Patients may be asking their physicians about use of histamine H2-receptor antagonists for treatment and prevention of heartburn. Cimetidine and famotidine have recently been released for over-the-counter sale and are being heavily advertised on television and in the print media.

Acarbose (Precose -Bayer), an oral alpha-glucosidase inhibitor that has been available in Europe for several years, was recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM).

Reports of increased mortality associated with calcium-channel blockers have caused concerns among patients taking these drugs and their physicians.

Tizanidine (Zanaflex - Athena Neurosciences) has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for oral treatment of increased muscle tone associated with spasticity. It has been available in Europe and Japan for 12 years as a short-term muscle relaxant.

Bupropion hydrochloride, currently available as an antidepressant (Wellbutrin - Medical Letter, 31:97, 1989; Wellbutrin SR), is now being marketed in a sustainedrelease formulation as Zyban (Glaxo Wellcome) for use as an aid in smoking cessation.

Clopidogrel bisulfate (Plavix - Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi), a new thienopyridine antiplatelet agent similar to ticlopidine (Ticlid - Medical Letter, 34:65, 1992), has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for secondary prevention of myocardial infarction, stroke and other vascular events.

Rituximab (Rituxan - IDEC Pharmaceutical/Genentech), a monoclonal antibody, has been approved by the FDA for treatment of low-grade B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Most low-grade lymphomas are B-cell lymphomas.

Basiliximab (Simulect - Novartis) and daclizumab (Zenapax - Roche), two mouse/human monoclonal antibodies that block the interleukin-2 (IL-2) receptor on Tlymphocytes, have been approved by the FDA for use in the prevention of acute renal transplant rejection. Both drugs are used with cyclosporine (Sandimmune; Neoral) and corticosteroids. An all-murine anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody, muromonab-CD3 (Orthoclone OKT3), has been available in the USA for many years for treatment of transplant rejection, and has also been used with some success for prophylaxis (MI Wilde and KL Goa, Drugs,...

Sermorelin acetate, a synthetic form of human growth-hormone-releasing factor has been approved by the FDA for treatment of idiopathic growth hormone deficiency in children with growth failure.

A new synthetic conjugated estrogen product (Cenestin - Duramed) was recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for treatment of vasomotor symptoms due to estrogen deficiency.