News tagged with 'Seroquel'

AstraZeneca is fined $520 million for illegally marketing the anti-psychotic drug, Seroquel for uses not approved by the FDA, including for use among the elderly and adolescents.

Abilify by Bristol Myers Squibb was just approved by the FDA for treatment of autism-related irritability and acting out. It is among a group of antipsychotics that cause weight gain in users.

Atypical antipsychotics used in young patients for the first time led to a weight gain of anywhere from 11 to 19 pounds in just 11 weeks and an increase in cholesterol and triglycerides, making some question whether the drugs are a long-term solution for young people with psychiatric disorders.

While Risperdal is already approved for use in adolescents, three other makers of powerful atypical anti-psychotics are seeking FDA approval for use in the young.  The drugs are effective in some, but others say they can be fatal and are known to cause weight gain and increase the risk of diabetes. 

When Florida began requiring physicians to obtain approval from the state before prescribing antipsychotics to children under the age of six, something dramatic happened - prescriptions dropped 75 percent. The same trend is being seen nationwide. 

Seroquel, the antipsychotic, will have a further safety review by advisers brought in by the FDA because the drug is known to produce symptoms of tardive dyskinesia, a metabolic effect that causes involuntary movements, lip smacking, and grimacing.  Diabetes is a known side effect and the subject of thousands of lawsuits currently underway.

Seroquel litigation is heating up and internal company documents show AstraZeneca cherry picked what information it wanted released about the antipsychotic, while downplaying any link to diabetes.

If schizophrenia runs in a family, bipolar disorder most likely does as well (and vice versa), suggests new research. A new study, published online in the January issue of the journal The Lancet, suggests both disorders share common genetic causes.

Patients taking a newer group of atypical antipsychotics are twice as likely to suffer sudden cardiac failure and death as nonusers, according to a newly published study in the New England Journal of Medicine.  The newer atypicals were thought to be safer than the older medications. An editorial says they are all overprescribed.

The controversial drug, Seroquel, will have additional application to treat depression in adults if the drug maker AstraZeneca receives approval from the FDA. Seroquel use has been linked to diabetes, and two serious complications known as Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome and Tardive Dyskinesia. 

In a routine pediatric safety review on Tuesday, an outside panel of experts unanimously requested more long-term data on the side effects of prescribing powerful antipsychotic drugs to children including Risperdal and Zyprexa.

Seroquel's new extended release formula will have an extended patent, and presumably bring expanded profits for AstraZeneca, despite the controversy about the drug's side effects.

Published studies uncover a genetic component to schizophrenia that had never before been seen. For a disease that has seen few breakthroughs, these discoveries will help target therapies and earlier diagnosis.

Elderly patients who are given antipsychotic drugs for symptoms of dementia, are three times as likely to experience serious health problems or death within a month of use, compared to those patients not given the drugs, according to a published study by Canadian researchers.