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n°143

November 2013

Prescrire International

Issue Contents

Editorial
Free Think of the losers	p.256
Cancer therapy: beware of observation bias

Marketing Authorisations
Pasireotide (New Drug)	p.257-259
For lack of a better option


Everolimus in advanced or metastatic breast cancer (New Indication)	p.260
No comparison yet with another cytotoxic chemotherapy regimen


Gefitinib and non-small cell lung cancer (A Second Look)	p.261-262
With more follow-up: stubborn facts


Axitinib (New Drug)	p.262-263
No better than sorafenib in kidney cancer


Editors' Opinion	p.263
Double-blind design is also possible in cancer trials


Crizotinib (New Drug)	p.264
Serious adverse effects but poorly documented efficacy in lung cancer


Surveys on end-of-life decisions	p.276

Adverse Effects
Free Piribedil: sleep attacks, also in patients without Parkinson's disease	p.265
Better to avoid using this drug altogether


Thrombotic risk of contraceptive transdermal patches and the contraceptive vaginal ring	p.266-269
Twice as many vein thromboses as with levonorgestrel


Drospirenone: more cases of thrombosis than with levonorgestrel	p.267


Codeine: fatal respiratory depression in children	p.269
EMA advises against use in children under 8 years


Retigabine: blue skin discoloration and retinal pigment abnormalities	p.269
Ophthalmological monitoring is needed

Reviews
Antithrombotic drugs and ischaemic stroke	p.270-271
Thrombolysis for some patients, aspirin in nearly all cases


Prescrire's advice	p.271
Antithrombotic treatment during the acute phase of ischaemic stroke


Elderly diabetic patients: target an HbA1c of about 8.5%	p.272
Aim for 8% or even 9% in frail elderly patients


Acupuncture and chronic joint pain: an effective placebo?	p.272-273
Comparison with sham acupuncture

Outlook
Euthanasia in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg	p.274-278
Unambiguous legal definition of euthanasia


Medically assisted suicide in Benelux	p.275


Free Too much medicine	p.278
Unecessary tests and treatments on the rise


Queries and comments: soft paraffin: what are the risks?	p.279
A gold-standard emollient

Masthead
Free Masthead	p.254

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