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AFP - A new study has cast fresh doubt on the effectiveness of Zetia, a cholesterol drug produced by US pharmaceuticals giant Merck.

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - The good news for Merck & Co's Zetia cholesterol fighter is that doctors do not seem unduly concerned about its latest setback in a clinical trial. The bad news is they think patient anxiety will cause its sales to drop anyway.

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Aspirin alone proved as effective as aspirin plus the blood clot preventer Plavix in keeping coronary artery bypass grafts open during the first year after surgery, according to a study released on Monday.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Children who don't show normal fear responses to loud, unpleasant sounds at the age of 3 may be more likely to commit crimes as adults, according to a new study.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Robotic surgery is safe for use in children, but there's little evidence that outcomes for this type of surgery are any better than they are with standard operations, the authors of a new review of medical studies published in Pediatrics conclude.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc's next- generation Prevnar vaccine missed some key goals in a study of its effectiveness, U.S. reviewers said in documents released on Monday.

AP - Shares of Poniard Pharmaceuticals Inc. crashed Monday after the company said its cancer drug picoplatin missed its goal in a clinical trial.

LONDON (Reuters) - Criminal gangs are making millions of dollars out of the H1N1 flu pandemic by selling fake flu drugs over the internet, a web security firm said on Monday.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Slow walking may not only mean getting to your destination later, according to a new study by French scientists: Older people who walk slowly are almost three times more likely to die of heart disease and related causes than older people who walk faster.

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - The new active Wii video games from Nintendo Co Ltd may be creating a healthier generation of couch potato, according to a new study presented on Monday.

LONDON (Reuters) - An alliance of the world's top public health researchers set out plans on Monday to invest tens of millions of dollars in heart and lung disease studies in a battle against a global epidemic of chronic disease.

AP - Par Pharmaceutical Co. said Monday it received marketing approval for a generic version of Johnson & Johnson's extended-release chronic pain drug Ultram ER, and has started shipping the drug.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American squeamishness about talking about sex has helped keep common sexually transmitted infections far too common, especially among vulnerable teens, U.S. researchers reported Monday.

AP - Poniard Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Monday its cancer drug candidate picoplatin did not help lung cancer patients live longer, sending its shares plunging in early trading.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - A once-daily pill developed by Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim increased female sex drive in late-stage trials, putting the group in the frame to launch the first non-hormonal treatment for women with low libido.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Confirmed cases of H1N1 swine flu infection in Germany have more than doubled in the past week, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases said.

Hi there,

 

I found these pills in my father's cigarette pack in a ziploc bag and I'm pretty sure they are not perscription.  I'm worried, but I could be overreacting.  I've been checking search engines and I get markings that are close, such as D8 (for cats), but nothing that has the right matching, design, etc. 

 

The pill is white, triangular and small (maybe 25 mg? I'm guessing, I've seen a variety of pills through my family's medical history) and on one side there is the number 8, the other has 2 Ds with a slash between them (D|D).

 

Please, I would like to find out as soon as possible, I'm concerned for my dad.  I'm hoping that it isn't serious, but if it is, I'd like to know what it is so that we can deal with it appropriately.

 

 

Thanks for your help,

 T. Fayette

HONG KONG (Reuters) - People of Japanese and European descent who have mutant versions of five genes may be at higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease, two large teams of researchers have found.

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Heart attack patients in need of emergency procedures were less likely to suffer further serious cardiovascular events, including death, when given AstraZeneca's experimental Brilinta blood clot preventer than those who used Plavix, according to a study presented on Sunday.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Even as they are forced to wait like everyone else for swine flu vaccines in short supply, thousands of nurses and other front-line healthcare workers are fighting mandatory flu immunization policies being put in place by some U.S. hospitals.