Three lots of venlaxafine have just been recalled because one bottle contained one pill of a heart drug that could kill a person who didn't need it. The heart drug was an anti-arrhythmic called dofetilide/Tikosyn that could cause your heart to go wonky. The irony strikes me because there is always such noise about Quality Assurance for supplements and herbal medicines. Do people really believe that anything manufactured and packaged by Big Pharm is assuredly Safe? Another thing that strikes me as insane is the fact that brand names of pharmaceuticals are Capitalized. Who decided on That??

Recalled products:
30-count Effexor XR (venlafaxine HCI) 150 mg extended-release capsules
90-count Effexor XR (venlafaxine HCl) 150 mg extended-release capsules
Effexor lot numbers V130142 and V130140, exp October 2015
90-count Greenstone LLC-branded venlafaxine HCl 150 mg extended-release capsules
Greenstone lot number V130014, exp August 2015.

Potentially faulty product should be returned to Stericycle Inc, 1-888-345-0481.
Questions go to Pfizer Medical Information at 1-800-438-1985
Adverse reactions should be reported to www.fda.gov/medwatch/report.htm.

SOURCE
Medscape at http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/821631

The National Institutes of Health, 10 large drug companies and seven nonprofit organizations announced an unconventional partnership on Tuesday intended to speed up development of drugs to treat Alzheimer’s disease, Type 2 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

During the course of a five-year, $230 million effort, the participants will share data in regular conference calls and meetings, working together to determine which findings are likely to lead to effective treatments. They will make their findings and data publicly available.

...What concerns me about this is the emphasis on drugs. There are better ways to adjust physiology than taking in foreign substances. And there are more useful things we could study. Like food, and exercise, and how to they affect our biochemical and electrical mileau. Sex, we should throw more money at studying sex and how it affects neurotransmitters. On the effects of chewing gum and on understanding the endocrinology of sexual preference. And on why our hearts slow down as we age, and a million other questions. I'm just curious: I really want to know the answers. I wish that the money spent on medical research was directed more by altruism and less by profit motive.

SOURCE
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/05/health/nih-joins-drug-makers-and-nonprofits-on-stubborn-diseases.html