPI pantoprazole (Pantoloc). They also did not find an increased risk among patients taking anti-acid medications known as H2 receptor antagonists, such as Pepcid or Zantac. ...more

Canadian supplier drops out of Illinois governor's drug-import plan

From Metro News:
The Canadian supplier of low-cost drugs to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's drug-import program has dropped out, saying state officials are just paying lip service to its promotion.

Pegasus Health Services Ltd. of Calgary says it has filled its last prescription for I-SaveRx - a lower-cost prescription drug program that Blagojevich has trumpeted as an effort to help people.

But U.S. law prohibits imports of foreign drugs and the creation of the program is among the impeachment charges against Blagojevich.

The Illinois governor is boycotting the state senate's trial over his ouster.

Company official Lewis Jorgenson says the program cost Pegasus hundreds of thousands of dollars, but Illinois and the four other states that joined showed no follow-through.

He would not specify how much the company - the only vendor for I-SaveRx - has lost, but says the last prescription was filled Dec. 31.

"It looks good in the press, that they're starting the I-Save program, but they just talk about it, there's no action, so it's just a waste of everybody's time," Jorgenson told The Associated Press on Monday. ...more

Two in Cochrane arrested, charged for pharmacy robbery spree

From the Calgary Herald:
Police have captured two Cochrane residents after they allegedly went on a robbery spree in the pursuit of OxyContin, a highly addictive painkiller.

Robert Gauthier, 33, has been charged with eight counts of robbery, eight counts of possession of a controlled substance and one count of being in possession of a weapon dangerous to public peace.

Dawn Farkas, 26, has been charged with 11 counts of robbery and 10 counts of being in possession of a controlled substance.

Police say the pair may have been involved in 11 pharmacy robberies between Oct. 17, 2008 and Friday Jan. 23, 2009. Last week, authorities released photographs of the two people allegedly robbing the stores and say that brought them numerous tips, which help in the suspects' capture, officials said.

Both Farkas and Gauthier turned themselves in to police Sunday. ...more

Drug for sale despite Health Canada warning

From CBC News:
A drug currently available in some Canadian stores — said to induce the same kind of "high" as the street drug ecstasy — may pose serious health risks, Health Canada says.

Nevertheless, the department says, it has seen a steady increase in shipments of the drugs to the country — which are manufactured in the United States by Stargate International and sold and distributed by Purepillz, a Canadian retailer.

Four products — Peaq, Freq, PureRush and PureSpun — are promoted on the Purepillz website as "social tonics," Health Canada said.

The pills, which contain some of the same amphetamines found in ecstasy, induce "kind of like a body high — nice and mellow," said Carry Dobson, of Calgary. "Your sensation of touch is heightened. So, you know, it feels pretty good."

However, the pills can "lead to dehydration, increased blood pressure, possibly seizures," warned Dr. Wende Wood of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto.

In July, Health Canada issued this warning: "Health Canada advises Canadians not to purchase these products from the Internet or any other source" and "is taking enforcement action" to make sure the companies stop selling them. ...more

Pfizer buys Wyeth for $68-billion

From the Globe and Mail:
Pfizer Inc. is buying rival drug maker Wyeth in a $68-billion (U.S.) deal that will increase its revenue by 50 per cent, solidify its No. 1 rank in the troubled industry and transform it from a pure pharmaceutical company into a diversified health care giant.

At the same time, Pfizer announced cost cuts that include slashing more than 8,000 jobs as it prepares for an expected revenue crash when its cholesterol drug Lipitor — the world's top-selling medicine and source of one-quarter of Pfizer's revenue — loses patent protection in November, 2011.

There was no immediate word on whether the cuts would impact the company's Canadian operations, which employ more than 1,400 staff at facilities in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec.

The cash-and-stock deal, expected to close at the end of the third quarter or in the fourth quarter, comes as Pfizer's profit takes a brutal hit from a $2.3-billion legal settlement over allegations it marketed certain products for indications that have not been approved. The New York-based company is also cutting 10 per cent of its work force of 81,900, slashing its dividend, and reducing the number of manufacturing sites from 46 to 41. Those closures, and reducing its facilities square footage by about 15 per cent, will cost about $6-billion before taxes, of which $1.5-billion has been incurred, Pfizer said.

After the deal closes Pfizer expects to cut more jobs. The company said it expects eventually to cut the companies' combined work force by 15 per cent, a figure that the Pfizer cuts announced Monday. ...more

Kids' cholesterol pills worry MDs

From the Vancouver Sun:
Canada's top medical journal is warning doctors about giving cholesterol pills to children, saying there is scant direct evidence statins are safe for children and that doctors risk committing kids to "decades of therapy."

Millions of Canadian adults take the cholesterol reducers to lower their risk of heart attacks and cardiovascular disease.

Now, the American Academy of Pediatrics says the drugs should be considered for children as young as eight who have high concentrations of LDL, or low-density lipoprotein, the "bad" cholesterol.

But a leading editorial in this week's Canadian Medical Association Journal says statins haven't been widely tested in children, most studies involved kids whose high cholesterol is due to an inherited blood disorder -- not obesity -- and that only one study followed children for more than a year. ...more

B.C. genetics researchers work to predict drug reactions in children

From CBC News:
A new research project in British Columbia aims to develop a tool to allow drug doses for children to be tailored to their individual genetic makeup in order to help prevent potentially life-threatening drug reactions.

According to Health Canada, more than half of newly approved therapeutic health products prompt serious reactions that are discovered only after the product reaches the market. Three-quarters of medications have never been tested in children.

Dana Tent recalled how her son's hearing was damaged after he reacted to the cancer medication cisplatin. ...more

Sask. pharmacists to assist smokers

From the Regina Leader Post:
Saskatchewan pharmacists have made a “PACT” to help smokers kick the habit of tobacco use.

The Partnership to Assist with Cessation of Tobacco (PACT) was launched by the Pharmacists’ Association of Saskatchewan (PAS) in Regina on Thursday. Smokers who are interested in quitting will now have access to free counselling services from 200 Saskatchewan pharmacists trained in the PACT program.

PAS chairman Harold Just said the pharmacists are trained to help people assess their specific needs for beating the addiction.

“Research shows that professional counselling can double or even triple an individual’s chance of success,” said Just. “We believe that store-front counselling in place will help many people be successful in quitting tobacco.”

Janice Burgess, director of professional practice for PAS, was involved in training pharmacists in 19 workshops around the province. She said the first half of the four-hour workshop was a review of tobacco use trends, nicotine and its effect on the body and pharmaceutical therapy to beat the addiction. ...more

“Virtual Patient” helps train pharmacists of the future

From the Innovations Report (Germany):
Students in the Staffordshire-based university’s School of Pharmacy interact with the computer-generated characters to gain experience in effective communication and decision-making.

Learners talk with the “patient” via voice recognition technology or by typing questions into a standard computer interface and the “patient” responds verbally or with a range of non-verbal gestures to indicate emotions such as pain, stress or anxiety. At the end of the session the “patient” gives feedback to the trainee about their performance.

The Virtual Patient can be used to explore a number of different conditions, including dyspepsia and hypertension. When ethnicity, age or gender are relevant to the treatment of the patient, the case can be designed to demonstrate to the learner how such factors are clinically significant.

The Keele team are now working on a £50,000 project for Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, developing a new set of four avatars for their new undergraduate pharmacy programme.

They have also developed a “virtual doctor” to help with the training of pharmaceutical sales representatives. The system can be used in a classroom setting or for distance learning via the internet. ...more

Chemists to provide obesity pill

From BBC News:
The obesity pill, orlistat, has been licensed to be sold over-the-counter at chemists in the EU.

The pill, which works by blocking the absorption of fat in the body, will be available at a lower dose than doctors generally prescribe.

It is aimed at adults with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 28 or more.

One expert said it may help some people with weight loss but they would have to take a conscious decision to eat less fatty foods.

The Royal College of GPs said everyone who wanted the pill should go to their GP for advice because some of them would have treatable causes for their obesity - and all of them would have risk factors for other illnesses which would need to be discussed.

GlaxoSmithKline, who make the pill known commercially as alli, say their clinical trials show that adding orlistat to a reduced calorie, lower fat diet, can help people lose 50% more weight than dieting alone.

But if they persist in eating fat, they will experience some nasty side effects such as diarrhoea and gas problems. ...more

Survey reveals poor relations between pharmacists & clients

From the Taiwan News:
More than 40% of citizens don't talk to the pharmacist when they visit pharmacy and buy drugs, said a survey jointly conducted by Common Health Magazine and the Bureau of Pharmaceutical Affairs, Department of Health.

The survey covered a total number of 3,554 pharmacies islandwide. Researchers interviewed 1,294 citizens who are over 40 and found out 32% of them don't make sure the person who sells them drugs is a licensed pharmacist.

In addition to that, more than 85% of elder people go to pharmacies on their own, and nearly half of them don't ask questions at all. Buying drugs has become an act that is simple as buying a drink. ...more

MDs give OK to hormone therapy

From Canada.com:
With unprecedented numbers of Canadian women about to enter menopause, Canadian doctors are telling women it's safe to go back on hormones.

An expert panel convened by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada has concluded that no treatment is as effective as hormone therapy for hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause.

The group says an "extensive" review of new data -- along with a re-analysis of a massive study that led women to abandon hormones in droves seven years ago -- shows hormones are a safe option for moderate to severe symptoms, if started early and used over the short term.

A woman holds her HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) patches. Canadian doctors are telling women it's safe to go back on hormones.

The group is recommending using the lowest effective dose. And while there is no fixed timeline, they suggest taking it for "four to five years is a good starting point," said Dr. Robert Reid, lead author of the updated guidelines and chairman of the division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Queen's University.

"A lot of women were told point-blank, 'Stop your hormones. Suck it up.' And they're in my office with terrible hot flashes and irritability and depression and other mood things, and they're saying, 'My doctor won't prescribe (hormones) for me,' " Dr. Reid said. "What we're trying to do is ensure people who have symptoms that may benefit aren't afraid to put (hormones) on the list of options." ...more

Hey dude, check out the flower-power tower

From the Globe and Mail:
You can see it on the ski slopes - the dazzling grids of colour splashed all over this season's snowboarder jackets, and the lusciously oversized flowers on the latest skis. Even the psychedelic video projection in the Museum of Modern Art's atrium (big, bright, wild shapes flowing over the walls and the bodies of New Yorkers) is a much-needed love-in. And Barack Obama has been inaugurated as 44th president of the United States - of things old and true.

It's flower power all over again. And the love is touching architecture.

Just when we had grown weary of green-tinted glass infecting our cities like the winter flu, a building comes along that replaces the deadening curtain wall with a contemporary tapestry alive with lushly painted flowers and medicinal herbs. University of Waterloo's School of Pharmacy by Hariri Pontarini Architects is irreverent, gutsy and imperfect. Most compelling is the way a seven-storey building can communicate, even in the winter-weary downtown of Kitchener, Ont., that maybe, yes, strawberry fields are forever.

The building is part of the university's health-sciences campus, a potent mix of academic research and family medicine, designed to trigger the revitalization of an early-20th-century warehouse district. The city of Kitchener has donated $30-million to the building, as well as the land: an eight-acre (about 31/4-hectare) site at the corner of King and Victoria streets. A centre for family medicine - with offices and 27 examining rooms, also designed by HP Architects - is under construction next door to the $53-million pharmacy school. The two buildings will be connected by an atrium. Public space, designed by Claude Cormier, will feature a grassy courtyard with honey-locust trees, and a streetscape lined by that hearty hybrid, the accolade elm. ...more

Crime spree targeting Calgary-area pharmacies

From the Calgary Herald:
Two robbers after a highly-addictive painkiller have held up at least 10 Calgary-area pharmacies, and police are concerned they're getting more violent.

In each case, the man and woman responsible have taken oxycodone, a powerful prescription drug that has become a commodity on the illegal drug market.

Oxycodone -- sold under the commercial name OxyContin-- can be fatal if misused, but police are also concerned the couple suspected of committing the robberies poses a threat to the public as they become increasingly desperate for the drug and more aggressive toward their victims. ...more

B.C. plan requiring people to switch to cheaper drugs costs more, study says

From the Canadian Press:
British Columbia's drug coverage plan has cost the province more money than it was supposed to save while worsening patients' health because of a policy that forces them to take cheaper medication for conditions such as acid reflux, says a new study.

Dr. James Gray, a gastroenterologist who co-authored the study, said Thursday the plan that came into effect in 2003 is a failed experiment that put unrealized cost savings ahead of patients' quality of life.

But Health Minister George Abbott disputed the study, saying its methodology is flawed and that other research suggests the government's policy is a success.

Gray said patients who were taking one of four drugs were forced to switch to a fifth medication that was cheaper, even if they were responding well to the original drug, in an effort to save $42 million to the health-care system.

The province's PharmaCare plan would otherwise not have paid for the drugs, he said.

However, patients whose symptoms were not controlled by the substitute drug experienced problems ranging from heartburn, abdominal pain and gastrointestinal bleeding that led to increased doctors' visits and in some cases hospitalization for a cost of $43.5 million, Gray said. ...more

Pharmacists seek expanded role

From the London (Ont.) Free Press:
Expanding the role of pharmacists to include prescribing medications for some ailments will give Ontarians a more efficient system and better access to care, says the head of the Ontario Pharmacists' Association.

"There would be reduced pressure on the health-care system," said Tina Perlman, a London pharmacist and president of the association.

That recommendation and others were made last fall to the province by an advisory council. Health-care professionals are waiting to see if the government will move on the advice. While the pharmacists' association has embraced a larger role for its members, doctors' groups have been skeptical and the president of the Ontario Medical Association says he's puzzled by the recommendations.

Perlman emphasized the pharmacists would continue to work closely with doctors. And the ailments pharmacists would provide prescriptions for would be minor problems such as athlete's foot, yeast infections, acne, migraines and cold sores.

"If a patient needs to be accessed for a minor ailment and that is something a pharmacist can do, it eliminates them from going to a doctor's office or going and sitting in an emergency department. ...more

Pharmacy to open soon

From the Interlake (MB) Spectator:
Non-Insured Health Benefits patients in the Peguis and Fisher area will have to wait a little longer to use the temporary pharmacy service arranged between Health Canada and Winnipeg's Four Rivers Pharmacy.

Paul Spendlove, media relations officer for Health Canada, says the temporary pharmacy will be located at the Peguis Mall as of Monday.

“Interim arrangements have been in place with Four Rivers Pharmacy since Jan. 1,” said Spendlove. “This interim measure will be in place pending a permanent solution, which is being developed by the First Nation community. Health Canada has worked to ensure minimal disruption of pharmacy services.”

Daren Jorgenson, founder of Four Rivers Pharmacy, says the pharmacy will open once access to the province’s drug information network database is received.

“It provides information about drug interactions and if someone’s double doctoring their medication,” said Jorgenson. “We need it and it’s out of my control as to when we’ll get it. We’ll probably have it by the 18th, but it’s day to day, so we’ll have to wait and see.” ...more

McKesson Canada makes bid for Quebec's Uniprix pharmacy group

From the Canadian Press:
Health-care logistics firm McKesson Canada has bid to purchase pharmacy chain Uniprix Inc. in a defensive move to preserve its distribution network in Quebec, industry analysts said Monday.

Financial details of the offer were not disclosed. Under the deal that had been rumoured last July, McKesson would acquire Uniprix's shares and member-pharmacists in the co-operative style chain would remain owners of their pharmacies.

The deal continues the recent growth in Quebec by McKesson Corp. (NYSE:MCK), a San Francisco-based pharmacy products distributor.

Last summer, McKesson bought a 270-outlet Quebec chain that operates under the Proxim and ProxiMeds banners.

"McKesson Canada is enthusiastic about the prospect of this transaction, which will strengthen our long-standing business relationship with the Uniprix Group for the distribution of pharmaceutical products, over-the-counter medications, and consumer products," McKesson president Domenic Pilla said in a statement. ...more

Pharmacists uneasy about sick notes

From 6minutes.com.au:
In the first year that pharmacists have been able to write medical certificates, only a few pharmacists have been willing to provide them, according to the Pharmacy Guild.

As reported in 6minutes in 2008, guidelines from the pharmacy professional bodies were jointly released on medical certificates early last year but a spokesman for the Guild said that there had not been a big take up.

The exact number of pharmacists who have so far issued documentation for employees’ sick and carer’s leave is not known, but he believed that numbers were was low, he said. ...more