Elderly and sedatives

Elderly people taking one or more anticholinergic or sedatives have a significantly higher risk of falls, highlighting the importance of medication reviews.

Diet medicines under review

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) product listing of diet and weight loss pills is under scrutiny after a CHOICE review found many contain active ingredients with no proven efficacy.

No pain relief for API

Australian Pharmaceutical Industries (API) yesterday reported a first-half loss of $35 million. CEO Stephen Roche said “the number of issues is the greatest I’ve seen in my career in a six-month period”, with the company being hit by the Queensland floods, weak consumer spending and increased competition in the sector. The pharmaceutical sector has also suffered by cuts in government funding, with Mr Roche saying, “We’ll deal with further PBS reforms as we confront them".

Folic acid CVD benefits in doubt

Doubts are being raised about the benefits of lowering elevated plasma homocrysteine levels with B vitamins, after a meta-analysis showed they did not reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Women's cardiovascular outcomes

Women with stable angina or acute coronary syndrome have higher mortality than men because they have thicker arteriolar walls and a greater diffusion radius relative to body surface area, an Australian study in the journal Hypertension has concluded.

Medicine misuse

With growing numbers of consumers misusing medicines, there a suggestion for a pharmacy shopper alert system to identify OTC drug abusers.

Sanofi-Aventis wins the votes

Pharmacists across Australia have voted French drug producer Sanofi-Aventis the most outstanding pharmaceutical company for 2010.