Evidence is accumulating that the stop-smoking drug Chantix  is linked with unprovoked acts and thoughts of aggression and violence, according to a new report.
The drug is so potentially dangerous that its use should be restricted to exclude police, military, and similar occupations in which workers carry weapons, says Thomas J. Moore, senior scientist for drug safety and policy at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices in Horsham, Pa. Moore is one of three co-authors of the new report on the drug, published in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy.
“My colleagues and I …

One of the first chemotherapy drugs given to patients diagnosed with cancer — especially lung, ovarian or breast cancer — is cisplatin, a platinum-containing compound that gums up tumor cells’ DNA. Cisplatin does a good job of killing those tumor cells, but it can also seriously damage the kidneys, which receive high doses of cisplatin because they filter the blood.
Now a team of scientists at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) has come up with a new way to package cisplatin into nanoparticles that are too big …

An extended-release form of the pain medication tapentadol has fewer gastrointestinal side effects than oxycodone when it’s used for pain relief in people with osteoarthritis or chronic low back pain, a new study shows.
The painkiller, called tapentadol ER, could provide a new alternative for the relief of chronic pain if approved by the FDA.
Researchers say they examined the safety and tolerability of the drug in people with chronic knee or hip osteoarthritis pain or pain in the lower back, compared to people taking the better known and older oxycodone CR.
The …

Currently, very little regulation exists for personal care products such as cosmetics, shampoo, deodorant, and toothpaste. Corporations involved in the manufacture and marketing of these products are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) like other consumer goods sold at your local pharmacy or grocery store. They reside in a gray area, and while you might not think that the mouthwash you use every morning could be harmful, think again.
While you don’t knowingly use products with harmful ingredients, most contain chemicals which can be detrimental to humans after …

Federal health authorities are prohibiting new patients from enrolling in a safety study for GlaxoSmithKline’s controversial diabetes pill Avandia, a week after an expert panel ruled that the drug increases heart risks.
The Associated Press (AP) reported Wednesday that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it issued a “partial clinical hold” on the study to update researchers on the latest concerns about the drug, which has been under a close eye since 2007.
Although the panel of experts voted that the drug appears to increase heart risks, most voted to leave …