ADHD Drug Pulled Off Market In Canada; US Sales Continue/People Need 3 Minutes To Decide To Love Another

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http://rense.com/general62/ADHDdrugpulledoffmarket.htm

ADHD Drug Pulled Off Market

In Canada; US Sales Continue

By Andre Picard

The Globe and Mail

2-11-5

 

Health Canada has stripped a pharmaceutical company of the right to

sell a popular drug used for the treatment of hyperactive children in Canada

after talks about withdrawing the medication voluntarily broke down.

 

The highly unusual move -- market authorization has not been

withdrawn from any of the 5,000 prescription drugs on the Canadian market

since 1999 -- came after Shire Biochem Inc. revealed that at least 20 people

taking Adderall XR had died suddenly, and 12 others suffered debilitating

strokes. All the deaths and strokes were in the United States. Most involved

children who died of stroke, which occurs when a blood vessel to the brain

is blocked by a blood clot or bursts, cutting off oxygen to the brain.

 

After a review of the drug's safety data, Health Canada asked Shire

at about 5 p.m. Wednesday to voluntarily withdraw the drug, said company

spokesperson, Matt Cabrey. Shire officials refused, reiterating their belief

Adderall XR was a safe therapy.

 

Within about an hour, the department told the company it was

suspending sales of the drug used in the treatment of attention deficit

hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) indefinitely, and issued a news release to

that effect Wednesday evening.

 

" Adverse events are very rare but they are also catastrophic, " Dr.

Robert Peterson, director general of the therapeutic products directorate at

Health Canada, said yesterday in explaining the move.

 

He said the benefits of the drug, improving attention span, had to

be balanced against the risk, possible death. Given currently available

information and the fact that there are many other ADHD drugs on the market,

the continued sale of Adderall XR could not be justified, he said.

 

Dr. Peterson said Health Canada is unclear why so many children

taking the drug died suddenly, but decided to err on the side of caution.

The Health Department has also asked all the makers of similar drugs to

submit updated safety information, which will be reviewed.

 

The action, however, angered many clinicians and patients, and even

the Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. regulator, distanced itself from

the move. The drug's maker, for its part, is threatening legal action.

 

Pam Eisen, a Toronto-area mother of a severe ADHD sufferer, said she

is troubled and unsure what she will do if the 14-year-old can no longer get

Adderall. " My son has gone from not being interested in school at all, and

being really disruptive, to being one of the most-improved students. "

 

Ms. Eisen said David was taking Ritalin for five years but it was

never as effective as Adderall. " I would definitely keep using it if I could

because nothing else has worked. "

 

Dr. Umesh Jain, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and

administrator of the Canadian ADD Resource Alliance, also had high praise

for Adderall XR.

 

He said the once-a-day, long-lasting formulation is of great benefit

to patients, particularly to children.

 

Dr. Jain said while he appreciates that Health Canada is concerned

with patient safety, he is angry at the way the decision was made to

withdraw authorization to sell the drug in Canada -- suddenly and without

warning.

 

" What are my patients supposed to do now? " he wondered. " I have to

slot them all in and find alternative treatments. But what happens if they

don't have supply in the meantime? Do they have to go through withdrawal? "

 

Dr. Jain, who is also a researcher at the Centre for Addiction and

Mental Health in Toronto, said he takes issue with Health Canada's

interpretation of the safety data. He said among the 20 Adderall XR users

who died suddenly, the vast majority had prior heart problems, and there is

no evidence that children or adults with healthy hearts are at risk. " If you

take out the kids with prior cardiac difficulty, the difference in risk is

negligible, " Dr. Jain said.

 

The U.S. FDA said yesterday, that unlike Canada, it will allow sales

of the drug to continue. A spokesman said yesterday that there is no

convincing evidence the Adderall is " clearly responsible " for these deaths.

 

There were 64,098 prescriptions dispensed for Adderall in Canada in

2004 (meaning that about 11,000 people are taking the drug), according to

IMS Health Canada, a private company that tracks prescription-drug trends.

Sales totalled $6.6-million in Adderall's first year on the market.

 

Adderall makes up only 4 per cent of total prescriptions for

analeptics -- drugs used to treat ADHD and similar conditions. The great

majority of children and adults with the condition take methylphenidate --

best known by its brand name Ritalin, though there are many generic forms.

There were 1.7 million prescriptions dispensed for analeptics last year,

with sales exceeding $87.5-million.

 

Health Canada has advised patients taking Adderall XR to consult a

physician about alternative treatment and to return any unused drugs to a

pharmacy.

 

© Copyright 2005 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights

Reserved.

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com

 

 

People Need 3 Minutes

To Decide To Love Another

 

ChinaView.cn

http://rense.com/general62/threemins.htm

2-12-5

 

LOS ANGELES (Xinhuanet) -- Most people need less than 3 minutes to

decide whether to develop closer relationship with another while dating, US

psychologists said Friday in a study.

 

The researchers at the University of Pennsylvania studied dating

data from 10,526 anonymous participants of HurryDate, a company that

organizes " speed dating " sessions. In a paper to be published in the

upcoming issue of the journal Evolution and Human Behavior, they presented

rare behavioral data on how people genuinely act in dating situations.

 

" Some people say they're looking for one kind of person, then choose

another. Other people say that don't even know what they are looking for.

But our data suggest that, however it happens, people know it quickly when

they see it, " said Robert Kurzban, an assistant professor who led the

research.

 

" People generally understand their own worth on the dating market,

so they are able to judge each other's potential compatibility within

moments of meeting, " he added.

 

At each HurryDate party, roughly 25 men and 25 women interact with

each other for three minutes at a time. At the end of the session, each

participant indicates which of the people he or she met would be of interest

for the future. The company also collects survey data from participants,

including age, height, education, income, drinking behavior, smoking

behavior, race and religion.

 

For this study, HurryDate collected answers to optional questions

about such things as how participants rate their own attractiveness and

sexuality.

 

" Although they had three minutes, most participants made their

decision based on the information that they probably got in the first three

seconds, " Kurzban said.

 

" Somewhat surprisingly, factors that you might think would be really

important to people, like religion, education and income, played very little

role in their choices. "

 

Psychology has often viewed relationships as transactions where

people select mates based on substantial qualities a mate has to offer, such

as power and money.

 

But the data show that, when people meet face-to-face, things like

smoking preferences and bank accounts don't seem to hurt complexities of

attraction, according to Kurzban.

 

The speed dating offered researchers a rare chance to look

systematically at the genuine behavior of people selecting mates, the

researchers said.

 

The actual behavior of people is worth more than their stated

beliefs. In this case, because participants might suffer the consequences of

a bad date with someone who might look compatible on paper, they had more

incentive to follow their hearts and desires.

 

" Behavior, more than self-reports, give us an important window into

the underlying psychology of mating, " Kurzban said.

 

However, the researchers cautioned that speed dating is not

necessarily typical of how people usually interact. Their findings might or

might not characterize long-term dating relationship. Enditem

 

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