When it comes to treatment of heroin dependence, the drug buprenorphine, which is marketed as Temgesic or Buprenex, is twice as effective as a rival treatment called naltrexone, a new study has found.

The study, led by Yale University's Richard Schottenfeld, was carried out on 126 patients in Malaysia for 22 months. All subjects, who had recently undergone a detoxification and counselling programme, were tested with two drugs

The controversial anti-obestity drug rimonabant, marketed as Acomplia, has been approved for National Health Service (NHS) use in the England and Wales. The National Institute for Healthcare and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has approved use of this diet drug in people who are clinically obese or people who are seriously overweight with complications such as diabetes.

The drug, made by Sanofi-Aventis, is approved for sale in Britain and elsewhere in the European Union but was rejected by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel in June 2007 because of concerns the drug increases the risk of depression and suicidal thoughts

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is working with the drug company Merck to investigate a possible link between Merck's asthma and allergy drug Singulair and suicide risk associated with it. Meanwhile, "patients should not stop taking Singulair before talking to their doctor," the FDA said in a statement, adding that doctors should monitor patients for suicidal behavior and mood changes.

The federal agency said that the investigation may take nine months. Currently there is no proof that Singulair can lead to mood changes, suicidal behavior and suicide in patients

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is likely to approve maraviroc, a novel drug that targets the cells of HIV-infected patients and not the virus itself.

Manufactured by Pfizer, the drug received a unanimous vote from 12 health advisers to sell under the brand name Celsentri. It would represent the first so-called CCR5 receptor antagonist to be sold

New York, NY (AHN)-A newly released study finds a new treatment that can be given on an outpatient basis resulted in a statistically significant reduction in methamphetamine use by addicted individuals.

According to the report, 36 of the 50 patients who entered the study completed it. The subjects reported using meth on 80 percent of the 90 days prior to treatment, but only 28 percent were using methamphetamines 84 days following the first day of treatment, representing a 65 percent reduction in drug use