Pharmacy Industry News: Apple juice and allergy medicine don’t mix
The People’s Pharmacy: Apple juice and allergy medicine don’t mix
I know that grapefruit juice is a problem with my blood pressure pill felodipine. I wonder about other juices, like apple and orange juice. Will they affect this or my allergy medication fexofenadine? It is so hard to tell what is safe to eat or drink with your medicine.
Grapefruit juice can indeed cause problems with many medications, including felodipine (Plendil), simvastatin (Zocor) and atorvastatin (Lipitor). Blood levels can rise, and that may cause unanticipated side effects.
Other fruit juices may have the opposite effect on certain medications. Fexofenadine (Allegra) is an allergy medicine that might not work very well if taken with apple, orange or grapefruit juice. Such juices may dramatically reduce the absorption of fexofenadine. This could mean there is not enough medicine to relieve allergy symptoms for some people (Pharmacogenetics and Genomics, February).
Many people get in the habit of taking their medicine with juice. It probably is a better idea to take pills with water. This is especially true for antibiotics, blood pressure medicine and drugs to prevent organ-transplant rejection.
I have found a very helpful use for Burt’s Bees peppermint lip balm. My nose got really sore the last time I had a cold. Applying the lip balm to my nose and upper lip gave me instant relief. My nose healed within a couple of days.
Burt’s Bees Lip Balm has a beeswax base with no petroleum products. So far as we know, this type of short-term use should not pose any hazards.
We usually discourage people from using products with a petroleum jelly base in or near the nose, because we are concerned that inhalation of petrolatum might lead to lung inflammation in susceptible individuals.
I have been on thyroid medication for the past year. Last fall, I noticed my hypothyroid symptoms returning: fatigue, muscle cramps and stiffness after walking just a mile of my usual 3-mile walk. I also felt extremely cold, while others were comfortable.
When I saw my doctor and told him about my symptoms, he checked my thyroid levels and gave me a month’s supply of Synthroid to tide me over. I had been taking generic levothyroxine.
A measure of thyroid function, my TSH level, was 3.7 on the generic. On Synthroid, my TSH was 2.5, and all my symptoms disappeared even though the dosage is the same (50 micrograms). If there is such a difference from one brand to another, how can dosage be regulated properly?
The Food and Drug Administration maintains that levothyroxine formulations (Levoxyl, Synthroid, etc.) are identical. Physicians who specialize in treating thyroid disorders (The Endocrine Society) disagree. They worry that patients are put at risk when they are switched between brands or generics.
Supreme Court sides with pharmaceutical industry in two decisions
Justices rule that generic drug makers cannot be sued by injured patients in most cases and that drug manufacturers have a 1st Amendment right to buy private prescription records to use for marketing purposes.
The Supreme Court gave the pharmaceutical industry a pair of victories, shielding the makers of generic drugs from most lawsuits by injured patients and declaring that drug makers have a free-speech right to buy private prescription records to boost their sales pitches to doctors.
In both decisions Thursday, the court’s conservative bloc formed the majority, and most of its liberals dissented.
About 75% of the prescriptions written in this country are for lower-cost generic versions of brand-name drugs. Federal law requires the makers of brand-name drugs to label their products with FDA-approved warning information and to update the warnings when reports of new problems arise.
Pharmacists Choose Nature Made as the Leading VMS Brand for Sixth Year
Nature Made® is the leading choice of pharmacists in five key vitamin and supplement segments, according to a broad survey and ranking by Pharmacy Times, published in their OTC Guide, a supplement to the June 2011 issue. Nature Made is the # 1 Pharmacist Recommended brand for Letter Vitamins (A, B, C, D, and E), CoQ10, Omega-3/Fish Oil, Flax Seed Oil and Herbal Supplements.1
“Nature Made understands that quality is the keystone of trust for pharmacists and health professionals, and is proud to be the #1 pharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand once again across key vitamin segments”
“Nature Made understands that quality is the keystone of trust for pharmacists and health professionals, and is proud to be the #1 pharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand once again across key vitamin segments,” says Mark Walsh, chief operating officer, Pharmavite. “Year after year, we aim to be the model against which all other dietary supplement companies are measured.”
For 40 years, Nature Made has been committed to a science-based approach, making only those dietary supplements that science proves are safe and effective, and in ensuring the superior quality we promise to our customers for each of the more than 150 products that we make. From ingredient sourcing, to industry-leading manufacturing practices, to third-party verification, Nature Made is responsible for making high-quality products that consumers and health care professionals can trust to deliver the nutrients they need.
“When it comes to choosing vitamins and supplements, it is important to look for brands that are recommended by credible experts,” says Suzy Cohen, RPh, author of “The 24-hour Pharmacist” and syndicated columnist. “As a pharmacist, I trust Nature Made because they ensure every product is made according to the FDA’s stringent manufacturing requirements, and also have many of their products verified by quality third-party organizations such as the United States Pharmacopeia.”