New and improved therapies to treat and protect against drug dependence and abuse are urgently needed. In the United States alone about 50 million people regularly smoke tobacco and another 5 million are addicted to other drugs. In a given year, millions of these individuals attemptâ€"with or without medical assistanceâ€"to quit using drugs, though relapse remains the norm. Furthermore, each year several million teenagers start smoking and nearly as many take illicit drugs for the first time. Research is advancing on promising new means of treating drug addiction using immunotherapies and sustained-release (depot) medications. The aim of this research is to develop medications that can block or significantly attenuate the psychoactive effects of such drugs as cocaine, nicotine, heroin, phencyclidine, and methamphetamine for weeks or months at a time. This represents a fundamentally new therapeutic approach that shows promise for treating drug addiction problems that were difficult to treat in the past. Despite their potential benefits, however, several characteristics of these new methods pose distinct behavioral, ethical, legal, and social challenges that require careful scrutiny. Such issues can be considered unique aspects of safety and efficacy that are fundamentally related to the distinct nature and properties of these new types of medications.

This open access book is a collection of research papers on COVID-19 by Germán Velásquez from 2020 and early 2021 that help to answer the question: How can an agency like the World Health Organization (WHO) be given a stronger voice to exercise authority and leadership? The considerable health, economic and social challenges that the world faced at the beginning of 2020 with COVID-19 continued and worsened in many parts of the world in the second-half of 2020 and into 2021. Many of these countries and nations wanted to explore COVID-19 on their own, sometimes without listening to the main international health bodies such as WHO, an agency of the United Nations system with long-standing experience and vast knowledge at the global level and of which all countries in the world are members. In this single volume, the chapters present the progress of thinking and debate — particularly in relation to drugs and vaccines — that would enable a response to the COVID-19 pandemic or to subsequent crises that may arise. Among the topics covered: COVID-19 Vaccines: Between Ethics, Health and Economics Medicines and Intellectual Property: 10 Years of the WHO Global Strategy Re-thinking Global and Local Manufacturing of Medical Products After COVID-19 Rethinking R&D for Pharmaceutical Products After the Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 Shock Intellectual Property and Access to Medicines and Vaccines The World Health Organization Reforms in the Time of COVID-19 Vaccines, Medicines and COVID-19: How Can WHO Be Given a Stronger Voice? is essential reading for negotiators from the 194 member countries of the World Health Organization (WHO); World Trade Organization (WTO) and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) staff participating in these negotiations; academics and students of public health, medicine, health sciences, law, sociology and political science; and intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations that follow the issue of access to treatments and vaccines for COVID-19.

Updated with bonus material, including a new foreword and afterword with new research, this New York Times bestseller is essential reading for a time when mental health is constantly in the news. In this astonishing and startling book, award-winning science and history writer Robert Whitaker investigates a medical mystery: Why has the number of disabled mentally ill in the United States tripled over the past two decades? Interwoven with Whitaker’s groundbreaking analysis of the merits of psychiatric medications are the personal stories of children and adults swept up in this epidemic. As Anatomy of an Epidemic reveals, other societies have begun to alter their use of psychiatric medications and are now reporting much improved outcomes . . . so why can’t such change happen here in the United States? Why have the results from these long-term studies—all of which point to the same startling conclusion—been kept from the public? Our nation has been hit by an epidemic of disabling mental illness, and yet, as Anatomy of an Epidemic reveals, the medical blueprints for curbing that epidemic have already been drawn up. Praise for Anatomy of an Epidemic “The timing of Robert Whitaker’s Anatomy of an Epidemic, a comprehensive and highly readable history of psychiatry in the United States, couldn’t be better.”—Salon “Anatomy of an Epidemic offers some answers, charting controversial ground with mystery-novel pacing.”—TIME “Lucid, pointed and important, Anatomy of an Epidemic should be required reading for anyone considering extended use of psychiatric medicine. Whitaker is at the height of his powers.” —Greg Critser, author of Generation Rx

Contains profiles of commonly prescribed and over-the-counter medications for cats and dogs, providing information about dosages, side effects, and food and drug interactions; arranged alphabetically by generic name. Includes a first-aid guide, tips on preventive care, and other advice.

An alarming look at America’s other drug problem—medication safety! Drug misadventures are an all-too-frequent and deadly cause of adverse medical events. Prescribed Medications and the Public Health: Laying the Foundation for Risk Reduction explores ways to combat the widespread problem of adverse drug events (ADEs). This comprehensive book shows how our broken health care and medication use system often inflicts harm—most of it preventable—on patients. Strategies are presented to help health care managers, health professionals, regulators, and policymakers to dynamically improve the entire system. With the growing use of prescribed medications comes a rising number of adverse drug reactions, drug interactions, allergic reactions, and medication errors. Prescribed Medications and the Public Health discusses problems such as drug supply issues, drug defects, counterfeit drugs, limitations for oversight of Internet prescriptions, inaccurate splitting of pills, and poor administration of drugs. The book examines the issues from all angles, including patient considerations, drug factors, and unsafe practices that contribute to ADEs. Liability costs for drug injury are reviewed, along with effective practical strategies for preventing, reducing, detecting, and documenting adverse drug events. National and local plans are explored to help achieve the essential goal of greater safety throughout the system. The text is extensively referenced and includes approximately 50 figures and tables to clearly present information. Prescribed Medications and the Public Health reviews in detail how to battle these problems in both inpatient and ambulatory care: adverse drug reactions dangerous allergic reactions harmful drug interactions medication errors adverse vaccine reactions drug misadventures Prescribed Medications and the Public Health is crucial reading for medication safety officers; pharmacoepidemiologists; medication safety experts; educators and students in schools of pharmacy and public health, medicine, nursing, and hospital/health services management; health care managers; regulators; policymakers; and advocates for improving drug safety.