A dozen phase III trials in neurology were published in 2018, many of which led to FDA approvals. The following is a summary of the study results. Read More
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Record number of FDA drug approvals in 2018
January 9, 2019The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved 59 new drugs in 2018 – a 30% increase over the number approved in 2017 and a 270% increase over the low-water mark set in 2016. Only 7 of the new approvals were for drugs used in neurology; there were no approvals of psychiatric agents. Read More
Rare cases of stroke reported with alemtuzumab
December 14, 2018The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a black-box warning about a risk of stroke and arterial dissection in patients with multiple sclerosis who have been exposed to alemtuzumab (www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm624247.htm?fbclid=IwAR2eBbqp24E0J3VIk8jbUZZ5pet…). The announcement was issued on November 29, 2018 and a black-box warning was added to the U.S. product label. The Canadian product monograph had not been updated at the time of writing. Read More
Improving QoL in patients with schizophrenia
December 5, 2018SPECIAL REPORT
Comment by Dr. William MacEwan
In recent years, the goals of schizophrenia management have moved beyond the traditional model of treating positive and negative symptoms to a more holistic approach that emphasizes functional recovery, psychosocial functioning and quality of life (QoL) (Juckel & Morosini. Curr Opin Psychiatry 2008;21:630-639). Indeed, over a decade ago, Naber and colleagues proposed that quality of life should be considered as important as psychopathology in managing patients with schizophrenia (Naber et al. Schizophr Res 2001;50:79-88). To be sure, achieving symptomatic remission with antipsychotic medications is the necessary first step to functional recovery (Kokaçya et al. Noro Psikiyatr Ars 2016;53:328-333), and the prevention of clinical relapses will have the greatest impact on QoL (Briggs et al. Health Qual Life Outcomes 2008;6:105-13). A caveat, however, is that clinical effectiveness alone may not necessarily translate to improvements in QoL and patient self-rated life satisfaction, as the Clinical Antipsychotic Trial of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) study reported (Fervaha et al. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2014;24:1078-1085). Read More