Does One Of Best-Selling Drugs In World Trigger Compulsive Behavior? Scientists Can’t Figure Out The ‘How’
Hundreds of lawsuits claim that Abilify, which can be taken for depression and anxiety, causes gambling, binging, and other compulsive acts. But scientists say that if it does play a role, there are likely other factors also at play. In other public health news: tuberculosis, 3D-printed guns, cancer survivors, sleep, worker injuries, and more.
Stat:
Hundreds Claim Abilify Triggered Uncontrollable Urges To Gamble
[Denise] Miley, 41, filed a lawsuit in January 2016 against the drug makers Bristol-Myers Squibb and Otsuka, alleging the drug — one of the best-selling in the world — caused compulsive behavior. The suit contends that the companies knew or should have known it could create such urges, and didn’t adequately warn the thousands of people in the U.S. who use the medication each year. Hundreds more people have since sued the companies, claiming that the drug caused them to gamble, eat, or have sex compulsively. And the Food and Drug Administration signaled its own concern in a 2016 safety warning, saying that uncontrollable urges to gamble, binge eat, shop, and have sex had been reported with use of the antipsychotic. (Thielking, 8/2)
Stat:
Pair Of Studies Raise Hopes For Safer Treatment Of Latent Tuberculosis
Treatment of latent tuberculosis has never been a simple affair. Nine months of a drug known as isoniazid, taken daily, is the standard of care and can help clear the infection. But it also causes liver damage in a fairly significant percentage of cases. Now, researchers say, a pair of studies that were conducted across multiple countries have shown that four months of therapy with another drug, rifampin, is as effective as the standard of care. Furthermore, the shorter course of treatment meant patients were more likely to follow the regimen to the end. (Branswell, 8/2)
USA Today:
3D-Printed Guns: Are They Are A Serious Threat To U.S. Communities?
If gun rights activist Cody Wilson gets his way in his legal battle, soon anybody – including convicted felons and the mentally ill – with a few raw materials and access to an industrial 3D printer could build a plastic firearm, gun control advocates say. But will people, particularly a criminal or someone else intent on carrying out violence, bother to make the effort? Tech experts and stakeholders in the gun control debate are divided on whether the emergence of 3D-printed plastic guns presents an immediate safety threat to U.S communities. (Madhani and Wolfson, 8/1)
The Washington Post:
Childhood Cancer Survivors Face ‘Financial Toxicity’
Kristi Lowery was 13 when physicians found a grapefruit-size tumor in her back — a rare cancer called Ewing sarcoma — and treated her with an aggressive regimen of radiation and chemotherapy. Years later, she developed breast and thyroid cancer, as well as heart and lung problems, probably as a result of the radiation. Today, Lowery undergoes a daunting number of regular cancer screenings to detect additional “late effects” — secondary cancers and other health problems caused by the powerful but toxic earlier treatment. (McGinley, 8/1)
Stat:
Discovery Of Unknown Lung Cell Points To New Target For Cystic Fibrosis Drugs
The researchers set out to take a census of all the cells that line our airway, a taxonomy of the tissue made possible by new technology. Perhaps, they thought, they would find different subtypes of cells they already knew existed or would come to better understand the cells’ functions. As the data came in, though, they pointed to a more intriguing finding: a previously unknown cell, one that was similar to a cell found in the gills of fish and skin of frogs. (Joseph, 8/1)
The Associated Press:
For Better Sleep, Doctors Suggest Low-Tech, Cheap Solutions
Millions of people struggle to get enough sleep — and to stay alert the next day. Lots of apps, fitness trackers, smartwatches and even mattress motion sensors claim they can diagnose or treat sleep problems. But sleep disorder doctors say there’s little evidence consumer gadgets actually improve sleep. (Johnson, 8/1)
Reveal:
OSHA Won’t Collect Injury Records. Lawsuit Says That’s Illegal
The nation’s federal workplace safety regulator violated the law when it suspended a requirement that companies submit their employee injury logs, according to a new lawsuit by three advocacy groups. In their suit, filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the organizations contend the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration failed to follow proper procedures by extending the deadline without allowing the public to weigh in, and then announcing it would not accept the data from the roughly 450,000 companies subject to the rule. (Gollan, 8/1)
Los Angeles Times:
When Hong Kong Commuters Take The Subway, Their Microbes Mix – And Spread
Humans aren’t the only commuters making use of the metro. A new study that examined the microbiome of the Hong Kong subway system found distinct bacterial “fingerprints” in each line during the morning – distinctions that blurred over the course of the afternoon. The findings, published in the journal Cell Reports, are part of a growing body of work that could have implications for a host of efforts, from managing the spread of disease to designing city infrastructure. (Khan, 8/1)
