Thieves have made off with $75 million-worth of central nervous system, cardiovascular and cancer drugs from an Eli Lilly distribution facility in the US in a highly-organised heist which is thought to be the biggest ever affecting the pharmaceutical industry.
The highly-organised raiders gained access to Lilly's distribution facility in Enfield, Connecticut on March 14, disabling phone lines, cutting a hole in the roof and abseiling down into the building's telecommunications centre.
Once inside, the thieves were able to shut down alarm and access control systems and help themselves to 70 pallets of assorted Lilly products.
The haul included cases of the antidepressants Prozac (fluoxetine) and Cymbalta (duloxetine), attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder treatment Strattera (atomoxetine), antipsychotic Zyprexa (olanzapine), cancer drugs Gemzar (gemcitabine) and Alimta (pemetrexed), and the cardiovascular treatment Efient (prasugrel).
The Enfield facility is Lilly's main distribution hub for the east coast region of the USA.
Lilly (makers of the erectile dysfunction drug Cialis) said it was working with the US Food and Drug Administration and law enforcement officials to try to recover the products, noting: "The US pharmaceutical distribution system is tightly controlled and monitored, making it extremely difficult for stolen product to make it to patients through legitimate channels."
The company has stopped distributing product with the affected lot numbers and is advising all those handling medicines in the supply chain to check products for tampering or damage prior to purchase and/or use.
Charles Forsaith of the Pharmaceutical Cargo Security Coalition, an industry group dedicated to combating theft of pharmaceutical products, said the perpetrators were likely "a highly-organised group who had conducted lengthy surveillance related activities on that particular site".
With pharmaceutical cargo theft on the increase in the US, he recommends that companies review their security procedures at all locations, "particularly ones that are not manned 24/7", with particular attention to "premise alarms, cellular back-up capability and the security of telecommunications systems".
The latest heist bears all the hallmarks of being carried out by the same group which raided a GlaxoSmithKline facility in Richmond, Virginia, last year, making off with $5 million-worth of Advair (fluticasone propionate and salmeterol) asthma inhalers. In that raid too the thieves gained entry to the building through the roof.
Medical Specialist® are a registered UK pharmacy established in 1994 providing prescription & non prescription medication online since 2001.
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
Turns out you do need Viagra like a heart attack
if you’re having trouble with sex, you may have a problem Viagra won’t fix.
A study published this week in Circulation delivered the bad news.
Researchers at the Medical University of the Saarland in Germany looked at people in two hypertension drug studies who also had erectile dysfunction (ED).
Those who had ED were most likely to die of a heart attack, stroke or other heart problem — they called it a “potent predictor of all-cause death.”
In other words if you have ED, you may have advanced heart disease. You are twice as likely to die of it as someone without ED.
The two studies examined were TRANSCEND, which was testing an angiotensin-receptor blocker (ARB) on people who had trouble with angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, and ONTARGET, which tested the two drugs in combination.
Full disclosure. I presently take a daily pill which combines an ARB with a Calcium Channel Blocker (CCB), called EXFORGE, which works well on my hypertension. (I also take a generic statin.) I don’t have ED.
The main recommendation from all this is that doctors should ask about ED when they’re doing a work-up on heart disease. So you don’t have to ask your doctor about ED anymore. They should ask you.
And if you answer yes, your doctor may start looking for other risk factors and treating you as a heart patient, not just as someone looking to have a good time.
One word of warning. The two studies the German doctors looked at were of patients who already had heart disease, which is why they were seeking ARBs and ACE inhibitors in the first place. If you’re young and healthy and your ED problem isn’t a regular thing, the solution may lie elsewhere. Like your head.
A study published this week in Circulation delivered the bad news.
Researchers at the Medical University of the Saarland in Germany looked at people in two hypertension drug studies who also had erectile dysfunction (ED).
Those who had ED were most likely to die of a heart attack, stroke or other heart problem — they called it a “potent predictor of all-cause death.”
In other words if you have ED, you may have advanced heart disease. You are twice as likely to die of it as someone without ED.
The two studies examined were TRANSCEND, which was testing an angiotensin-receptor blocker (ARB) on people who had trouble with angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, and ONTARGET, which tested the two drugs in combination.
Full disclosure. I presently take a daily pill which combines an ARB with a Calcium Channel Blocker (CCB), called EXFORGE, which works well on my hypertension. (I also take a generic statin.) I don’t have ED.
The main recommendation from all this is that doctors should ask about ED when they’re doing a work-up on heart disease. So you don’t have to ask your doctor about ED anymore. They should ask you.
And if you answer yes, your doctor may start looking for other risk factors and treating you as a heart patient, not just as someone looking to have a good time.
One word of warning. The two studies the German doctors looked at were of patients who already had heart disease, which is why they were seeking ARBs and ACE inhibitors in the first place. If you’re young and healthy and your ED problem isn’t a regular thing, the solution may lie elsewhere. Like your head.
Stigma hits hopes for female Viagra
Society and cultural barriers will continue to prevent women from recognising that they may suffer from female sexual dysfunction and seeking help, according to a new report.
Furthermore, the analysis, published by Datamonitor, notes that the non life-threatening nature of the disorders means that FSD “is often disregarded by the medical community”. FSD is an umbrella term that covers a variety of different dproblems from hypoactive sexual desire disorder (or low libido) and sexual arousal disorder to painful intercourse. Also there is often an overlap between disorders that can affect diagnosis and treatment.
Maya Marescotti, women’s health analyst at Datamonitor, says there is “a stigma associated with talking about sex, cultural embarrassment, and avoidance of discussion of sexual dysfunction in the clinical environment”. She adds that “these are common barriers that prevent doctors and patients from talking about sex”.
In a recent US study of 198 healthcare providers, only 34% of physicians would discuss sexual health with their patients on their own initiative. An earlier study across the pond showed that 75% of women would rather not discuss the subject as they thought the doctor would not be interested.
There is only one FSD drug available in the UK, where over 10 million women are thought to suffer from sexual dysfunction in their lifetime. That is Procter & Gamble’s Intrinsa, a testosterone skin patch which is given to women who have had their uterus and/or ovaries removed. New therapies are on the way, however, some of which target the psychological aspect of FSD, including Boehringer Ingelheim’s flibanserin, an oral pill originally developed as an antidepressant.
However, Ms Marescotti notes that “those hoping for a ‘female Viagra’ will be disappointed. In contrast to erectile dysfunction, she adds that “the complicated nature of FSD means that a quick fix in the form of an effective pill is very hard to achieve”
Furthermore, the analysis, published by Datamonitor, notes that the non life-threatening nature of the disorders means that FSD “is often disregarded by the medical community”. FSD is an umbrella term that covers a variety of different dproblems from hypoactive sexual desire disorder (or low libido) and sexual arousal disorder to painful intercourse. Also there is often an overlap between disorders that can affect diagnosis and treatment.
Maya Marescotti, women’s health analyst at Datamonitor, says there is “a stigma associated with talking about sex, cultural embarrassment, and avoidance of discussion of sexual dysfunction in the clinical environment”. She adds that “these are common barriers that prevent doctors and patients from talking about sex”.
In a recent US study of 198 healthcare providers, only 34% of physicians would discuss sexual health with their patients on their own initiative. An earlier study across the pond showed that 75% of women would rather not discuss the subject as they thought the doctor would not be interested.
There is only one FSD drug available in the UK, where over 10 million women are thought to suffer from sexual dysfunction in their lifetime. That is Procter & Gamble’s Intrinsa, a testosterone skin patch which is given to women who have had their uterus and/or ovaries removed. New therapies are on the way, however, some of which target the psychological aspect of FSD, including Boehringer Ingelheim’s flibanserin, an oral pill originally developed as an antidepressant.
However, Ms Marescotti notes that “those hoping for a ‘female Viagra’ will be disappointed. In contrast to erectile dysfunction, she adds that “the complicated nature of FSD means that a quick fix in the form of an effective pill is very hard to achieve”
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Viagra scam on the rise
Numerous UK universities have been unknowingly helping criminals to sell fake Viagra over the internet.
A security firm has discovered that an increasing number of organisations using the .ac.uk domain are unknowingly pushing customers to websites offering fake erectile dysfunction pills.
Amichai Shulman, of the security company Imperva, which was responsible for uncovering the scam, emphasised how the criminals exploited software to piggyback on the computing resources of various colleges and universities. He also noted how the spammers exploited vulnerabilities in widely used technology called PHP.
The injected PHP codes included search terms such as Viagra and Cialis. Therefore, when a person searched for drugs such as these online, the universities and colleges’ web addresses would pop up in the top results. Anyone who clicked on these links would then be re-directed to a fake pharmacy selling counterfeit pills.
According to a BBC report, Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication in Kent was one school whose website became victim to the scam.
A spokesperson for the college said, “We immediately took action to temporarily close down and remove the compromised area while we resolved the issue.
Mr. Shulman of Imperva said that the rate such sites were being put up and taken down made it hard to get an exact figure of how many sites had been hit. However, he estimated that “thousands” of sites had been caught out by the drug spammers.
A security firm has discovered that an increasing number of organisations using the .ac.uk domain are unknowingly pushing customers to websites offering fake erectile dysfunction pills.
Amichai Shulman, of the security company Imperva, which was responsible for uncovering the scam, emphasised how the criminals exploited software to piggyback on the computing resources of various colleges and universities. He also noted how the spammers exploited vulnerabilities in widely used technology called PHP.
The injected PHP codes included search terms such as Viagra and Cialis. Therefore, when a person searched for drugs such as these online, the universities and colleges’ web addresses would pop up in the top results. Anyone who clicked on these links would then be re-directed to a fake pharmacy selling counterfeit pills.
According to a BBC report, Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication in Kent was one school whose website became victim to the scam.
A spokesperson for the college said, “We immediately took action to temporarily close down and remove the compromised area while we resolved the issue.
Mr. Shulman of Imperva said that the rate such sites were being put up and taken down made it hard to get an exact figure of how many sites had been hit. However, he estimated that “thousands” of sites had been caught out by the drug spammers.
Thursday, 11 March 2010
How Viagra can make your partner look like Avatars Neytiri
Blue is the colour ... Neytiri in hit movie Avatar
Blue vision: This side-effect of the erectile dysfunction pill "Viagra" could make everyone look like an extra from flick Avatar. It affects about three per cent of men on lower doses and about one in ten on the top whack.
The Viagra can affect your retina - the light-sensitive back of your eye. But it only lasts an hour or so and doesn't seem to cause any long-term harm.
Blue vision: This side-effect of the erectile dysfunction pill "Viagra" could make everyone look like an extra from flick Avatar. It affects about three per cent of men on lower doses and about one in ten on the top whack.
The Viagra can affect your retina - the light-sensitive back of your eye. But it only lasts an hour or so and doesn't seem to cause any long-term harm.
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
Warning sounded on herbal erectile dysfunction products
Some "herbal remedies" for erectile dysfunction that go by names such as Clyamax, Love Fuel and Sexual Surge could pose a big risk to your health, officials say.
Health Canada is issuing warnings and warning Canadians not to use a number of products that claim to help men who suffer from erectile dysfunction, saying possible side effects of taking the drugs include heart attacks, strokes, chest pain, high blood pressure, abnormal heart beat, headache, facial flushing, indigestion, dizziness, abnormal vision and hearing loss.
Two of the products, STRO Emperor Capsules and 2H and 2D, contain tadalafil, are touted as being traditional Chinese medicinal treatments, but they contain a prescription drug used to treat erectile dysfunction.
Health Canada issued the warning about STRO Emperor Capsules after the Irish Medicines Board warned consumers in Ireland not to buy the product. The Hong Kong Department of Health issued a similar warning about 2H and 2D. Health Canada also issued a warning about a number of dietary supplements used for sexual enhancement made by Atlas Operations Inc. of Pompano Beach, Fla., after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration discovered the supplements contain undeclared sulfoaildenafil, an unauthorized substance similar to sildenafil. Sildenafil is also a prescription drug used to treat erectile dysfunction.
The names of some of these products included: Amour for him, Clyamax, Depth Charge, Love Fuel, Red Hot Sex, Sexual Surge, Stamin It and Whatzup.
Health Canada is issuing warnings and warning Canadians not to use a number of products that claim to help men who suffer from erectile dysfunction, saying possible side effects of taking the drugs include heart attacks, strokes, chest pain, high blood pressure, abnormal heart beat, headache, facial flushing, indigestion, dizziness, abnormal vision and hearing loss.
Two of the products, STRO Emperor Capsules and 2H and 2D, contain tadalafil, are touted as being traditional Chinese medicinal treatments, but they contain a prescription drug used to treat erectile dysfunction.
Health Canada issued the warning about STRO Emperor Capsules after the Irish Medicines Board warned consumers in Ireland not to buy the product. The Hong Kong Department of Health issued a similar warning about 2H and 2D. Health Canada also issued a warning about a number of dietary supplements used for sexual enhancement made by Atlas Operations Inc. of Pompano Beach, Fla., after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration discovered the supplements contain undeclared sulfoaildenafil, an unauthorized substance similar to sildenafil. Sildenafil is also a prescription drug used to treat erectile dysfunction.
The names of some of these products included: Amour for him, Clyamax, Depth Charge, Love Fuel, Red Hot Sex, Sexual Surge, Stamin It and Whatzup.
Monday, 1 March 2010
Bicycle riding and erectile dysfunction
Department of Urology, Institute of Men's Health, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
For many years, reports in the literature have implicated bicycle riding as causing increased risk of erectile dysfunction (ED). Perineal compression during cycling has been associated with the development of sexual complications.
To review current literature on the rationale for ED from bicycle riding and outcome of bicycle riding on erectile function and to present available research on preventative measures specifically regarding bicycle riding.
A systematic comprehensive literature review. Results. There is a significant relationship between cycling-induced perineal compression leading to vascular, endothelial, and neurogenic dysfunction in men and the development of ED. Research on female bicyclists is very limited but indicates the same impairment as in male bicyclists. Preventative measures including use of a properly fitted bicycle, a riding style with a suitable seat position and an appropriate bicycle seat can help prevent impairment of erectile function.
There is a need for further research on safe bicycle and bicycle seat design and investigations that address the underlying mechanisms leading to cycling-related sexual dysfunction in both male and female bicyclists.
For many years, reports in the literature have implicated bicycle riding as causing increased risk of erectile dysfunction (ED). Perineal compression during cycling has been associated with the development of sexual complications.
To review current literature on the rationale for ED from bicycle riding and outcome of bicycle riding on erectile function and to present available research on preventative measures specifically regarding bicycle riding.
A systematic comprehensive literature review. Results. There is a significant relationship between cycling-induced perineal compression leading to vascular, endothelial, and neurogenic dysfunction in men and the development of ED. Research on female bicyclists is very limited but indicates the same impairment as in male bicyclists. Preventative measures including use of a properly fitted bicycle, a riding style with a suitable seat position and an appropriate bicycle seat can help prevent impairment of erectile function.
There is a need for further research on safe bicycle and bicycle seat design and investigations that address the underlying mechanisms leading to cycling-related sexual dysfunction in both male and female bicyclists.
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