US Considers Approving Drug to Prevent HIV

US Considers Approving Drug to Prevent HIV – This is the VOA Special English Health Report, from voaspecialenglish.com | http Studies show that a drug called Truvada can prevent HIV infections. The pill is taken once a day. Studies showed it was ninety percent effective when people took it every day. It was only half as effective when people did not take it every day. Currently, in the United States, the drug is only approved for use as a treatment for people already infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Now a government advisory committee says Truvada should become the first drug approved for use to prevent HIV. The Food and Drug Administration is not required to follow the advice of its Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee, but it usually does. The FDA is expected to decide by June fifteenth.The advisory committee held a twelve-hour hearing on May tenth to consider the evidence for Truvada. The committee urged the FDA to approve the drug for use by those considered at high risk for getting infected. These include gay and bisexual men and heterosexual couples where one partner has HIV. Mitchell Warren, head of the HIV prevention group AVAC, explains that Truvada is a combination pill. It contains two different antiretroviral drugs that had already been approved individually by the FDA. Then about eight years ago they were approved as a combination. But all of those approvals only related to the use of the drug for treating people who are already infected with HIV.The manufacturer of Truvada, Gilead, would …

Falls man faces prison after flunking drug treatment

Filed under: drug treatment news

LOCKPORT – A Falls man is likely to face a long prison term after Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas today outlined his lack of participation in the court-supervised drug treatment program. Lester Lamar Jr., 25, of C Street, pleaded guilty to …
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Guizhou offers extra help to former drug addicts

Filed under: drug treatment news

Southwest China's Guizhou province will provide support to those leaving drug rehabilitation centers to ensure all of them become employed or otherwise properly settled, Guizhou's Public Security Bureau said on Oct 16. A "seamless bond" of aid will be …
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Bath Salts Label Used to Disguise an Increasingly Popular Drug

Filed under: drug treatment news

While only time will tell if these types of calls will continue to increase, Dr. Kushner, a board-certified osteopathic family physician and addiction medicine specialist, points out that changes in federal drug laws have helped to make selling bath …
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Drug treatment too hard to get in New Jersey

Filed under: drug treatment news

The mounting heroin and prescription-drug addiction problem among young people in New Jersey should be a call to action. It will only get worse unless the state makes drug treatment more available and affordable. A task force appointed by Gov. Christie …
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