Reverse effect.Reverse Effect: Boston's largest hospital system plans to reduce doses of anemia medicines made by Thousand Oaks-based Amgen Inc. for kidney-disease and chemotherapy patients after a study linked them to heart risks. A competing drug, made by New Brunswick New Brunswick, province, Canada New Brunswick, province (2001 pop. 729,498), 28,345 sq mi (73,433 sq km), including 519 sq mi (1,345 sq km) of water surface, E Canada. , N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson, will also be included in the reduction plan. This marks the first lime a U.S. hospital system has ordered doctors to cut doses of Amgen's Epogen and Aranesp along with J&J's Procrit. The plan takes effect early this year and is designed to ensure that patients don't use medicines that raise their red blood cell counts red blood cell count, n the number of red blood cells (erthrocytes) in 1 mm3 of blood; a useful diagnostic tool in the determination of several kinds of anemia. See also mean corpuscular hemoglobin. above a certain level. Medicare data show that about half of dialysis dialysis (dīăl`ĭsĭs), in chemistry, transfer of solute (dissolved solids) across a semipermeable membrane. Strictly speaking, dialysis refers only to the transfer of the solute; transfer of the solvent is called osmosis. patients routinely get higher-than-recommended doses of these drugs, prompting concern after a recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine The New England Journal of Medicine (New Engl J Med or NEJM) is an English-language peer-reviewed medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It is one of the most popular and widely-read peer-reviewed general medical journals in the world. suggested excess doses increase the risk of fatal heart attacks and strokes in patients. |
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