Two drugs that are commonly used to treat depression and generalized anxiety, venlafaxine HCl (Tablet Effexor® XR, Wyeth) and sertraline HCl (Drug Zoloft®, Pfizer), have now been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of Social Anxiety Disorder, sometimes called “social phobia.” Social Anxiety Disorder affects 13% of Americans and is [...]

Giving critically ill patients supplemental antioxidants before they appear to need them can help keep organs from failing, say researchers from Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington. Of 595 patients, 310 were randomly assigned to receive alpha-tocopherol and ascorbate and 294 were assigned to standard care. By day 28, 44 (15%) of the patients receiving [...]

“Breakthrough” pain, a transitory exacerbation of pain that has been generally stable, can be unpredictable and can escalate rapidly in patients with cancer. Oral opioid agents are not always the answer because they may act too slowly. A nasal morphine-chitosan solution might be a fast, reliable, convenient way to tame breakthrough pain, say British researchers [...]

The Formulary Advisor™ is a new product that is expected to simplify the development and management of online formularies in hospitals. It allows prescribing clinicians to view, create, manage, and update a complete formulary on a desktop or laptop computer or on a personal digital assistant (PDA). The device provides immediate access to current information [...]