According to recent reports from the Food and Drug Administration, fake versions of GlaxoSmithKline’s drug Alli were found to have dangerously high levels of the prescription weight loss ingredient sibutramine.

Sibutramine is the main ingredient in the diet drug Meridia. Although with the right dosage sibutramine can be used safely, the amount of sibutramine found in the counterfeit Alli poses a serious health risk to some individuals.

Dr. Janet Woodcock, head of the FDA’s drug unit, told reporters

“A person taking the counterfeit Alli as directed would be exposed to twice the maximum prescription dose of sibutramine every day.”

Woodcock said even healthy people exposed to the counterfeit Alli pills could experience effects including palpitations, sleepiness, anxiety, nausea and slightly elevated blood pressure.

Fake version of the diet drug have been found for sale mainly at online auctions sites like eBay.

The FDA and GlaxoSmithKline are urging consumers to check any Alli recently purchased to make sure it is the real deal. The FDA said the counterfeit Alli has:

– An outer cardboard packaging missing a `”Lot`” code.

– An expiration date that includes the month, day, and year (”06162010″), while authentic Alli expiration date includes only the month and year (”05/12″).

– Packaging in a plastic bottle that has a slightly taller and wider cap with coarser ribbing than the genuine product.

– A plain foil inner safety seal under the plastic cap without any printed words. The authentic product seal is printed with “SEALED FOR YOUR PROTECTION.”

– Contains larger capsules with a white powder, instead of small white pellets.

Online  scammers are taking their game to another level, seeking to take advantage of those who have purchased their medications from an online pharmacy.

The Food and Drug Administration warned last week that scammer’s posing as FDA agents have been calling online pharmacy customers, demanding that they pay specified fines for purchasing their drugs online or over the phone.

According to the FDA

The criminals call the victims — who in most cases previously purchased drugs over the Internet or via “telepharmacies” — and identify themselves as FDA special agents or other law enforcement officials. The criminals inform the victims that purchasing drugs over the Internet or the telephone is illegal, and that law enforcement action will be pursued unless a fine or fee ranging from $100 to $250,000 is paid. Victims often also have fraudulent transactions placed against their credit cards.

The criminals always request the money be sent by wire transfer to a designated location, usually in the Dominican Republic. If victims refuse to send money, they are often threatened with a search of their property, arrest, deportation, physical harm, and or incarceration.

Anybody that gets a call simular to this should refuse the demand and call the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations Metro Washington Field Office at (800) 521-5783 to report the crime.

Remember, this is the reason you should never order meds from spam pharmacies that are unproven and malicious. If you need to order medications online, you should order them from safe verified pharmacies, that will give you quality medication and keep your information safe.

I am sure if you sift through your spam filter right now, you could easily find a few emails asking you to check out some “new low prices” on Viagra and Cialis. That is why spammers are having to come up with new ways to infiltrate your inbox.

The newest method of attacking your inbox, is by attaching audio files to an empty email.  The email usually has no message, subject line, or “text” body content; just an attached “audio/mpeg” file with a random lower case file name. (Click here for an example)

When the file is clicked on, a woman’s voice comes on reading a the address of a website suggesting you to visit, all the while, there is some not-so-subtle moaning in the background. Obviously the clips are being used specifically for Viagra and Cialis in order to tie the lifestyle drugs to better performance in the bed.

This is just another example of the length spammers will go to in order to get their message into your inbox.

Remember, never buy any medication from these spam sites. Find safe sites to order your prescription medication from here at No Prescription Needed.com.

Another chance for American Senators to make a real change that would quickly help Americans lower the cost of their health care came and went last week, when the Senate voted 51-48 to shoot down an amendment that would have allowed American citizens to get their prescription drugs from countries who actually have the the backbone to impose cost controls on the pharmaceutical industry.

In today’s political climate, rarely does any issue receive bi-partisan support, however the drug importation amendment did. The problem was that the amendment needed at least 60 votes to pass, which it did not receive.

But why didn’t the amendment pass? Couldn’t all Americans use a break on the cost of their everyday prescriptions like Plavix and Xenical?

The answer is simple, to protect the profits of the big pharmaceutical companies.

An article from Examiner.com explains why the amendment was voted down:

“Speculation is the pharmaceutical industry made a deal with the White House to commit 80 billion dollars over the next 10 years to health care reform. The deal was supposedly contingent upon Congress not asking for more cuts in their profits.”

The article wen on to say,

“There is only one simple reason why the pharmaceutical companies charge 50% or more in the United States than they do in other countries. It is because our government allows it. The never ending desire to allow corporations to make as much money as they can at the expense of the working class creates fertile ground for these extortionists to pad their bottom lines.

Millions of people currently buy their prescriptions from Mexico or Canada, as they try to save as much money as they can from an industry that tries to extract as much as possible from them before they die. How much could people have saved with the simple passage of this amendment, in spite of the backroom deal the drug makers have with the White House?”

I don’t think you should wait around for politicians to decide when you can save money, do you? Sign up to No Prescription Needed today and start saving on the prescription medications you need, now.

Buy tricor and fenofibrate online

Although Abbott Laboratories have reached a deal with generic drug maker Teva for the rights to cholesterol drug TriCor, stipulations could push back the release of generic TriCor till July of 2012. This is bad news for those who were looking forward to a cheaper version of the drug being released soon.

Abbott has a track record of abusing the system in order to delay generic competition. According to CNN Money,

Abbott and Fournier were sued earlier this decade for alleged abuse of the patent system to ward off competition for TriCor from generic drug makers. Among the plaintiffs in the antitrust action was Impax Laboratories Inc. (IPXL). The generic-drug maker a month ago said it began a challenge of TriCor patents.

The deal with Teva results in litigation between the two companies being dropped. Abbott spokesman Kelly Morrison said the agreement “allows Abbott to maintain certainty” about when generic competition begins.

Abbott has been abusing the system since the 1960’s when the generic version of TriCor known as fenofibrate was discovered by a French company and began selling the drug throughout Europe in 1975. Abbott discovered this, and licensed it in the late 90’s. When the original patent ran out, Abbott patented a new way to make it, holding off generic drug production and protecting profits.

Once again, Abbott is trying to keep American consumers from receiving TriCor at a lower more reasonable price, you can easily buy TriCor online much cheaper here, at No Prescription Needed.

A new study released Sunday has again raised questions about the effectiveness of Merk and Co’s cholesterol drug Zetia and its sister drug Vytorin. In this most recent study, Zetia failed to shrink buildups in artery walls. It was compared to a newer drug, Niaspan, which did so significantly. Zetia users also suffered more heart attacks and other problems although the numbers of these events were too small to draw any conclusions.

Zetia “has been on the market for about seven years and we still haven’t proven that it improves clinical outcomes,” said Roger Blumenthal, preventive cardiology chief at Johns Hopkins University. The results will be “very influential” in getting more doctors to turn to Niaspan, he said.

Doctors say that the study results are not conclusive and that users should not stop taking there prescribed medication. In a report from Reuters, Dr. Paul Armstrong of the University of Alberta in Edmonton said he received an email from a patient early Monday morning asking if she should stop taking Zetia even though it was having the intended effect on her LDL levels.

Doctors say not to worry if the medicine is having its intended affects, but to be cautious if any side affects are experienced and don’t hesitate to contact your doctor for consultation.

Apparently, not much according to a  recent article written by the American College of Physicians that said all three of the medications preformed well in combating ED, and there is not sufficient evidence to recommend one drug over another.

“The evidence is insufficient to compare the efficacy and adverse effects” of the drugs because “few head-to-head trials are available,” the guidelines say. This lack of evidence comparing one drug against another is familiar. Companies often launch studies comparing new drugs to placebos, rather than to existing drugs; without head-to-head trials, it can be tough to know how competing drugs stack up.

A report by the WSJ has said that since there is not sufficient evidence of one ED drug being more affective than another, most doctors are prescribing brands based on price.

According to our database, Viagra comes in first with the cheapest price per pill at $1.60, followed by Cialis at $1.90 per pill, and Levitra at $2.23 per pill.

So when you go to talk to your doctor about beginning a treatment for ED remember: All the major brands will work with the same efficacy, so get your prescription for the cheapest one.

The large American drug maker Abbott Laboratories is moving to close a deal today to purchase the prescription drug unit of the Belgian company Solvay for close to $6.6 billion in order to take sole possession of a shared cholesterol drug venture. The deal could possibly pay out an addition $440 million if the product meets certain sales goals from 2011 to 2013.

The deal will also give Abbott sole possession TriCor, which competes with Antara and Lofibra in the highly competitive cholesterol drug market. Last year TriCor had over $1.3 billion in sales.

In addition to TriCor, Abbott will also receive full ownership of Solvay’s drugs for hormone replacement, hypertension, as well as other neurological conditions.

According to the New York Times,

Pending health care legislation in Congress is not considered a deterrent for pharmaceutical acquisitions, because the drug makers are expected to do well in whatever emerges from Washington. The industry has a potentially winning political argument that its drugs prevent disease and save medical costs. And the industry stands to benefit from the addition of tens of millions of Americans to the ranks of the insured, under a health care overhaul.

Abbott’s patent on TriCor is set to expire soon, which means generic, less expensive versions of TriCor will be available. Abbott will then face the challenge of switching consumers over to the new drug Trilipix. This means that Abbott will throw all of it’s marketing behind Trilipix, and try and dupe consumers into buying a medication that is no more affective, yet much more expensive.

The FDA voted yesterday to endorse the new cervical cancer medication from GlaxoSmithKline, Cervarix.

Good news for GlaxoSmithKline, bad news for Merck.

Merck is the owner of Gardasil, the only cervical cancer vaccination that is currently available on the market.

According to MSNBC,

London-based drugmaker Glaxo already has won approval for its vaccine in Europe, but its U.S. launch was delayed in 2007 when the FDA said it needed more data about the vaccine.

Panelists say newer studies suggest the vaccine is safe, but they recommend follow-up studies to monitor miscarriages and inflammatory-muscular problems reported by a small number of patients.

The group said it was unlikely those problems were related to the vaccine, but said the issues should still be noted on the product labeling.

I am not so sure that the FDA was as concerned with the safety of the vaccine as they were with protecting Merck’s profits. Gardasil sales, which reached $1.5 billion in 2007 would have taken a huge hit.

Gardasil and Cervarix both defend against the two most prevalent strains of HPV 16 and 18. These two strains are responsible for 70 percent of cervical cancer cases.

The maker of the antifungal cream Ertaczo (sertaconazole nitrate) received a violation letter from the FDA last week regarding misleading advertisements for the prescription medication, which is used primarily to treat interdigital tinea pedis — more commonly known as athlete’s foot.

While Johnson & Johnson claims the cream eliminates the infection that causes athlete’s foot, clinical trials have shown it to be only modestly effective against tinea. The ads included claims such as “Tinea Stops Here” and “Crush. Kill. Destroy.”

So, what exactly is athlete’s foot — and what medication is your best choice for treating it?

Athlete’s foot is a fungal infection that can lead to intense itching, cracked skin, scaling and redness. It can occur on wet skin especially between the toes, or on dry skin around the heels and rest of the foot.

Your best treatment option depends on the condition’s type and severity. In many cases, athlete’s foot can be treated effectively by over-the-counter topical medications like Lamisil AT, Micatin, Lotrimin AF or Tinactin.

For more severe cases or those that don’t respond to OTC remedies, prescription topicals are the next option. These include Naftin, Mentax, Monistat Derm, Lotrimin and Ertaczo.

When your athlete’s foot doesn’t respond to topical medications, your doctor may prescribe oral antifungal pills, such as Lamisil, Sporanox, and Diflucan.

Which treatment is best for you? There are a large number of antifungal medications on the market, with different active ingredients, so the options are many. One study did find that so-called allylamines (such as Lamisil and Naftin) cured more athlete’s foot infections than azoles (such as Ertaczo and Lotrimin).

As always, however, your best option is to consult with your doctor based on your individual symptoms.

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