The FDA has approved ferric carboxymaltose (Injectafer – American Regent), a 2-dose intravenous iron replacement product, for treatment of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in adults who cannot tolerate or have had an unsatisfactory response to oral iron and in those who have non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease (CKD). It is the sixth IV iron product approved in the US.

Many drugs can cause psychiatric symptoms, but a causal connection is often difficult to establish. Psychiatric symptoms that emerge during drug treatment could also be due to the underlying illness, previously unrecognized psychopathology, or psychosocial factors. The withdrawal of some drugs can cause symptoms such as anxiety, psychosis, delirium, agitation or depression.

Click here to view the free full article.

Testing for drug use has become increasingly common, not only in health care, but also in drug rehabilitation, in the military, at the workplace, after accidents and in the criminal justice system. Performance-enhancing drugs such as anabolic steroids, growth hormone (Genotropin, and others) and erythropoietin (Procrit, Epogen) are not discussed here.

Decitabine (Dacogen - MGI Pharma), a pyrimidine nucleoside analog of cytidine, was approved by the FDA as an orphan drug for treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a heterogeneous group of clonal hemopathies that decrease production of normal blood elements (red cells, white cells and platelets) and are associated with a risk of progression to acute leukemia.

Ferric carboxymaltose (Injectafer – American Regent) is now FDA-approved for IV treatment of iron deficiency in adults with New York Heart Association (NYHA) class II/III heart failure to improve exercise capacity. Iron deficiency is present in approximately 30% of patients with heart failure; it has been associated with reduced quality of life and increased hospitalization and mortality. Injectafer is the first IV iron preparation to be approved for this indication. It was previously approved for treatment of iron deficiency anemia in children and adults.

Azacitidine (Vidaza - Pharmion), a pyrimidine nucleoside analog of cytidine, is the first drug approved by the FDA for treatment of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Azacitidine is incorporated into newly synthesized DNA and inhibits DNA methyltransferase. Hypomethylation of DNA can restore the normal expression of genes critical for cell differentiation.