english.prescrire.org > Prescrire International > N°70 - April 2004

n°70

April 2004

Issue Contents
Editorial

Free  Why remove old but still valuable drugs?

p.42

Marketing Authorisations

Anakinra (new preparation)

p.43-45
Weakly effective in rheumatoid arthritis

Olanzapine (new indication)

p.45-47
Just another neuroleptic in acute mania

Caspofungin (new indication)

p.48-49
No progress in invasive candidiasis

Six-component vaccines (new preparations)

p.50-53
Simpler hepatitis B vaccination of infants

Nifuroxazide (licence modification)

p.53
New restrictions in children, but useless drug

Lamivudine 300 mg (dose change)

p.54
Once-a-day dosing

Estradiol + gestodene: menopause: just another poorly evaluated progestogen-oestrogen combination

p.55

Travoprost

p.55
A me-too prostaglandin F2 analogue with a slight storage advantage

Meropenem

p.55
No progress relative to imipenem + cilastatin

Adverse Effects

Bupropion (amfebutamone): french pharmacovigilance data

p.56

24th French annual pharmacovigilance meeting: a selection of reports about bupropion and SSRI antidepressants

p.56-57

Extrapyramidal reactions to SSRI antidepressant + neuroleptic combinations

p.57

Venlafaxine + tramadol: serotonin syndrome

p.57

Fluoxetine + hydromorphone: serotonin syndrome?

p.57

Ephedrine and tiratricol: freshly prepared mixtures forbidden in France

p.58

Spironolactone + ACE inhibitor or sartan: risk of hyperkalaemia

p.58

Mirtazapine: seizures and neutropenia

p.58

No sartans during pregnancy

p.59

Pilosuryl

p.59

Venous thrombosis with cyproterone (continued)

p.59

Hexavalent vaccination and sudden death

p.59

Reviews

2003 Prescrire Awards

p.60-63

2003 Awards for new drugs and indications

p.61

2003 Packaging Awards

p.62

2003 Information Awards

p.63

Atrial fibrillation

p.64-69
Rate control often better than rhythm control
Treatments aim to improve symptoms and prevent thromboembolism and worsening of any underlying heart condition. Options available: controlling heart rate as a first-line treatment; restoring sinus rhythm with amiodarone and/or electrical cardioversion if relapses occur; other antiarrhythmic agents; radiofrequency ablation and cardiac stimulation; heart rate instead of rhythm control.

Outlook

Free  Bubbles burst

p.70
The gap is increasing between added therapeutic values of new drugs and stock market performances of drug companies.

2003: the year in review. Fake innovation and fake regulation; but rising health expenditures are a fact. Industrial interests versus public health: the gap is growing

p.71-76

Forum

Free  Research and development costs: the great illusion

p.77-79
DiMasi's response to Prescrire
The author of a study estimating the cost of R&D for a new drug to be around $802 million disagreed with our analysis but failed to provide convincing counter-arguments. Confirmation was given that the raw data he used cannot be revealed.

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