Omeprazole (Losec - Merck), a new drug that suppresses gastric acid secretion, has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for short-term (four to eight weeks) treatment of severe or refractory gastroesophageal reflux and for long-term treatment of pathological hypersecretory conditions such as Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, multiple endocrine adenomas, and systemic mastocytosis. Although widely used abroad for treatment of peptic ulcers, it has not been approved for that indication in the USA.

Use of a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) to protect against gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding in patients taking the antiplatelet agent clopidogrel (Plavix) may interfere with the activation of clopidogrel and diminish its antiplatelet effect, increasing the risk of cardiovascular events.1 A randomized, placebo-controlled trial (COGENT) has found that use of the PPI omeprazole in patients taking clopidogrel in addition to aspirin decreased the incidence of GI bleeding without increasing the risk of a cardiovascular event, but the number of cardiovascular events was small and the formulation of...

The FDA has approved the proton pump inhibitor (PPI) esomeprazole strontium for use in adults for the same indications as esomeprazole magnesium (Nexium): treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), prevention of NSAID-induced gastric ulcers, eradication of Helicobacter pylori, and treatment of pathological hypersecretory conditions. It was first marketed in December 2013 as a branded drug (Esomeprazole Strontium) and a month later as a generic drug.Strontium is incorporated into bone. It is not recommended for use in children or during pregnancy because of the absence of safety data...

The FDA has approved marketing of Zegerid powder for oral suspension (Santarus), an immediate-release formulation of the proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) omeprazole (Prilosec, and others). All other oral PPIs are delayed-release, enteric-coated formulations designed to prevent degradation of the drug by gastric acid. Each 20- or 40-mg packet of Zegerid contains 1680 mg of sodium bicarbonate, which protects the drug from gastric acid degradation. A dose of Zegerid contains 460 mg of sodium, which may be excessive for some patients. Zegerid is the first oral PPI to be approved by the FDA for...

The FDA has approved the interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor antagonist tocilizumab (Actemra – Genentech) for subcutaneous (SC) treatment of giant cell arteritis in adults. It is the first drug to be approved in the US for this indication. Tocilizumab is also approved for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, polyarticular or systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis, and cytokine release syndrome.

Clobazam (Onfi – Lundbeck), an oral benzodiazepine, has been approved by the FDA for adjunctive treatment of seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) in patients ≥2 years old. It has been available in Canada (Frisium) and other countries for years for treatment of anxiety and many types of epilepsy.

An article published in the New York Times on May 1, 2015 listed the 10 drugs on which Medicare Part D spent the most in 2013. The most costly ($2.53 billion) was the proton pump inhibitor (PPI) Nexium (esomeprazole magnesium), which has recently become available generically.

Recently pharmaceutical manufacturers have marketed a stereoisomer of a successful drug nearing patent expiration as a new drug. Examples, such as esomeprazole (Nexium) , levalbuterol (Xopenex), escitalopram (Lexapro) and dexmethylphenidate

The FDA has approved rilpivirine (Edurant – Janssen), a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI), for use with other antiretroviral agents for treatment of HIV-1 infection in treatment-naive adults. Rilpivirine is also available in a fixed-dose combination with emtricitabine and tenofovir (Complera – Gilead).

Laparoscopic surgery has become increasingly popular for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The usual surgical procedure, a Nissen fundoplication, prevents reflux into the esophagus. The review compares medical treatment with a proton pump inhibitor vs. surgical therapy as well as open vs. the new laparoscopic technique. Morbidity and mortality with the procedures are discussed.