Drugs With Fewer Side Effects
June 8, 2008
A Duke University chemist has apparently solved a long-standing frustration in creating certain synthetic molecules that make up drugs, which could lead to better drugs with fewer side effects.
Like human hands, many molecules that make up drugs come in two shapes, right and left. But usually only one of the two versions has the desired effect; the other is at best useless and sometimes even harmful. For example, side effects from the morning sickness drug Thalidomide resulted in profound birth defects because one shape of the molecule was therapeutic and the other was dangerous.
Don Coltart, an assistant professor of chemistry at Duke, appears to have found a way to make synthetic ketone molecules in just one version or the other using a process that is faster, cheaper and less wasteful than the best techniques now available. Read more
Connecticut Attorney General Files Lawsuit Against McKesson
June 8, 2008
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal (D) on Thursday filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Boston over allegations that prescription drug distributor McKesson conspired to inflate the average wholesale prices of hundreds of brand-name medications in violation of federal racketeering and state consumer protection laws, the AP/Hartford Courant reports. According to the lawsuit, McKesson conspired with First DataBank and other companies that publish prescription drug prices to increase, fix and maintain AWPs for 400 brand-name medications at 25% more than wholesale acquisition costs, compared with a previous premium of 20%.
Blumenthal said that, because state and federal health care programs base reimbursement rates for prescription drugs on AWPs, physicians, pharmacies and other health care providers that prescribed or dispensed medications distributed by McKesson could increase their profits. He added that state health care programs and residents overpaid by millions of dollars for prescription drugs because of the “illegal and deceptive practices” used by McKesson. Blumenthal said, “The victims of this surreptitious scheme included the patients and taxpayers who were overcharged by companies seeking higher sales and profits,” adding, “McKesson exploited publicly funded programs that serve our most vulnerable citizens.”
McKesson officials have not reviewed the lawsuit, according to an e-mail from company spokesperson James Larkin. In addition, he wrote that McKesson does not set AWPs or retail prices for prescription drugs paid by health plans or consumers. McKesson has denied similar allegations in other lawsuits, the AP/Courant reports (Collins, AP/Hartford Courant, 5/29).
© 2008 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved. Via MedicalNewsToday
And The Winner Is….
June 2, 2008
First let me explain how I chose the winner.
I found a nice little Flash app that will choose a random name from a given list. Then, It shows the form of a slot machine and spins the list, randomly landing on one. Seems fair and random enough.
And the lucky winner is…. Read more
