The efforts of managed care organizations to control health care costs may have spread eastward from California, but innovation in controlling prescription drug spending today is flowing in the opposite direction. In 2000, the state of Maine enacted an aggressive plan, called “Maine Rx,” to force pharmaceutical companies to lower the prices of drugs for [...]

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Manufacturer: Ortho-McNeil Johnson & Johnson) Indication: To treat multidrug-resistant strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae (MDRSP) in community acquired pneumonia (CAP). Drug Class: Levofloxacin generic is a fluoroquinolone (a chiral flu-orinated carboxyquinolone).

Continue reading " Pharmaceutical-Approval Update: Levofloxacin Tablets/Injection and Levofloxacin in 5% Dextrose Injection (Levaquin®) "

Manufacturer: Allergan Pharmaceuticals Indication: To treat severe underarm sweating (primary axillary hyperhidrosis) that cannot be managed by topical agents such as prescription antiperspirants. Drug Class: Botulinum toxin type A is a protein that is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Sterile, vacuum-dried, and purified, it is made from fermentation of Hall strain C. botulinum type [...]

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Ezetimibe/Simvastatin (Vytorin tablet) Manufacturer: Merck & Co./Schering-Plough Corp. Indication: To treat elevated levels of low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) (the “bad” cholesterol) in patients with primary hypercholesterolemia or mixed hyperlipidemia as adjunctive therapy to diet when diet alone is not enough to reduce LDL-C levels.

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Black Box Warning Suicidality in Children and Adolescents. Antidepressants increase the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior (suicidality) in children and adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD) and other psychiatric disorders. Anyone considering the use of [Drug Name] or any other antidepressant in a child or adolescent must balance this risk with the clinical need. [...]

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Manufacturer: Novartis Indications: Zoledronic acid injection is indicated for patients with hypercalcemia of malignancy, for patients with multiple myeloma, and for patients with documented bone metastases from solid tumors, in conjunction with standard antineoplas-tic therapy. Prostate cancer should improve after treatment with at least one hormonal therapy.

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Manufacturer: Jones Pharma, Inc. Indications: Levothyroxine canadian has several uses: As replacement or supplemental therapy in patients with congenital or acquired hypothyroidism of any cause, except transient hypothyroidism during the recovery phase of subacute thyroiditis. Suppression of pituitary thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) to treat or prevent various types of euthyroid goiters, subacute or chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis [...]

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