Retail Clinics

BOSTON A new study conducted by investigators at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital suggested that the dietary supplement S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) can be an effective, relatively well-tolerated, adjunctive treatment for adults with major depressive disorders who do not respond to their treatment with antidepressant medication, Pharmavite announced Tuesday.

SILVER SPRING, Md. The Food and Drug Administration has posted a new list of drugs from its Adverse Event Reporting System, designed to address potential signals of serious risks and new safety information about drugs on the market.

PITTSBURGH Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh found that mothers who did not breast-feed their children have higher rates of Type 2 diabetes later in life compared with those who breast-fed.

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. The Food and Drug Administration has approved a generic treatment for hypertension and liver cirrhosis made by Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Amneal said Thursday.

The FDA approved Amneal’s spironolactone hydrochloride tablets in the 25 mg, 50 mg and 100 mg strengths. The drug is a generic version of Pfizer’s Aldactone. Various versions of the drug had sales of $91 million in 2009, according to IMS Health.

NEW YORK Those with Type 2 diabetes may be at greater risk of developing the brain plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease, new research suggested.

According to a Japanese study, which appeared in the Aug. 25 online issue of the journal Neurology, those individuals with the highest levels of insulin resistance had nearly six times the odds of developing plaque deposits between the nerves in the brain, after adjusting for other risk factors, compared with those with the lowest levels of fasting insulin.

EAST HANOVER, N.J. The Food and Drug Administration has approved a single-pill combination of two drugs made by Novartis for treating high blood pressure, the Swiss drug maker said Friday.

The FDA approved Tekamlo (aliskiren and amlodipine besylate) tablets, which combine Tekturna (aliskiren) with amlodipine, a channel blocker available as a generic. The drug is approved for treating patients who are likely to need multiple drugs to lower their blood pressure or as a replacement for patients who can’t control it using one of the drugs alone.

WASHINGTON The Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday expanded Medicare coverage of evidence-based tobacco-cessation counseling, removing a barrier to treatment for all tobacco users covered by Medicare, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced.

PITTSBURGH To help raise awareness around Commit Lozenge, which has been folded into the Nicorette franchise, GlaxoSmithKline earlier this week introduced a new commercial to its “Nicorette Makes Quitting Suck Less” campaign, the company announced Wednesday.

PITTSBURGH To help raise awareness around Commit Lozenge, which has been folded into the Nicorette franchise, GlaxoSmithKline earlier this week introduced a new commercial to its “Nicorette Makes Quitting Suck Less” campaign, the company announced Wednesday.