Health Headlines - April 4

Generic Drugs Have Major Impact on Prices: FDA

Generic drugs can have a dramatic impact on prescription drug prices, says a U.S. Food and Drug Administration analysis released Tuesday.

For example, the analysis found that the introduction into the marketplace of just two generic versions of a brand-name drug can reduce the cost to consumers by nearly half, the Associated Press reported.

When there's just one generic version, it usually sells for about 94 percent of its brand name rival. However, when there's a second generic version, the average price of the generic drugs decreases to about 52 percent of the brand name medicine.

As more generic versions of the same drug are produced, the price continues to fall. When there are nine generic versions, their average price is about 20 percent of the matching brand name medicine. The analysis is posted on the FDA's Web site, the AP reported.

While the FDA's analysis shows the price reduction benefits of generic drugs, the agency faces ongoing criticism that it's too slow to approve generic drugs. Currently, the FDA has a backlog of about 800 generic drug applications.

Compound Shows Anti-Tumor Activity

Results from preclinical studies show that the anti-cancer compound AV-412 -- a EGFR/HER2 kinase inhibitor -- demonstrated anti-tumor activity against tumors that were both sensitive and resistant to Tarceva (erlotinib) and Iressa (gefitinib).

The findings were announced Tuesday by AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

During the preclinical studies, the drug was tested in non-small cell lung cancer cell lines and in mice.

The company says AV-412's mechanism of action may prove beneficial to patients with non-small cell lung cancer, metastatic breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, head and neck cancer, and hormone refractory prostrate cancer.

The drug is slated to enter clinical trials this year to test i6s safety and efficacy in treating solid tumors.

Survey Reveals Antibiotics Misuse

Even though only 22 percent of American respondents said they believed that leftover antibiotics should be saved and used again, 46 percent of those with leftover antibiotics admitted saving them, according to an international survey of 4,500 people in 11 countries.

Misuse of antibiotics is a contributing cause of antibiotic resistance. Saving unused antibiotics for future use is a potential problem because an antibiotic prescribed to treat one illness may not be an appropriate or necessary treatment for another illness.

Internationally, the survey found that younger patients were much less likely than older patients to be compliant when it comes to the use antibiotics. In the United States, 33 percent of respondents ages 18 to 34 reported noncompliance, compared to 11 percent of respondents age 50 and older.

Overall, Americans are on par with global noncompliance rates. The findings suggest that younger people may need to be targeted for more public education about the proper use of antibiotics.

The survey findings were presented this week at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.

Rapid Vaccination Response Could Combat Human Bird Flu Outbreak

A quick and aggressive vaccination campaign at the first sign of a bird flu outbreak in humans is the most effective way to fight it, even if the vaccine isn't perfectly matched to the virus causing the outbreak, says a study in this week's online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers used computer models to study how a flu outbreak could be controlled by vaccines, other medications and measures such as restricting travel and closing schools, the Associated Press reported.

Along with a vaccination effort, the rapid use of several million doses of antiviral drugs, such as Tamiflu, could help slow the spread of the disease, said the study, which was led by Timothy C. Germann of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

In other news, a U.S. health expert warned that it's just a matter of time before there's a flu pandemic that could kill millions of people.

"I think of it as the earthquake in San Francisco: you know it's on the fault, you know it's going to occur but you can't tell if it's going to occur this year or the year after," Dr. Roger Glass, the new director of the Fogarty International Center at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, told the AP.

And the United Nations' chief coordinator for avian influenza said Tuesday that the deadly bird flu virus has spread rapidly over the past three months, infecting birds in 30 new countries, double the number previously stricken since 2003.

"This is a really serious global situation," Dr. David Nabarro told reporters in Beijing. "During the last three months globally, there has been an enormous and rapid spread of H5N1."

Approach of Menopause May Increase Depression Risk

As women approach menopause, they may have an increased risk of suffering depression for the first time in their lives, according to two U.S. studies in the April issue of the journal Archives of General Psychiatry.

One study found that women nearing menopause were almost twice as likely to suffer depression, while the second study found that women who reported symptoms of depression were five times more likely to be nearing menopause, the Associated Press reported.

The women in these studies had no prior history of depression.

While most women reach menopause without suffering depression, this research suggests that some women may be more susceptible to depression as they approach menopause.

One of the studies found that women with a history of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) may have a greater risk of depression as they near menopause, the AP reported.

The other study found that women who had both hot flashes and more stressful events in their lives -- such as a divorce or death in the family -- were more likely to suffer depression as they neared menopause.

Black TV Channel Had More Fast Food Ads: Study

A black-oriented U.S. television channel carried far more fast food and snack ads in one week last summer than channels with more general programming, says a new study.

It compared afternoon and evening ads on the Black Entertainment Television (BET), the first black-targeted cable channel in the United States, to ads on the WB network and the Disney Channel, the Associated Press reported.

More than half the 1,100 ads carried by the channels were for fast food and drinks, such as sodas.

BET carried about 66 percent of the fast food ads, compared to 34 percent on WB and zero on Disney. About 82 percent of ads for drinks were on BET, compared to 11 percent on WB and 6 percent on Disney. BET had 60 percent of the snack ads, while 40 percent were on Disney and none on WB, the AP reported.

The findings appear in the April issue of Pediatrics.