The chemical sciences has a sustainability problem. Chemical production is expected to double by 2030, according to a recent UN report, but quite how this will be done without costing the Earth is still an unanswered question. At the recent International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry’s congress in Paris, the ‘father of green
Puerto Rico should stop giving so much importance to the island’s tax advantages to attract investors and instead focus more on sustainability and quality at a time when the supply chain factor also increases in importance.
That is the consensus of industry experts who attended the Puerto Rico Manufacturers Association Convention over the weekend. Newly appointed
The last few weeks have reiterated the critical importance of sustainability action. From Extinction Rebellion and the overwhelmingly positive response the Committee on Climate Change’s call for net zero emission targets by 2050, to the UN’s report on biodiversity, to the pharma-specific crisis around opioids and prosecutions in the US; the issues are high profile,
New Oxfam research shows that four pharmaceutical corporations—Abbott, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & CO (MSD), and Pfizer—systematically stash their profits in overseas tax havens. They appear to deprive developing countries of more than $100 million every year—money that is urgently needed to meet the health needs of people in these countries—while vastly overcharging for their
For the 16 years that Dr. Brian Westerberg, a Canadian surgeon, worked volunteer missions at the Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala, Uganda, scarcity was the norm. The patients usually exceeded the 1,500 allotted beds. Running water was once cut off when the debt-ridden hospital was unable to pay its bills. On some of his
This is becoming the year of the health care “hot potato,” as various players in the market battle over who is the villain. The Senate Finance Committee kicked off 2019 with hearings aimed at getting to the root of soaring prescription drug prices and identifying bad actors. Suggested solutions ranged from
Synthetic opioids outlast current antidotes. A nanoparticle-based alternative could fix that.
A newly developed single-dose opioid antidote lasts several days, a study in mice shows. If the results can be duplicated in humans, the treatment may one day help prevent overdoses from deadly drugs like fentanyl.
Normally, a dose of the opioid antidote
A single course of antibiotics can change the composition of oral and gut microbiomes for at least a year, according to a modelling study by UCL researchers.
Moreover, this change leads to a decrease in the number and types of microbes found in the gut, but an increase in the diversity of the oral microbiome. These
The misuse of prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications resulted in an estimated 358,000 trips to U.S. emergency departments in 2016 — and almost half of those cases involved young people ages 15 to 34, according to a new study based on a national public health surveillance system.
The analysis, reported online March 6 in the American
PETALING JAYA: The Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy has called for an end to the “monopoly” of pharmaceutical giants to procure drugs for the government within five years.
Otherwise, it said, it would send the wrong signal to the healthcare industry that innovation, value and fair competition are not recognised or rewarded.
Commenting on the
A new USC study reports that sudden price spikes for some generic drugs — such as the recently reported increases of a decades-old generic heart medication and an antibiotic — are becoming more common.
The study from the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics, published in the October issue of Health Affairs, shows
The Prime Minister’s office has asked the Drug Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) to move amendments to the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1945 that will allow pharmacists to substitute doctor’s prescription of branded drugs with generic medicines. Following suggestions, the Drug Controller General of India confirmed that in the initial phase, only the Jan Aushadhi Kendras
Drug development has become the exclusive activity of large pharmaceutical companies. However, the output of new drugs has been decreasing for the past decade and the prices of new drugs have risen steadily, leading to access problems for many patients. By analyzing the history of drug development and the pharmaceutical industry, we identified the main
Kip Burgess was relieved last year when pharmaceutical giant Amgen overnighted him a $2,976 check to help pay for his go-to arthritis drug, Enbrel. The 36-year-old psychologist had run into an increasingly common problem: The copay coupon sent by Amgen couldn’t cover the drug’s more than $4,000 monthly price.
“Nothing in the world gives me more
One consequence of African poverty is that quality medication is often unavailable. Health-care systems tend to be weak, and the marketing of pharmaceuticals is not regulated effectively. Many patients depend on sub-standard or even counterfeit drugs. In this setting, a powerful opioid has become easily available – addiction is spreading in West Africa.
Tramadol is an
Two new nonprofit pharmaceutical companies, Civica Rx and Harm Reduction Therapeutics, have declared they want to help patients see more money in their pockets by manufacturing low-cost generic drugs. With public trust in for-profit pharmas at an all-time low, especially when it comes to their relationships with a special
Scientists have traditionally believed that combining more than two drugs to fight harmful bacteria would yield diminishing returns. The prevailing theory is that that the incremental benefits of combining three or more drugs would be too small to matter, or that the interactions among the drugs would cause their benefits to cancel one another out.
Now,
NEW DELHI: India’s central drug regulator is creating a working group to critically appraise its proposal to set up a “trace and track” mechanism to weed out fake medicines from the market using unique codes.
The working group, comprising pharmaceutical association representatives and members of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, is to submit its
Researchers from three universities have found that extreme price competition in the generic pharmaceutical market — designed to make medications more affordable — may be putting more patients at serious health risk, as evidenced by a higher number of product recalls caused by manufacturing-related problems.
The same research, published online today in the Journal of Operations
You’ve no doubt seen them in the grocery store — typically drab-looking packages on the bottom shelf containing lower-priced generic versions of popular brand-name products. Some shoppers look at them with skepticism: Are they really as good? Or does cheaper just mean lower quality?
Many people have the same questions about generic prescription medications, says Dr.