 |
 |
|
|
Among American teens, many with severe mental disorders never receive treatment, the results of a new study suggest.
Researchers examined data from a nationally representative sample of 6,483 adolescents, aged 13 to 18, and found that only 36.2 percent of those with any mental disorder received treatment.
While the severity of the disorder was significantly associated with the likelihood of receiving mental health treatment, only about half of the teens with severe mental disorders ever received such treatment, according to the report published in the January issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
The disorders most likely to be treated were attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (59.8 percent) and behavior disorders, such as oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder (combined 45.4 percent), study author Kathleen Ries Merikangas, of the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health, and colleagues found.
On the other hand, only about one in five teens with anxiety, eating or substance abuse disorders received treatment. In addition, Hispanic and black adolescents were less likely than whites to receive treatment for mood and anxiety disorders, even when the disorders caused severe impairment, the researchers noted.
“National shortages of mental health specialists for children remain widely prevalent,” the researchers wrote in a news release from the journal’s publisher. “Recruitment, training, and promotion of child and adolescent mental health professionals remain leading priorities. Strains on available treatment resources are likely to grow as coverage is extended to large groups of currently uninsured American young people.”
Mail this post
A heart drug by French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis has been linked to liver damage in some patients, two of whom had to receive transplants, the US Food and Drug Administration said Friday.
Dronedarone, marketed as Multaq, was approved in 2009 and has been prescribed at least 492,000 times to people in the United States for treating abnormal heart rhythm.
The FDA issued its warning to the public and to health professionals, saying labels to the medication would be changed to advise of possible liver dangers.
People taking the drug should call their doctor if they experience symptoms such as itching, yellow eyes or skin, dark urine, loss of appetite, or light-colored stools, the FDA said.
Two elderly women were found to have severe liver failure four and a half and six months after they began taking the drug, the FDA said.
Both had to have their livers removed and doctors could find no other reason why they would have sustained that degree of damage, the FDA said.
The drug is already not supposed to be given to patients who have severe heart failure or have recently been hospitalized for heart failure, the FDA said.
“In a study of patients with these conditions, patients given dronedarone had a greater than two-fold increase in risk of death,” the FDA said.
Mail this post
Eli Lilly and Co. will team with German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim to develop diabetes treatments, as the U.S. pharmaceutical company pushes to fill a looming revenue gap created by expiring patents for several key drugs.
Lilly, which is based in Indianapolis, will pay Boehringer Ingelheim about $387.4 million as part of a joint bid to develop and sell up to five drugs. The companies will split revenues from any approved drugs, not counting costs for making and selling the product. Each drugmaker also will receive payments based on whether their products reach certain milestones, like submissions for approval.
Lilly could receive more than $1 billion in milestone payments. The collaboration includes two of its potential long-lasting insulins expected to enter late-stage testing this year. Boehringer Ingelheim will also have an option to work with Lilly on a third drug in mid-stage testing that treats diabetes patients with chronic kidney disease.
Boehringer Ingelheim could bank future payments totaling about $807 million from the two potential diabetes drugs it contributes to the deal, both of which are pills.
Lilly also will contribute decades of experience in the diabetes market, while one of Boehringer Ingelheim’s potential drugs — a Type 2 diabetes treatment called linagliptin that has been submitted for approval — could be launched as soon as this year. That would provide an important new revenue source for Lilly.
The U.S. drugmaker loses patent protection later this year for its top seller, the anti-psychotic Zyprexa. That will expose the drug, which brings in more than $4 billion annually, to generic competition. It also faces the loss of patents protecting key drugs like the antidepressant Cymbalta, its second-best seller, in the next few years.
Enrique Conterno, president of Lilly Diabetes, said linagliptin plus another Boehringer Ingelheim drug that could be submitted for approval in 2013 can generate a “long revenue stream” for Lilly.
“For us, it is important that we get into a growth mode (after) our patent expirations,” he said.
The company also has touted its pipeline of drugs under development as a key for filling that revenue hole, along with growth opportunities in biotechnology drugs, animal health and emerging international markets.
Analysts have expressed doubt about Lilly’s ability to deal with the patent expirations, and Erik Gordon said he wasn’t sure what the Boehringer Ingelheim deal accomplishes. Gordon is a professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business who follows the pharmaceutical industry
He said the drugs involved in the deal will face fierce competition if approved, and none appear to be top-shelf, first-in-class products.
“I don’t think it plugs (Lilly’s) pipeline hole and I don’t think it plugs the earnings hole,” he said of the agreement.
Diabetes treatments have been a cornerstone of Lilly’s business for decades. The company introduced the world’s first commercial insulin in 1923, and some of its current best sellers treat diabetes.
Boehringer Ingelheim has no diabetes products on the market, and Chairman Andreas Barner said in a statement it will benefit from Lilly’s expertise. Its products include the blood thinner Pradaxa and the enlarged prostate treatment Flomax.
Conterno said nearly 300 million people worldwide have diabetes, and that total is expected to grow to 430 million in the next 20 years.
“In that context, this is an epidemic,” he said. “We feel that this alliance basically puts together four products that truly have significant potential to benefit patients.”
Lilly expects to take a hit to 2011 earnings ranging from 45 to 50 cents per share for the collaboration, but the company said the deal could start helping its bottom line as soon as 2014
Lilly shares rose 21 cents to $34.70 in afternoon trading.
Mail this post