UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News

Docs prescribe real drugs as placebos

WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- A U.S. study found some doctors regularly prescribe active drugs such as sedatives and antibiotics as placebo treatments.

The study, led by Dr. Jon Tilburt from the National Institutes of Health and collaborators at Harvard and the University of Chicago, said 57 percent of the general internal medicine physicians and rheumatologists who responded to a survey reported prescribing placebo treatments on a regular basis.

The findings are published in the British Medical Journal.

Researchers said the most commonly prescribed placebo treatments were over-the-counter painkillers and vitamins. Physicians also reported using antibiotics, sedatives and sugar pills.

The physicians in the study said they did not believe they were behaving unethically by using placebos or not being upfront with their patients about doing so, the report said.

EU agency says Acomplia too risky

LONDON, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- The European Medicines Agency is calling for suspension of marketing for the anti-obesity drug Acomplia after reports of psychiatric risks.

The EMEA's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use concluded that the benefits of Acomplia no longer outweigh its risks, the agency said Thursday. The drug rimonabant, marketed by Sanofi-Aventis as Acomplia, was approved for sale in the European United in 2006.

The agency said recent studies suggest an approximate doubling of the risk of psychiatric disorders in obese or overweight patients taking Acomplia compared to those taking placebo.

"Prescribers should not issue any prescriptions for Acomplia and should review the treatment of patients currently taking the medicine," the EMEA said in a statement. "Patients who are currently taking Acomplia should consult their doctor or pharmacist at a convenient time to discuss their treatment. There is no need for patients to stop treatment with Acomplia immediately, but patients who wish to stop can do so at any time."

FDA approves lung valve

WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a removable valve system designed to control prolonged air leaks in the lungs.

The FDA said the IBV Valve System is approved for use in patients who have undergone partial or total removal of a lung lobe or lung volume reduction surgery and who experience air leaks that last more than seven days. The device was approved as part of program supporting the development of medical devices intended to benefit patients with diseases or conditions affecting fewer than 4,000 people in the United States per year, the agency said Friday in a release.

The IBV valve, manufactured by Spiration Inc., of Redmond, Wash., is inserted through a bronchoscope and placed in the airway of the lung area affected by the air leak. The valve prevents air from entering the affected area but allows air and mucus to escape, the report said.

Expedition 17 crew returns from space

HOUSTON, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- NASA said space traveler Richard Garriott and two members of the Expedition 17 crew have returned safely from the International Space Station.

Garriott and Russian cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononeko landed their Soyuz spacecraft in Kazakhstan Thursday after 199 days in orbit. Garriott, son of former NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, spent 10 days on the station under a commercial agreement with the Russian Federal Space Agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said in a release.

The new space station crew consists of Expedition 18's U.S. commander E. Michael Fincke and flight engineers Greg Chamitoff of the United States and Yury Lonchakov of Russia.