Drug Information Bulletin, 15_4_ - Indian Pharmaceutical Association

Drug Information Bulletin
(Electronic)
Drug Information Centre (DIC)
Indian Pharmaceutical Association, Bengal Branch
Tele fax: 033 24612776, E-mail: ipabengal.dic@gmail.com
Web Site: http://www.ipabengal.org
Contact: 09830136291
Volume: 4 Number: 15
Content
• WHO lists 15 neglected tropical diseases
• New Drug Profile: Tofisopam uncoated tablet JP.
• Deadline set for pharmacies in private hospitals in Kerala
• Dietary Intake Of Vitamin E May Play Modest Role In Reducing Risk For Dementia
• Huge New Suit Against Pfizer May Emerge in Nigeria
• Probuphine Patent for the Treatment of Opiate Addiction
• FDA Panel Says Avastin Shows No Benefit
• Forthcoming Events
• Readers’ Column
WHO lists 15 neglected tropical diseases:
- Buruli Ulcer
- Chagas disease(American trypanosomiasis)
- Dengue/dengue haemorrhagic fever
- Dracunculiasis (guinea-worm disease)
- Fascioliasis
- Human African trypanosomiasis
- Leishmaniasis
- Leprosy
- Lymphatic filariasis
- Onchocerciasis
- Schistosomiasis
- Soil transmitted helminthiasis
- Snakebite
- Trachoma
- Yaws
Source: http://www.who.int/neglected_diseases/diseases/en/
Forthcoming Event:
Lecture cum interaction Programme by
Dr. Partha Nandy, US-Head,
Advanced PK/PD Modeling and
Simulation, Clinical Pharmacology,
Janssen Pharmaceutical
Companies of Johnson & Johnson
Date: 31.07.2010
Time: 5.30 pm
Venue: IPA Bengal Branch Auditorium,
22 B Panchanantola Road, Kolkata-
700029
New Drug Profile: Tofisopam uncoated tablet JP.
(Tofisopam Hydrochloride Tablets JP 50/100 mg has been approved by DCGI as new
drug for the treatment of anxiety and depression on 13.04.2010)
Monograph of Tofisopam as prescribed in JP is given below:

3
Deadline set for pharmacies in
private hospitals in Kerala
It is bad news for private hospitals
which have not taken licence to run
their pharmacies. From August 1, the
Drugs Control Department will block
the supply of drugs to these hospitals.
The Drugs Control Department had
issued a directive to all the private
hospitals in the State to obtain the
licence before July 31 following a High
Court directive. However, the private
hospitals have approached the
Supreme Court against the High Court
ruling and a verdict from the apex
court is awaited.
Meanwhile, the Drugs Control
Department has issued directives to all
the major pharmaceutical companies
and also to the drug wholesale dealers
not to supply medicines to the private
hospitals, which have not obtained the
licence.
Surprisingly, the directive from the
Drugs Control Department had a very
poor response as only less than 200
private hospitals in the State came
forward seeking licence out of the
2,000odd hospitals. "Most of the
hospitals are afraid of taking the
licence since it would give us the
powers to inspect their pharmacies
inside the hospitals, which they don't
want," Geetha, Drugs Controller, told
this reporter.'
Health Minister P K Sreemathi had
issued strict instructions following the
High Court directive, which came in
March this year, that all the private
hospitals in the State should take
separate licence for their pharmacies.
This decision was taken as part of
bringing accountability to the
functioning of these pharmacies
following reports that several unethical
practices were being employed. There
were also complaints that exorbitant
prices were being charged by a few
pharmacies.
**Copied for fair use from Pharmabiz.com for fair use
Dietary Intake Of Vitamin E May
Play Modest Role In Reducing Risk
For Dementia.
Medscape reported that, according to a
study published in the July issue of the

Archives of Neurology, "vitamin E may
play a modest role in altering the
course of dementia." In a study of
5,395 patients free of dementia at
baseline, researchers found that "those
patients with higher vitamin E intake
were 25% less likely to develop
dementia."
Huge New Suit Against Pfizer May
Emerge in Nigeria
An African website is reporting that
Pfizer faces a $384 billion lawsuit filed
on behalf of Nigerian victims of a drug
experiment. The amount of damages
sought is about three times the annual
budget of Nigeria. The lawsuit alleges
that a 1996 Pfizer experiment testing
the drug Trovan as a treatment for
meningitis led to the deaths of 11
children. It was filed about three weeks
after the U.S. Supreme Court refused
to intervene in a suit claiming the
Trovan study was done in violation of
international law.
** Source: Pharmalive.com
Probuphine Patent for the
Treatment of Opiate Addiction
United States Patent and Trademark
Organization (USPTO) has granted a
patent for a method for treating opiate
addiction with a subcutaneously
implanted device comprising of
buprenorphine and ethylene vinyl
acetate, a biocompatible copolymer that
releases buprenorphine continuously for
extended periods of time (PBR 17/6/10).
Probuphine is designed to deliver six
months of continuous, therapeutic levels
of buprenorphine following a single
treatment.
4
FDA Panel Says Avastin Shows No
Benefit
An FDA panel said yesterday that a
follow-up study of the Roche drug
Avastin failed to show meaningful
benefits for breast cancer patients. The
vote was 13-0 that the risks and side
effects of Avastin outweighed its
benefits when used alongside the
chemotherapy drug docetaxel. The FDA
approved Avastin in 2008 for breast
cancer patients based on a trial that
showed it lengthened by more than five
months the amount of time until the
disease worsened. As a condition
of approval, Roche was required to
conduct follow-up studies to
demonstrate further the benefits of
adding Avastin to conventional
chemotherapy.
3 rd Indian Pharmaceutical
Association Students
Congress
2 nd -4 th August 2010
Venue: NMIMS University
Important features:
• Edu Expo 2010 and the
Recruitment Expo 2010
• Recruitment Expo 2010
For details please visit
www.ipapharma.org
Readers’ Column:
Spoon news is interesting. What about
people pouring directly from
the bottle into the mouth?
Thanks.
Dr. Tulsi Chakrabarti
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