February 2012 Drug Update Information - Pharmacy Benefits ...

Statins raise risk of
Type 2 diabetes in older women, study finds
January 10, 2012
Post-menopausal women who take statins to ward off heart attacks are more likely to develop
Type 2 diabetes than those who do not, research indicates. Older women who take statin
medications to ward off heart attacks are more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes
than those who
do not take the widely used cholesterol-lowering drugs, a study has found.
Article link: http://www.latimes.
com/news/science/la-he-statins-diabetes-20120110,0,1285531.
story?track=rss
Source website: http: ://www.latimes.com/
Roche’s Zelboraf for Melanoma Spurs Other Skin Cancer’s Growth, Study
Says
January 12, 2012
Roche’s melanoma drug Zelboraf speeds growth of another type of skin cancer, researchers said
today in a study underscoring the
need to testt the medicine in combination with a second
treatment. Scientists at the Institute of Cancer Research analyzed DNA in 21 tissue samples from
Zelboraf
patients who developedd cutaneous squamous-ce
ell carcinoma. About 60 percent of the
samples had one of two known cancer-causing gene mutations not targeted by the drug, they
said
in an article published in the New
England Journal of Medicine today.
Article link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-18/roche-s-zelboraf-for-melanoma-
spursother-skin-cancer-s-growth-study-says.html
Source website: http: ://www.bloomberg.com/
Antidepressants While Pregnant Linked to
Slight Risk of Lung Problem in Babies
Jan 12, 2012
Study found women who took SSRIs a bit more likely too have infants with high blood pressure
in the lungs. Women
who use antidepressants called selective serotonin-reuptakee inhibitors such
asProzac and Celexa during pregnancy run a slight risk of having an infant with high blood
pressure in the lungs, a new Swedish study finds.
Article link: http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=660699
Source website: http: ://consumer. healthday.com/
DNA Damage From
Chemo May Help Spur Leukemia's Return
Jan. 12, 2012
The treatment can achieve acute myeloid leukemia remission, but better options needed, experts
Say. The chemotherapy used to treat a form of adult leukemia sets a trap that can
result in the
return of
the disease within years, a new study suggests.
Article link: http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=660653
Source website: http: ://consumer. healthday.com/
Diabetes
Drug Helps All Shed Pounds
January 12, 2012
One class of diabetes
drugs -- the
glucagon-like peptide-researchers found.
receptor (GLP-1) agonists -- can help
diabetics and nondiabetics alike lose weight,
Article link: http://www.medpagetoday.com/
/PrimaryCare/Diabetes/30638
Source website: http: ://www.medpagetoday.com/
Antidepressant Use Linked to Increased Pulmonary Hypertension Risk in Infants
January 13, 2012
A study published in the British Medical Journal this week provides stronger evidence that
taking some antidepressants during pregnancy doubles the risk of a baby developing pulmonary
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