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Feb. 21, 2013 -- With flu season dragging on, supplies of the children’s version of the flu drug Tamiflu continue to dwindle nationwide, according to the drug's maker.
The liquid medicine, called Tamiflu OS (for oral suspension), is approved for children 2 weeks old and older.It attacks the flu virus, helping to lessen the flu's ability to spread in the body. It must be taken within 48 hours of the first symptoms. In clinical trials, it did not cure the flu, but shortened its length by 1.5 days in kids.
Supplies are spotty. "While we have shipped all quantities of Tamiflu OS to distributors, some retail pharmacies may still have it," says Tara Iannuccillo, spokeswoman for Genentech, the drug's maker.
"However, quantities are limited nationwide," she says.
No additional supplies of Tamiflu OS will be available for this season, Iannuccillo says.
"Given the amount of time it takes to manufacture Tamiflu OS, we don't plan to make more for the 2012/13 flu season, as it wouldn't be ready in time," she says.
However, the adult version is still available. Parents can ask their pharmacist to make a liquid suspension for children using the adult Tamiflu capsules, Iannuccillo says.
Concerns about a Tamiflu shortage began earlier in the season. In mid-January, the FDA warned of upcoming occasional shortages of the children's medicine.
Supplies of Tamiflu for children ran low due the severity of this year's flu season, Iannuccillo says. Compared to past seasons, flu season began earlier this year, according to the CDC.
To ensure continued supplies of the adult version, the FDA is allowing Genentech to distribute 2 million units of the 75-milligram capsules that have an older version of the package insert, says Sarah Clark-Lynn, an FDA spokeswoman.
"These additional reserve supplies of Tamiflu 75-milligram capsules are not outdated," she says. "Only some information included in the labeling is older."
The older labeling does not have dosing information for children aged 2 weeks to less than 1 year, for instance.
The FDA just granted the approval of Tamiflu OS for younger children in December.
Both children's and adults' Tamiflu is $101.50 a package, Iannuccillo says. On average, the co-pay for insured people is $35, she says.
"The vast majority of insurance plans cover Tamiflu, including Medicare and Medicaid," she says. The company also offers a $10 co-pay coupon on its web site, she says.
By Amy Norton
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 20 (HealthDay News) -- An implanted magnetic device could offer a new treatment option for people with chronic heartburn that is not controlled with medication, a small study suggests.
The study, reported in the Feb. 21 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, tested a newer approach to taming stubborn cases of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) -- one of the most common health conditions diagnosed in the United States.
GERD arises when the ring of muscle between the esophagus and stomach fails to close properly, allowing stomach acids to splash up into the esophagus. The main symptom is chronic heartburn.
For people who have frequent heartburn -- more than twice a week -- the go-to medications are the so-called proton pump inhibitors, such as Prilosec, Prevacid and Nexium. But studies estimate that up to 40 percent of people on those drugs do not get enough relief.
The new study included 100 such GERD patients. They all received an implant -- a bracelet-like device composed of magnetic beads -- that wraps around the portion of muscle where the esophagus joins the stomach. The point is to "augment" the muscle and prevent stomach acid reflux.
After three years, researchers found, 64 percent of the patients had their acid reflux cut by at least half. And 87 percent had been able to stop taking their proton pump inhibitors altogether.
"That's huge," lead researcher Dr. Robert Ganz said of the medication reduction.
It's estimated that Americans spend $14 billion a year on prescription proton pump inhibitors. Because of the costs and potential side effects, many people would like to drop the drugs, said Ganz, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
He cited bone-thinning as one potential long-term side effect. "A lot of women do not want to be on proton pump inhibitors for that reason in particular," Ganz said.
The device his team studied is already approved in the United States and marketed as the LINX Reflux Management System by Torax Medical, Inc., which also funded the study.
Ganz said he could envision the device as an option for "some fraction" of the 20 million to 30 million Americans who take a daily medication for GERD symptoms.
There are, of course, less extreme ways to manage your heartburn. Diet changes and weight loss often help, and if your heartburn is milder, over-the-counter antacids or drugs called H2 blockers -- brands like Zantac and Tagamet -- may be enough.
Proton pump inhibitors, which block acid production, are often recommended for people with more frequent heartburn. If that doesn't work, surgery is typically seen as the last-ditch option.
Traditionally, that has meant a 50-year-old procedure called Nissen fundoplication, where the upper part of the stomach is stitched around the lower end of the esophagus.
By Mary Elizabeth Dallas
HealthDay ReporterTHURSDAY, Feb. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Dialysis patients using catheters have a higher risk for death, infection and heart problems than patients using other procedures to access the blood, according to a new analysis.
Researchers examined 67 studies involving nearly 600,000 dialysis patients to compare the risks associated with three procedures used to access the blood: arteriovenous fistula, arteriovenous graft and central venous catheter.
An arteriovenous fistula is formed when a patient's vein and artery are connected to form a site through which blood can be removed and returned. An arteriovenous graft is a plastic channel between an artery and a vein. A third option for dialysis patients is a catheter, which patients often use to avoid surgery or needles or because of declining health.
Because of kidney failure, more than 1.5 million people around the world are treated with hemodialysis. The procedure involves filtering the blood to remove wastes, extra salt and water.
In conducting the study, the researchers assessed the link between these three types of vascular access and death, infection and major heart problems, such as heart attack and stroke.
The study, published Feb. 21 in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology , revealed that patients using catheters had a 38 percent greater risk for a major heart problem, a 53 percent higher risk of dying and more than double the risk of developing a fatal infection than patients with fistulas.
Grafts also had an 18 percent higher risk of death and a 36 percent greater risk of serious infections than fistulas. But the researchers noted that patients with grafts did not have a greater risk for a major heart problem than those with fistulas.
Assuming patients on dialysis were of similar health, the researchers concluded that catheters used for hemodialysis have the highest risks for death, infections and heart trouble, while fistulas are the least risky.
"Our findings are reflected in current clinical practice guidelines, which promote fistulas as the preferred form of bloodstream access in hemodialysis patients," Dr. Pietro Ravani, of the University of Calgary, in Canada, said in a journal news release.
The study's authors noted that patients involved in the study who were using catheters were probably sicker than those using fistulas. They concluded that more research is needed to determine individual patient risk and assess the safety of the various types of blood access used for hemodialysis.
More information
The U.S. National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearninghouse provides more information on hemodialysis.
