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In the specific case of patented drugs, the patent explicitly blocks competition so (a) is immediately off the table.

Niacor is nicotinic acid, vitamin B3. I don't know what it costs.

You can buy the same thing from Amazon for $5.21.

I would say that the "patent" on Niacin isn't very effective at blocking competition. In fact, I doubt there is a patent. I expect the difference is that Niacor is being sold as a drug and thus has the expense of FDA approval for that use; the stuff sold on Amazon is a "nutritional supplement" and doesn't.

This kind of thing isn't new or especially earthshaking. I had something that the doc could have prescribed Ibuprofen for, but he told me to just buy OTC and take two. The only difference between the two products was -- one was twice the dose of the other per pill. The prescription version was one pill, the OTC required taking two. The prescription version had a deep-pocket pharma company that lawyers love to sue (e.g. Celebrex) whenever there are side effects, the store brand was forcing consumers to rely on doctor's orders and violate the published dosage limit.

Before you crucify the maker of Niacor, keep in mind that their market for Niacor is extremely small (why buy Niacor when you can get the same thing for what many people would be paying as a co-pay for the expensive drug?) and their liability is high.

If this were a case of a single-maker death-preventing drug, yeah. But niacin tablets creating such a furor? Really?

Free market medical move #1 was ending the ACA (Obamacare) mandate which would financially lock most people into FDA monopoly medicines and often poorly performing maimstream medicine. Many problems can be better addressed by the closer-to-natural-biochemistry of supplements, but first you need a little money leftover to start.

Niacor is just niacin. There's no patent on Niacin since it's a natural vitamin. You can still buy Niacin without any prescription for cheaper than it was on prescription before the change.

So... your rant about Obamacare and natural supplements doesn't make any sense but the actual story doesn't make any sense either, so I guess you win?

I'm guessing it's like if AOL raised it's rates 800 percent. People like you would immediately blame government interference even though that has nothing to do with it and subscribing to AOL is totally pointless anyway.

And "er," has side effects.

They put aceteminophen in Tylenol on purpose to kill you if you try to get high on Tylenol. They don't need junkies messing up their reputation.

erm.. excuse me but Tylenol is but a trademarked name.. the generic name of it is...Acetaminophen....
http://www.rxlist.com/tylenol-...
so the fact that it's got Acetaminophen isn't surprising..... as that's what it is!

I have no interest in legalising heroine, crack, meth, PCP, etc.

Medical meth exists under the name Desoxyn (methamphetamine hydrochloride). There's also medical coke. So why is Heroin (diamorphine) illegal while more potent opioids like oxycodone are legal to prescribe?

Ok, so you are linking to an article to... what? I take in as little salt as I can and take Dyazide to remove excess levels. My blood pressure is lower for it. If/when I stop this, it goes sky high. This is fact, not an inconclusive, not-peer-reviewed study

You need to guess again. There's only one methamphetamine HCl molecule and it doesn't care whether it comes in a little baggy or over the counter at the drug store. If you want to say the street stuff is inferior because it's cut then do an acetone wash and problem solved.

Meth is a bad, bad drug.

...which we prescribe to children...

http://www.rxlist.com/desoxyn-drug.htm

(at one point, they later switched me to Vicodin, similar stuff, just a higher Tylenol to narcotic ratio).

FTFY. Vicodin is hydrocodone with tylenol. Oxycontin is Oxycodone , a chemically similar drug- but not the "same stuff".

Vicodin's Pharmacology
Oxycontin's Pharmacology

(at one point, they later switched me to Vicodin, similar stuff, just a higher Tylenol to narcotic ratio).

FTFY. Vicodin is hydrocodone with tylenol. Oxycontin is Oxycodone , a chemically similar drug- but not the "same stuff".

Vicodin's Pharmacology
Oxycontin's Pharmacology

People like you are the reason we have crap like MRSA running around.

From the amoxicillin monograph:

Orally administered doses of 250-mg and 500-mg amoxicillin capsules result in average peak blood levels 1 to 2 hours after administration in the range of 3.5 mcg/mL to 5.0 mcg/mL and 5.5 mcg/mL to 7.5 mcg/mL, respectively.

It wasn't the antibiotics, they weren't doing anything 15 minutes after they were given.

Atropine is an alkaloid, but its main effects are due to its anticholinergic activity. And yes, atropine derivatives ARE used in medications containing opiates to prohibit deliberate abuse. Take Hycodan cough syrup for example. It contains a small amount of homatropine to discourage deliberate overdosage and abuse.

> > Legalizing them condemns to death and abyss, many people that need protection.

> Exactly. Which is why I usually advocate legalizing it all,

??? so you agree with condemning people to death and the abyss.

> note: you can make meth safe. It's called Desoxyn.

Safe? Warning from your link on Desoxyn:
MISUSE OF METHAMPHETAMINE MAY CAUSE SUDDEN DEATH AND SERIOUS CARDIOVASCULAR ADVERSE EVENTS.

Exactly. Which is why I usually advocate legalizing it all, taxing it with normal taxes like we do with all goods, and taking those profits and putting it to useful things like healthcare, education, etc.

Oh, and on a totally unrelated (to my argument) note: you can make meth safe. It's called Desoxyn. Not that I exactly recommend it or anything, but it's recognized that there are safe uses of it. Well, at least as safe as any of the other powerful pharmaceuticals we have.

The very fact that you're blowing black shit out of your nose and lungs should be enough to prompt a change in workplace regulations. It shouldn't matter if the black shit is a carcinogen.

Well...I think that was my point. It should be enough, but obviously (see history) is not.

Let's say I have a friend in anaphylactic shock and I have an expired epipen. Will I do more good or harm if I use it? I don't know!

The warning is there specifically to put you in that phase of questioning: Do I know? If the answer is no, then you have some research to do before you can safely take action.

I'm not sure it's reasonable to expect the sign to have all the research on it. (I think it's nice that one can at least know one is taking a risk and maybe has some research to do vs. remaining totally ignorant and then wondering why you have cancer when you're 50.)

It would be nice if these warnings were qualified better so we could make actual, informed decisions.

In case that wasn't 100% rhetorical a more-informed decision should be had this way vs from the warnings:

MSDS's (Material Safety Data Sheets) are one source of info. Think of it like the ingredients list for non-food compounds/chemicals. Here's one good place to start your search for one if you can't find the MSDS for your product directly from the manufacturer's website. They're often only one page, usually easy to read, and usually have some good information on them.

Pharmaceuticals are probably even easier to find out about these days. Here's a good place to start looking that kind of info up. (One of many.)

Good luck!
-Matt

If this was 5 years ago you would be more accurate. Nexium is the best in it's class? I would like to see some citations. There are plenty of competitors that work just as well. I suffer from acid reflux and pretty much every competitor to nexium works just fine.

Nexium, "The Purple Pill", is a reformulation of Omeprazole or (Prilosec). It's patent was running out so the company that makes it reformulated the drug so it could have a new patent. I was given a proscription for Prilosec to treat Gastroesophageal reflux disease, GERD.

If this was 5 years ago you would be more accurate. Nexium is the best in it's class? I would like to see some citations. There are plenty of competitors that work just as well. I suffer from acid reflux and pretty much every competitor to nexium works just fine.

Nexium, "The Purple Pill", is a reformulation of Omeprazole or (Prilosec). It's patent was running out so the company that makes it reformulated the drug so it could have a new patent. I was given a proscription for Prilosec to treat Gastroesophageal reflux disease, GERD.

Actually, not all of the ADHD medicines are amphetamines, and have slightly different modes of action. The primary action of amphetamines, such as Adderal, is to trigger the release of neurotransmitters (primarily dopamine) from both the axon (the "sending" side of the synapse) and the vesicles in the axon that are storing the neurotransmitters for the next signalled release. This occurs by the drug triggering a reversal of the "pumps" that take the neurotransmitters back up into the axon or into the vesicles in the axon for storage. This is actually the source of much of amphetamines' reported neurotoxicity, the vast depletion of the neurotransmitters to a high degree. Ritalin, as with cocaine, does not appear to reverse the synaptic and vesicle transporters like amphetamines do, but instead appears to block the uptake of neurotransmitters at the synapse (mainly dopamine). This lessens its potential to be neurotoxic, but not completely. Strattera acts in a similar way, but only on norepinephrine transporters.

Just because these compounds are prescribed by doctors does not mean they are safe by any means. Nor should you necessarily trust anything our government has to say about recreational use or other ingestion not overseen by a doctor. Too many lies and exaggerations have shadowed the really important information. Instead, find out everything you can about these compounds, from multiple sources, know what they will do to you and why, what the potential risks and side effects are, and weigh for yourself the consequences of your actions. Know yourself, know your source, know your drug.

aloha
psilo

http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/zolpid.htm
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmas ter/a693025.html

I don't see any mention of fetal stem cells. What I do see is the non-generic names for the drug: Ambien® and Ambien CR®.

Really? I thought the US was founded with the ideals of liberty and democracy.

Yea but that's America's history, most of which americans don't even know or understand.

Excusing evil and corruption by claiming others are *really* the cause is a bit... silly. It's like ripping off your neighbor because there are no cops around, and other people robbed your neighbor last year anyway, so if you didn't do it, somebody *else* would.

There has never been any corruption in the formation of Microsoft, they pioneered a business in which legalities were grey even to the best lawyers, litigation is unavoidable when you're a market leader in technology. If you think Bill Gates and Microsoft are evil then you simply are clueless...

Try comparing Bill and Microsoft's tactics to the likes of the Carlyle Group, profiteering off death, or pharmaceutical companies which market and research addictions not cures.

My point is there are alot of people who are generating wealth using tactics far more evil than Bill has ever employed. I really don't think they are all that bad and their overall impact on society has been extremely positive. Do you really think if it were up to Apple and IBM that these systems would be as affordable and available as they are today ? The answer of course is no and Microsoft's existance is proof of it.

"Those who fail to understand history are condemned to repeat it," George Santayana

Get yourself some Valtrex .

I wonder if the random use of oxytocin will be made impossible through insurance considerations.

It's used to induce labor and terminate pregnancy (see the prescribing information).

If a store started spraying it into the air and women started going into labor and having premature babies, the lawsuits and legal settlements would be astronomical.

I wonder if the random use of oxytocin will be made impossible through insurance considerations.

It's used to induce labor and terminate pregnancy (see the prescribing information).

If a store started spraying it into the air and women started going into labor and having premature babies, the lawsuits and legal settlements would be astronomical.

Zolpidem is the worst, everytime I take one at the keyboard, I always wake up the next day with the weirdest posts imaginable at the forums I frequent.

• Like I said, I don't know a hell of alot about it but your 76 hour timeline makes me suspicious. Does it kill the virus or not?

I'm sick as a dog right now because I'm on day four of a seven day course of some disgusting antibiotic that leaves me nauseous and physically in pain, but it's all that's available to me now because, thanks to abuse of these medicines by our own medical system, this infection in my sinus (that had to be surgically removed) is immune to everything else.

Yeah, "humankind" may adapt, but in the process legions will become sick and die. FYI the infection in my sinus is a staph, and staph can live a very long time on things like shower curtains. So dismiss it if you care, just hope it's not your leg that has to be cut off when you contract a treatment resistant staph from simply brushing against your shower curtain after having scratched that mosquito bite you got last night...

I just noticed something interesting about that lawfirm.

Do you agree with the other, similar cases they handle?

For example, this one. The product arava can cause serious complications in certain individuals. These individuals would have been informed of such possibilities of complications prior to taking this drug, if prescribed by a competent physician.

As you can see, the list of contraindications and side effects were made clear from day one. There was no coverup of this info. Any doctors prescribing this medication knew full well the possible adverse reactions. Any patients taking such medications should have been properly informed.

YET THIS COMPANY SUES.

The hypocrisy, it's tiring and old. Using this company as support for your case if like linking to a microsoft security article as a holy grail on security. It's laughable and simply detracts from anything interesting you (or they) have to say.

Remarkable how we humans struggle to achieve artificial materials and processes, yet periodically return to strictly natural ones for their superiority. I'm not promoting the naturalistic fallacy -- that natural = better -- but it strikes me as a reminder of the power of evolution to produce sophisticated and even elegant processes.

Notice how cotton and wool have never quite been displaced as clothing. I was explaining the inferiority of polyester to my son at Target today ... I wondered why all the kids sleepwear was poly. They're treated for fire-resistance on the one hand, yet melt into your skin on the other.

I'm also reminded of our discovery of ways to hijack bacterial cellular machinery to produce insulin (Humulin) about 20 years ago. (I don't understand the article's reference to insulin produced from "mammalian cells grown in expensive bioreactors" -- it's plain old E. Coli which, although ubiquitous in humans (coli = colon), has a career of its own. The author may be thinking of conventional porcine insulin, a slaughterhouse byproduct, but that's not "grown in expensive bioreactors." Maybe I misunderstand.)

We have a while until we develop Start Trek-level nanobots, and are stuck asking nature for a hand with selected problems.

Hate to break it to you but if you check out www.rxlist.com you'll find that doctors and scientists don't really know how a lot of drugs work.

spray them with A-moxi-cillin!

http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/amox.htm