The price you pay

In 2000, the European Union legislated to encourage the pharmaceutical industry to develop 'orphan' drugs (i.e. drugs for rare diseases). Incentives include up to 10-year market exclusivity, licensing fee reductions, and initiatives supporting research and development. Without incentives, such drugs would be unlikely to attract industry investment. In this month's editorial, we discuss how sometimes there has been a high resulting price to pay.
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Management of corticosteroid-induced osteoporosis

Treatment with corticosteroids can adversely affect bone metabolism. In particular, it lowers bone mineral density (BMD) and increases the likelihood of fragility fractures, the hallmarks of osteoporosis, hence the term 'corticosteroid-induced osteoporosis'. Since corticosteroids are used for a wide variety of inflammatory conditions, corticosteroid-induced osteoporosis represents a substantial disease burden. In this article, we aim to provide advice on prophylaxis and treatment for osteoporosis in adults receiving corticosteroid therapy.
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Podcast: In this issue - September 2010

A monthly audio round-up detailing the contents of the latest issue of DTB.
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What role for ▼Qlaira in contraception?

Around 25% of women in the UK aged 16-49 years use oral contraception. Annually, around 5 million combined oral contraceptive (COC) items are prescribed in primary care in England alone, at a cost of over £40 million. ▼Qlaira (Bayer plc) is the first licensed COC in the UK to include the oestrogen estradiol valerate (E2V, which is metabolised to oestradiol, a natural human hormone) and the progestogen dienogest (DNG). It has been marketed as "the first and only COC to deliver ... the same oestrogen as produced by a woman's body". This article reviews the effectiveness and place of Qlaira.
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A guide to health economic evaluations

Economic evaluations are important in healthcare because they help to inform decisions on allocating resources within cash-limited systems and are increasingly carried out in appraisals of new treatments. Healthcare professionals and others need a working knowledge of health economic evaluations to assess or reach decisions informed by results from such calculations. This article discusses different types of health economic evaluations and how the calculations from these analyses are used in decision-making.
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Don't Drop Mixtard 30 campaign

DTB is continuing to campaign against the withdrawal of Mixtard 30 from the UK market, which is due to occur at the end of this year. To find out why we believe the drug's removal is not in the interests of patients, please read our editorial, listen to our podcast or sign our petition against this change.
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