Online Pharmacy Medicine Blog

The Food and Drug Administration decided today to change the name of Kapidex in order to avoid confusion of the drug with several other drugs that have simular names.

Kapidex, a heartburn drug, has a similar name to the prostate cancer drug Casodex and the pain medication Kadian. The FDA said the confusion has resulted in multiple “dispensing errors” since the drug was approved early 2009.

The FDA Director of Surveillance and Epidemiology Dr. Gerald Dal Pan said, “Today’s near miss, today’s medication error that doesn’t cause harm to somebody could cause harm to someone tomorrow.”

The new name for Kapidex will be Dexilant, and is the first in a list of drugs the FDA plans to rename in order to remove any confusion and remedy dispensing errors.

A report from ABC.com talked about a woman from Canton, NC who had experienced a similar problem first hand. She was supposed to get a prescription of a anti-depressant prescribed as a sleeping aid, Trazodone, for her foster daughter. Instead, the pharmacy gave her something with the same first three letters – Tramadol, a pain killer.

Hopefully the renaming will cut down on the amount of prescribing errors. Remember to always double check your prescriptions to make sure that you are taking the correct medication and avoid a potential disaster.

Nicorrette has helped many smokers kick the habit. Revia (Naltrexone) has helped many alcoholics relieve their dependency. Sabril (vigabatrin) reduces cocaine cravings and has helped many kick the addiction.

What’s next, a drug to help users kick their Facebook addiction? Not likely…but, you never know.

The New York Times recently reported that many teens, the majority girls, are forming Facebook support groups to deal with their addiction.

“It’s like any other addiction,” psychologist Kimberly Young, the director of the Center for Internet Addiction Recovery in Bradford, Penn., told The Times. “Its hard to wean yourself.”

According to the article, one boy even said that “Facebook wasn’t merely a distraction, but it was really confusing him about who he was,” and he decided to spend his senior year away from the service. He was apparently burned out trying to live up to his own descriptions of himself.

Facebook also doesn’t let you quit so easily, teens that wish to give the axe to Facebook must check off six reasons why they want to quit. And if they have a weak moment and decide to reactivate their account, all they have to due is simply sign in with their original login and password information and pick up right where they left off.

Last week, Sen. Byron Dorgan a Democrat from North Dakota introduced a piece of legislation that would save consumers over a $100 billion dollars by allowing them to order their drugs from several other countries.

According to the Bangor Daily News

a North Dakota Democrat, introduced legislation to allow consumers to buy drugs from several other countries. As a safeguard, only medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and produced in facilities approved by the FDA could be purchased by U.S. residents. The measure was co-sponsored by Sen. Olympia Snowe.

Sen. Dorgan estimated the legislation would save consumers about $100 billion over the next decade.

The article goes on to say the only thing stopping the legislation is the FDA and PhRMA. The FDA won’t support the importation of drugs because they are protecting the pockets of the big pharmaceutical companies, and PhRMA is the pharmaceutical companies lobbying group.

Senators have verified that the drugs are safe, the only hold up is they don’t want YOU to save money on your prescriptions. The good news is you don’t have to wait on them. You can order the medications you need like Actos and Lexapro right now.

Don’t let lobbyists and bureaucrats to decide when you can save money on your prescription medication, join ePharmacies.com today.

Depending on what your body needs and the problems you are experiencing will determine what type of cholesterol medication your doctor will prescribe for you. These medications will help by:

• Lowering your LDL (bad) cholesterol
• Decreasing your triglycerides, a type of fat in the blood that also increases the risk of heart disease
• increasing your HDL (good) cholesterol which helps protect against heart disease.

One of the most common classes of cholesterol medication are statins. Statins decrease LDL and triglycerides and slightly increase HDL. Altoprev, Crestor, Lescol, Lipitor, Mevacor, Pravachol, and Zocor can all be found in this class.

Some of the side affects that you should look out for when using any of these statins are constipation, nausea, diarrhea, stomach pain, cramps, and muscle soreness.

According to the Mayo clinic

most cholesterol medications are well tolerated, but effectiveness varies from person to person. If you decide to take cholesterol medication, your doctor may recommend periodic liver function tests to monitor the medication’s effect on your liver. Also remember the importance of healthy lifestyle choices. Medication can help control your cholesterol — but lifestyle matters, too.

I think the main thing to remember when taking cholesterol medication is that it is not an end- all cure- all, and should be used in conjunction with a healthy diet. Often times once the user changes his diet, the medication can be decreased or is no longer needed.