On May 27, the FDA alertedconsumers and healthcare professionals not to buy or use Xiadafil VIP Tablets sold in bottles of 8 tablets or blister cards of 2 tablets. The product is marketed as a dietary supplement and is promoted and sold over the internet for sexual enhancement and to treat erectile dysfunction.
“The product contains a potentially harmful, undeclared ingredient that may dangerously affect a person’s blood pressure and can cause other life-threatening side effects. Xiadafil VIP Tablets contain hydroxyhomosildenafil, an analog of sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra, an FDA approved prescription drug for erectile dysfunction. The undeclared ingredient may interact with nitrates found in some prescription drugs and can lower blood pressure to life-threatening levels.”
According to the FDA, the undeclared ingredient may interact with nitrates found in some prescription drugs and can lower blood pressure to life-threatening levels. Consumers with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or heart disease often take nitrates, and the FDA warns that consumers who have used the product should discontinue use immediately and consult their healthcare professional if they have experienced any adverse events that they believe may be related to the use of this product.
I am always highly suspicious of any ads I see for drugs claiming to be miracle weight loss pills or sexual enhancers, and after reading this, I would advise people to do their research carefully before taking random supplements.
Patients diagnosed with early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease are speaking out and demanding more attention, according to an article in today’s New York Times. Some patients - like 52-year-old Kris Bakowski of Athens, Ga. - are even blogging about their personal experience. Bakowski’s blog Creating Memories documents her daily struggles and successes with the disease.
There are several drugs currently being tested to treat Alzheimer’s, and several drugs that are used to treat symptoms. Aricept is probably the drug I see the most widely advertised
The hope is that, with more people being diagnosed at an earlier stage, the more that can be discovered about this heart-wrenching disease. I think Bakowski’s blog and the others out there like it will certainly go a long way in educating and informing people about the Alzheimer’s experience.
Bill Maher - one of my very favorite comedians - pokes fun at our over-dependency on prescription drugs in his stand-up routine “The Decider.” I like how Maher says we “come up with the pill before the disease.” Sometimes it certainly seems that way!
I don’t want people to get the idea that I am opposed to prescription drugs and medicine. I firmly believe that there are drugs out there that have done wonders for the human race - and I think it’s amazing that there are people out there creating these wonder-meds… so I figure I should be sure to give credit where credit is due.
The drug Erbitux has been found to extend the life of lung cancer patients by as much as five weeks. Now, five weeks may not seem like much, but five weeks is five weeks when you are dying. Erbitux is already FDA-approved to treat colon cancer and head and neck cancer, and was developed by Imclone Systems (the company probably best known for being the stock that sent Martha Stewart to jail).
I guess I still have mixed feelings about drugs like this. Having had an aunt who died of lung cancer, I can appreciate how valuable five weeks is. On the other hand, when I think about the quality of life she had during her last five weeks, I wonder if she would even want that extra time. I don’t know - it’s impossible to say now. But I do think it is significant and important that scientists are working to come up with treatments for cancer. Lung cancer is the world’s number one cause of cancer death, and it is becoming particularly prevalent in women - even women who have never smoked a cigarette in their life.
So, when it comes down to it, I say more power to the scientists and researchers who are making cancer treatments a reality.
I was just thinking about the movie Drugstore Cowboy the other day. It’s one of my favorites, and I think it was a little ahead of its time. It was made in 1989, and while pharmacy robberies have been going on since the first pharmacy opened its doors, they probably weren’t as commonplace as they are these days. After all, there are even more drugs to choose from in 2008.
When I was a reporter for a local newspaper in Northern Virginia, I was of course on the mailing list for all of the police press releases. Pharmacy robberies were among the most common crimes committed in the area. I remember one thief even dressed up as Spiderman to steal Oxycontin from a CVS. In fact, if one does a Google search of “oxycontin robberies,” over 100,000 results pop up.
In any event, “Drugstore Cowboy” did an excellent job of portraying the subculture of prescription drug addicts, and it’s interesting to see that not much has changed since 1989.
So, just to keep up with my occasional updates on FDA drug approvals, I feel compelled to point out that May was a bumper month for new drugs - 166 approvals in total!
The list is way too long to go over in detail, but, wow. 166 new approvals in one month? If that is the norm (which, judging by the approvals listed out for the last few months, it seems to be), that’s almost 2,000 new drug approvals a year. Seems like a lot, doesn’t it?
On the one hand, I suppose we should be thankful that the FDA is there to review all of these drugs for potential safety hazards… but the sheer number of drugs going through the system certainly explains why the screening process is imperfect, and why some drugs slip through the FDA cracks, so to speak. So what is the solution to this? Do we cut down on the number of drugs seeking approval? Do we give the FDA more manpower and more money?
Anyone who is curious about the process for drug approval can learn more here.
