For the first time, scientists have found that a placebo with implied pain-relieving properties directly activates the brain’s chemistry involved in regulating and suppressing pain. The therapeutic benefits were noted after the subjects received an inert substance that was suggested to reduce pain. Implied pain-relieving placebos have also been associated with reductions in the subjects’ [...]
Ferring Pharmaceuticals has launched highly purified hyaluronan (Euflexxa™ for the treatment of pain caused by knee osteoarthritis (OA). This product was approved in 2004 and was acquired by Ferring in 2005 from Savient Pharmaceuticals. This is the first non-avian derived hyaluronic acid indicated for a three-injection treatment regimen for patients who have not responded adequately [...]
The FDA has approved two additional uses for rituximab (Rituxan, Genen-tech/Biogen Idec) for patients with CD20-positive, B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lym-phoma (NHL): as a first-line treatment of previously untreated patients with fol-licular NHL in combination with cyclo-phosphamide, vincristine, and predni-solone (CVP) chemotherapy, and as a treatment for low-grade NHL in patients with stable disease or who have [...]
Nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, lack of energy, urinary retention—these are the side effects of analgesic medications that can be enough to derail pain management for cancer patients. A study of 174 patients with bone metastases suggests that around-the-clock (ATC) prescriptions plus as-needed (p.r.n.) drugs and ATC opioids are often responsible for these effects. A study from [...]
