http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Substituting cannabis in place of more harmful drugs may be a winning strategy in the fight against substance misuse. Research published in BioMed Central' open access Harm Reduction Journal features a poll of 350 cannabis users, finding that 40% used cannabis to control their alcohol cravings, 66% as a replacement for prescription drugs and 26% for other, more potent, illegal drugs. http://www.physorg.com/news178868015.html Medicine & Health Tue, 01 Dec 2009 06:10:03 EST news178868015 Search the Internet to learn about your asthma, high cholesterol or other common disorder, and odds are you'll be directed to a pharmaceutical company-sponsored Web homepage. There you'll often find an offer for a free sample or a one-time discount on a top-selling prescription medication. http://www.physorg.com/news178387404.html Medicine & Health Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:40:17 EST news178387404 Purchasing prescription drugs in a three-month supply rather than a one-month supply has long been regarded as a way to reduce the cost of drugs for patients and third-party payers. New research from the University of Chicago quantifies the savings for the first time. http://www.physorg.com/news177919033.html Medicine & Health Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:40:01 EST news177919033 More than six percent of expectant mothers in Quebec consume prescription drugs that are known to be harmful to their fetuses, according to a Université de Montréal investigation published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Half these women will voluntarily terminate their pregnancy fearing congenital malformations, which means the abortion rate among these women is 11 percent higher than in the rest of the population. http://www.physorg.com/news177692561.html Medicine & Health Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:30:02 EST news177692561 While the debate over prescription drug advertising persists, a new study released online in the American Journal of Public Health offers guidelines for improving drug ads in order to minimize potential harm and maximize benefits. The study reveals that while there are some benefits from prescription drug direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA), there are significant risks that are magnified by the prominence of DTCA. http://www.physorg.com/news177224982.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:11:53 EST news177224982 (AP) -- Miserable in menopause, Elizabeth Alsgaard pondered an awful choice: Drenching hot flashes or hormone therapies that might raise the risk of cancer. What former actress Suzanne Somers raved about held much more appeal - custom-mixed "bioidentical" hormones, just like ones the body makes. http://www.physorg.com/news175692842.html Medicine & Health Sun, 25 Oct 2009 12:50:05 EST news175692842 (PhysOrg.com) -- African Americans enrolled in HMOs are far more likely to use the ER and to delay getting needed prescription drugs than HMO-insured members of other racial and ethnic groups, a new study has found. http://www.physorg.com/news174152410.html Medicine & Health Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:00:01 EST news174152410 Scientists working at Queen Mary, University of London, have developed micrometer-sized capsules to safely deliver drugs inside living cells. http://www.physorg.com/news173681739.html Nanotechnology Fri, 02 Oct 2009 05:56:26 EST news173681739 A new policy paper that calls for broader authority and increased funding for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was released today by the American College of Physicians (ACP). Improving FDA Regulation of Prescription Drugs offers a half-dozen recommendations about how to improve the agency's ability to approve and monitor new drugs. http://www.physorg.com/news173008867.html Medicine & Health Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:50:01 EST news173008867 Thousands of children and adolescents are using anti-obesity drugs that in the UK are only licensed for use by adults. The number of young people receiving prescriptions for these drugs has increased 15-fold since 1999, but most stop using them before they could expect to see any benefit, according to a new study. http://www.physorg.com/news171175734.html Medicine & Health Thu, 03 Sep 2009 05:49:24 EST news171175734 While the total mortality rate from unintentional injury increased in the U.S. by 11 percent between 1999 and 2005, far larger increases were seen in some subgroups analyzed by age, race, ethnicity and type of injury by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Injury Research and Policy. http://www.physorg.com/news171120378.html Medicine & Health Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:40:01 EST news171120378 The program created to provide Medicare recipients with prescription drug benefits exceeded expectations during its first two years, extending pharmacy coverage to most seniors while reducing their overall spending on drugs, according to a new RAND Corporation study. http://www.physorg.com/news170331791.html Medicine & Health Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:40:01 EST news170331791 Nina Ball regularly walks by a row of smokers outside the charter school in North Philadelphia where she helps youths find jobs and get into college. A year ago, she might have bummed a cigarette there. http://www.physorg.com/news170257694.html Medicine & Health Sun, 23 Aug 2009 14:52:19 EST news170257694 In a recent national survey, a substantial minority of physicians erroneously believed that certain off-label uses of prescription drugs were approved by the Food and Drug Administration. This mistaken belief could encourage them to prescribe these drugs, despite the lack of scientific evidence supporting such use. http://www.physorg.com/news170052729.html Medicine & Health Fri, 21 Aug 2009 06:10:01 EST news170052729 (AP) -- Abbott Laboratories Inc. is expanding a study of its top-selling heart stent by more than 2,000 patients, who may also be put in a second, landmark stent study meant to find the best way to prevent potentially fatal blood clots. http://www.physorg.com/news169384157.html Medicine & Health Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:09:44 EST news169384157 (AP) -- Medicare's 3-year-old prescription drug plan has largely met its main goal of making lifesaving medicines more affordable for seniors, a new report found. http://www.physorg.com/news167503324.html Medicine & Health Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:20:06 EST news167503324 (AP) -- A Food and Drug Administration panel has recommended limits on Tylenol and other drugs containing acetaminophen because of risks for liver failure. Maximum recommended doses for over-the-counter Tylenol would be reduced. Percocet and Vicodin, two narcotic prescription drugs containing acetaminophen, would be banned. http://www.physorg.com/news166201816.html Medicine & Health Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:10:49 EST news166201816 (AP) -- President Barack Obama on Monday welcomed the pharmaceutical industry's agreement to help close a gap in Medicare's drug coverage, calling the pact a step forward in the push for overhaul of the nation's health care system. http://www.physorg.com/news164895454.html Medicine & Health Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:30:02 EST news164895454 Medical problems contributed to nearly two-thirds (62.1 percent) of all bankruptcies in 2007, according to a study in the August issue of the American Journal of Medicine that will be published online Thursday. The data were collected prior to the current economic downturn and hence likely understate the current burden of financial suffering. Between 2001 and 2007, the proportion of all bankruptcies attributable to medical problems rose by 49.6 percent. The authors' previous 2001 findings have been widely cited by policy leaders, including President Obama. http://www.physorg.com/news163318959.html Medicine & Health Thu, 04 Jun 2009 07:23:39 EST news163318959 A legal loophole is counteracting Canada's ban on direct-to-consumer drug advertising and has exposed Canadians to more than $90 million worth of ads, including those for drugs with life-threatening risks, according to a study by UBC researchers. http://www.physorg.com/news162641548.html Medicine & Health Wed, 27 May 2009 11:13:36 EST news162641548 (AP) -- Pfizer Inc. is unveiling a new program Thursday that will let people who have lost their jobs and health insurance keep taking some widely prescribed Pfizer medications - including Lipitor and Viagra - for free for up to a year. http://www.physorg.com/news161513490.html Medicine & Health Thu, 14 May 2009 09:51:58 EST news161513490 Patients newly diagnosed with hypertension, diabetes or high cholesterol are significantly more likely to delay initiating recommended drug treatment if they face higher co-payments for medications, according to a new RAND Corporation study. http://www.physorg.com/news160146402.html Medicine & Health Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:07:05 EST news160146402 (AP) -- Five major pharmacy chains agreed Tuesday to print drug instructions at their New York stores in five languages other than English and indicated that they plan to expand the option to other states. http://www.physorg.com/news159537004.html Medicine & Health Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:50:24 EST news159537004 Trying to buy health insurance on your own and have gallstones? You'll automatically be denied coverage. Rheumatoid arthritis? Automatic denial. Severe acne? Probably denied. Do you take Metformin, a popular drug for diabetes? Denied. Use the anti-clotting drug Plavix or Seroquel, prescribed for anti-psychotic or sleep problems? Forget about it. http://www.physorg.com/news157657350.html Medicine & Health Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:42:53 EST news157657350 (AP) -- A federal judge has upheld most of an $8.5 million judgment awarded to a woman who lost use of her arm due to flesh-eating bacteria misdiagnosed by an Air Force base doctor. http://www.physorg.com/news157230292.html Medicine & Health Wed, 25 Mar 2009 20:05:14 EST news157230292 (AP) -- Sales growth of prescription drugs in the U.S. slowed for the second straight year, with the economic downturn playing a key role, according to IMS Health Inc. http://www.physorg.com/news156696781.html Medicine & Health Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:53:43 EST news156696781 A growing trend toward higher Medicare premiums for the richest Americans could ultimately creep into the retirement income of less-wealthy seniors, a University of Illinois expert on federal health insurance warns. http://www.physorg.com/news155827130.html Medicine & Health Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:21:10 EST news155827130 A recent study in Oregon suggests that drugs designed for treating the most severe mental illnesses are often prescribed at inappropriately low doses and at considerable expense, for use in conditions where their benefit has not been established. http://www.physorg.com/news155396294.html Medicine & Health Wed, 04 Mar 2009 13:38:46 EST news155396294 Beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Part D who reached a gap in health care coverage known as the "doughnut hole" were much less likely to use prescription drugs than those with an employer-based plan, according to a University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health study. http://www.physorg.com/news152857946.html Medicine & Health Tue, 03 Feb 2009 04:32:57 EST news152857946 Healthcare consumers, benefits managers, and even government officials are using the internet to buy unapproved prescription drugs illegally, according to a report to be published in the International Journal of Electronic Healthcare. http://www.physorg.com/news152273756.html Medicine & Health Tue, 27 Jan 2009 10:16:30 EST news152273756