Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Raw Story
Federal prison officials have decided to forcibly medicate Jared Lee Loughner, the young man on trial for the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and others, with unspecified anti-psychotic medications.
The Courthouse News Service reported that Loughner's defense attorney, Judy Clark, has filed a motion (PDF) to fight the involuntary administration of psychiatric medications, claiming it violates the Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
U.S. District Judge Larry Burns ordered Loughner to undergo a mental evaluation in Missouri, despite objections that transferring him from Tucson could worsen his mental state. Burns ruled in May that Loughner was mentally incompetent to stand trial...[Full Article]
Labels: Jared Loughner, medications, prison
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
(Reuters) - Novartis AG plans to seek regulatory approval within 18 months for a pioneering tablet containing an embedded microchip, bringing the concept of "smart-pill" technology a step closer.
The initial program will use one of the Swiss firm's established drugs taken by transplant patients to avoid organ rejection. But Trevor Mundel, global head of development, believes the concept can be applied to many other pills.
"We are taking forward this transplant drug with a chip and we hope within the next 18 months to have something that we will be able to submit to the regulators, at least in Europe," Mundel told the Reuters Health Summit in New York.
"I see the promise as going much beyond that," he added.
Novartis agreed in January to spend $24 million to secure access to chip-in-a-pill technology developed by privately owned Proteus Biomedical of Redwood City, California, putting it ahead of rivals.
The biotech start-up's ingestible chips are activated by stomach acid and send information to a small patch worn on the patient's skin, which can transmit data to a smartphone or send it over the Internet to a doctor...
[Full Article]Labels: medications, medicine, privacy, smart pill
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Most U.S. Patients Think Drug Companies Influence Their Doctors, Survey Says
Many patients taking prescription drugs believe that pharmaceutical companies have too much influence over their physicians' prescribing practices, according to a new survey.
A telephone survey by Consumer Reports found that the majority of those currently taking medications -- 69 percent -- had such concerns.
About half of the medication users believed that their doctors were too eager to write a prescription when other non-pharmacological options are available...
[Full Article]Labels: doctors, medications, pharmaceuticals, pharmacists
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