Abciximab (ab sik si mab; ReoPro - Centocor), the Fab (fragment antigen binding) fragment of the chimeric human-murine monoclonal antibody 7E3 (c7E3 Fab), has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration as an adjunct to percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty or atherectomy (PTCA) to prevent abrupt closure of the treated coronary vessel.

Gastrointestinal gas may cause symptoms when excessive amounts become trapped in the stomach and intestinal tract. Simethicone (Gas-X, Maalox Anti-Gas, Mylanta Gas Relief, Mylicon, Phazyme), sold over-the-counter in capsules, tablets and infant drop formulations, is being heavily advertised to the public for symptomatic treatment of flatulence and gastric bloating. According to a recent press release, 'Phazyme works fast so people can continue living active lives and eating the foods they love without fear of embarrassment.' Products that combine one or more antacids with simethicone...

The FDA has approved the use of ulipristal acetate (ella – Watson) as an emergency contraceptive that can be taken up to 5 days after unprotected intercourse. It is available only by prescription.

Adjuvant hormone therapy with anti-estrogen drugs has been shown to reduce disease recurrence and mortality in postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer. In recent years, aromatase inhibitors (AI) have become the preferred first-line hormonal treatment over tamoxifen for such patients.1,2

The FDA has approved the interleukin-6 (IL-6) antagonist siltuximab (Sylvant – Janssen), a recombinant chimeric (human-mouse) monoclonal antibody, for treatment of multicentric Castleman's disease (MCD) in patients who are HIV negative and human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) negative. It is the first drug to be approved for this indication.

The FDA has approved the oral poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor olaparib (Lynparza – Astra-Zeneca) as monotherapy for treatment of women with advanced ovarian cancer who have BRCA1/2 germline mutations and have received at least 3 prior lines of chemotherapy. Olaparib is the first PARP inhibitor to be approved in the US. It is approved outside the US for maintenance treatment of relapsed BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer.

A reader asked whether healthcare providers should avoid prescribing the angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) olmesartan medoxomil (Benicar, and others) because it can cause severe GI adverse effects.In 2013, the FDA warned that olmesartan can cause sprue-like enteropathy, a condition characterized by intestinal villous atrophy, severe chronic diarrhea, and significant unintended weight loss. The warning was based on 23 cases of serious sprue-like enteropathy associated with use of olmesartan, some occurring years after starting the drug. All patients improved after stopping olmesartan; 10 had a...

The FDA has approved the oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor neratinib (Nerlynx – Puma Biotechnology) for extended adjuvant treatment of adults with early-stage, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer, following adjuvant trastuzumab (Herceptin)-based therapy. HER2 is overexpressed in about 20% of breast cancers. Up to 30% of early-stage, HER2-positive breast cancer cases treated with trastuzumab-based adjuvant therapy recur.

Consensi (Coeptis/Burke), a fixed-dose combination of the calcium channel blocker amlodipine (Norvasc, and others) and the COX-2 selective NSAID celecoxib (Celebrex, and generics), has been approved by the FDA for treatment of patients who have hypertension and osteoarthritis.

A reader asked us to review use of the phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) inhibitor sildenafil for treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD).