Erectile dysfunction medicine.

PARIS (Reuters) -
French customs officials have
a shipment of 224,000 fake Viagra and Cialis
pills worth 2.4 million euros ($3.5 million), the Budget
Ministry said on Monday.

ADVERTISEMENT

The copies of the best-selling drugs were found on December
18 during a search at the French capital's main air hub at
Roissy, in a freight cargo on its way to Brazil from India.

“Branded Powergra and , each box contained, in
fact, four tablets in the characteristic shape and color of
Viagra or Cialis pills,” Budget Minister Eric Werth's office,
which is also in charge of customs, said in a statement.

“The companies Pfizer and Eli Lilly, which respectively own
the Viagra and Cialis brands, quickly confirmed the counterfeit
nature of these products and the 224,000 pills were seized,”
Werth's office added.

NEW YORK (Reuters) -
Eli Lilly and Co (LLY.N) said on
Tuesday chief executive Sidney Taurel will retire on March 31,
turning the reins over to Chief Operating Officer John
Lechleiter as the drugmaker prepares for tough times ahead.

The appointment of Lechleiter, 54, comes ahead of looming
patent expirations on three of Lilly's top drugs. The
CEO-designate earlier this month said the company will face
“its biggest challenge” ever as the drugs contend with cheaper
generics, but he said new Lilly products would help offset lost
revenue.

“My experience equips me to meet the company's biggest
challenge, which is to bring new molecules forward,” Lechleiter
said in an interview on Tuesday. He said he intends to give
Lilly scientists the breathing space needed for invention.

The 58-year-old Taurel's retirement and the selection of
Lechleiter to succeed him had been widely expected since
Lechleiter was promoted to COO in October 2005 and assumed ever
greater and a higher profile with the
-based company.

Lechleiter came to Lilly in 1979 as an organic chemist and
over the next 15 years took a number of senior executive roles
in research and development, including stints in England and
Europe. In 2004, the year before he became Taurel's top deputy,
he was named head of Lilly's pharmaceutical operations.

Lechleiter said Lilly's future success could hinge in part
on its ability to create medicines tailored for the genetic
makeup of patients, a discipline Lilly calls “tailored
therapeutics.”

“We want to make sure the right patients get the right dose
of the right medicine at the right time,” Lechleiter said.

Lehman Brothers analyst Tony Butler predicted Lechleiter
will continue Lilly's pattern of forging partnerships with
other drugmakers — the kinds of deals that have brought it the
widely used impotence treatment Cialis, and Byetta for diabetes
– while coaxing important new drugs from Lilly's laboratories.

HIS FORTE

“Understanding how to make a drug and how to deal with
regulators have been his forte and will serve him well as CEO,”
said Butler, who noted Lechleiter headed regulatory affairs for
Lilly in the mid-1990s before taking charge of pharmaceutical
operations.

“Over the last decade, Lilly has been one of the most
innovative companies, producing novel drugs and not losing
sight about the importance of research, and that's what John
brings to the table,” Butler said.

Taurel joined Lilly as a marketing associate in 1971 and
took the helm of the company in July 1998. He has been chairman
since early 1999. He will continue as board chairman until the
end of 2008, Lilly said.

Under Taurel, Lilly has been recognized for its research,
developing medicines that have become products,
including schizophrenia treatment Zyprexa,
Cymbalta and agent Gemzar.

But Lechleiter acknowledged in an earlier Reuters interview
this month that it will be difficult for Lilly to make up the
revenue shortfall when those three drugs face patent
expirations between 2010 and 2012.

“There's no question we will face the biggest challenge of
our history at the beginning of the next decade, but we're
confident we can meet that challenge based on new products
being launched before and during that period,” he said.

Toward that end, Lechleiter said Lilly aims to launch two
new drugs per year, on average, beginning in 2011, increasing
to three per year by 2014. It aims to move at least 10
additional drugs into late-stage studies by 2011.

The company also has financial strength to license or buy
more drugs, said Lechleiter.

At a Lilly meeting with investors and analysts in New York
on December 6, Taurel remained largely out of the spotlight,
allowing Lechleiter to take the lead in describing company
strategy.

Lilly shares traded up almost 1 percent to $53.67 in
late-afternoon trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange,
in line with gains for the drug sector.

(Reporting by Ransdell Pierson; Editing by Brian Moss and
John Wallace)

By The Canadian Press

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Stephen Ames waited until the final official PGA Tour event of the season to pick up his first victory of the year.

The Calgary resident held on for a one-shot victory over Tim Clark at the Children’s Miracle Network Classic.

Ames closed with a 68 on Disney’s Magnolia Golf Course for a 17 271.

Ames last won at the Players in 2006.

His only other PGA Tour victory came in 2004 when he won the Cialis Western Open.

Ames entered the tournament ranked No. 49 in the world.

LIKE IT?LET OTHERS KNOW

Thanks for participating!

2 people recommended this article

See what other people are recommending - Popular Stories

RECENTLY RECOMMENDED BY

Change your Name/Photo display

bynnon@roger…
1 days ago

radmorekj@ro…
1 days ago

paul.tobin@r…
1 days ago

- Viagra and other impotence drugs are about to bear new warnings that users may sudden hearing loss.

It’s not clear that the drugs truly trigger hearing loss, but the Food and Drug Administration decided Thursday to add a warning about the possible risk after counting 29 reports of the problem since 1996 among users of this family of medicines.

The impotence drugs Viagra, Cialis and Levitra will bear the warnings. So will Revatio, a drug for pulmonary hypertension, which contains the same ingredient as Viagra.

Viagra’s label already mentioned hearing loss as a , because a few cases were reported during initial testing of that drug. But given that hearing loss is a risk of advancing age and certain , such as diabetes and heart disease, that can lead to impotence, it wasn’t clear if the link was real.

That still isn’t clear, said FDA ear nose and throat specialist Dr. Robert Boucher.

But in poring over FDA’s database of possible drug reactions, what struck him was these 29 reports said the hearing loss occurred without hours to two days of taking one of the drugs.

“We don’t know enough to say that it’s ironclad caused by the drugs, but we see enough to say we can’t ignore it either,” he said.

The reports involve hearing loss in one ear, which in a third of cases was temporary.

FDA urged patients who experience any hearing problems — loss or ringing in the ears — to promptly call their doctors and stop taking the impotence drugs.

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments,
compiled by editors of HealthDay:

Impotence Drugs to Carry Hearing Loss
Warnings

New warnings about the potential risk of sudden hearing loss will be
added to the labels of Viagra and other drugs to treat erectile
dysfunction, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says.

While it's not clear whether the drugs actually do cause hearing loss,
the FDA said that since 1996 there have been 29 reports of hearing
problems among users of these kinds of drugs, the Associated Press
reported.

The new warnings will be carried by the impotence drugs Viagra, Cialis
and Levitra, as well as the pulmonary hypertension drug Revatio, which
contains the same ingredient as Viagra.

In the 29 reports noted by the FDA, hearing loss occurred within hours
to two days after patients took one of the drugs, said FDA ear-and-nose
specialist Dr. Robert Boucher.

“We don't know enough to say that it's ironclad caused by the drugs,
but we see enough to say we can't ignore it either,” he told the
AP.

People who take the drugs and experience hearing loss or ringing in the
ears should stop the medications and contact their doctor, the FDA
said.

—–

San Francisco May Consider Safe-Injection
Site

In what may turn out to be the first step toward opening a
site, San Francisco officials co-sponsored a symposium
Thursday on a facility in Vancouver, British Columbia, the only such
program in North America, the Associated Press reported.

At the Vancouver site, about 700 intravenous drug users shoot up
heroin, cocaine and other narcotics under the supervision of nurses. San
Francisco health officials may consider a safe-injection site as a way to
reduce the city's high rate of fatal drug overdoses.

“Having the conversation today will help us figure out whether this is
a way to reduce the harms and improve the health of our community,” said
Grant Colfax, director of HIV prevention for the San Francisco Department
of Health, the AP reported.

However, a federal official said the city's consideration of a
safe-injection site was “disconcerting” and “poor public policy.”

“The underlying philosophy is, 'We accept drug addiction, we accept the
state of affairs as acceptable. This is a form of giving up,” Bertha
Madras, deputy director of demand reduction for the White House Office of
National Drug Control Policy, told the AP.

There are 65 safe-injection sites in 27 cities in eight countries. So
far, San Francisco is the only U.S. city to consider creating a legal
safe-injection site, said Hilary McQuie, Western director for the
nonprofit Harm Reduction Coalition, which promotes alternative drug
treatment methods.

—–

CDC Redesigns Spanish Web Site

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it's
redesigned its Spanish Web site, CDC en Espanol, with a new look and features meant to
make it more usable and functional.

The redesigned site has a more useful and powerful search engine, quick
access to the 20 topics of information, a user-friendly A-Z
index, and other features that will make it easier for people to find the
health and science information they seek, the CDC said.

The site, which provides information in Spanish on health issues of
special interest to Hispanic communities, has more than six million
visitors a year and its weekly distribution list includes almost 6,000
members in more than 40 countries.

—–

Sunlight May Decrease Risk of Advanced Breast
Cancer

Exposure to sunlight — which boosts levels of vitamin D in the body –
may reduce the risk of advanced breast cancer, according to a U.S. study
published online this week in the American Journal of
Epidemiology.

The study of 1,788 breast cancer patients and 2,129 women who didn't
have the disease found that women with high sun exposure had half the risk
of developing advanced breast cancer than women with low sun exposure.
However, this effect was noted only in women with naturally light skin
color.

“We believe that sunlight helps to reduce women's risk of breast cancer
because the body manufactures the active form of vitamin D from exposure
to sunlight,” lead researcher Esther John, of the Northern California
Cancer Center, said in a statement. “It is possible that these effects
were observed only among light-skinned women because sun exposure produces
less vitamin D among women with naturally darker pigmentation.”

John and her colleagues emphasized that women should not sunbathe in an
attempt to reduce their breast cancer risk.

“If future studies continue to show reductions in breast cancer risk
associated with sun exposure, increasing vitamin D intake from diet and
supplements may be the safest solution to achieve adequate levels of
vitamin D,” co-researcher Gary Schwartz, of the Cancer
Center at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, said in a
statement.

—–

Bad Habits Increase Osteoporosis
Risk

Smoking, excess alcohol consumption, being underweight, lack of
exercise, and poor nutrition are factors that could increase the risk of
osteoporosis later in life, says an International Osteoporosis Foundation
(IOF) report released to mark World Osteoporosis Day on Oct. 20.

Osteoporosis risk factors fall into two main categories, modifiable and
fixed. People can't control fixed risk factors — such as age, gender, and
family history — but they can do things that may lessen their
effects.

Following a bone-healthy lifestyle — including eating a nutritious
diet, getting regular exercise, and avoiding smoking and excess alcohol
consumption — can help build strong bones and prevent fractures, the IOF
said.

By 2050, it's estimated that the incidence of hip fracture (a major
consequence of osteoporosis) will increase by 310 percent in men and 240
percent in women, according to IOF Chief Executive Officer Daniel
Navid.

Report author and IOF board member Professor Cyrus Cooper said if
“people recognize osteoporosis risk factors when they are young and take
appropriate action, it can have enormous positive impact on their bone
health in later years.”

—–

Millions of American Teens Smoke, Drink, Use
Drugs Each Day: Report

On an average day in 2006, 1.2 million American teens smoked
cigarettes, 631,000 drank, 586,000 used marijuana, almost 50,000 used
inhalants, 27,000 used , 13,000 used cocaine, and 3,800 used
heroin, according to a government report released Thursday.

It also found that on an average day, almost 8,000 adolescents ages 12
to 17 drank alcohol for the first time, about 4,300 used an illicit drug
for the first time, about 4,000 smoked cigarettes for the first time,
almost 3,600 used marijuana for the first time, and about 2,500 abused
pain reliever for the first time.

The report, by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA), is based on national surveys conducted and
analyzed by the agency's Office of Applied Studies.

“While other studies have shown that significant progress has been made
in lowering the levels of substance abuse among young people in the last
few years, this report shows many young people are still engaging in risky
behavior,” SAMHSA Administrator Terry Cline said in a prepared
statement.

“By breaking the data down and analyzing on a day-to-day basis, we gain
fresh perspective on how deeply substance abuse pervades the lives of many
young people and their families,” Cline said.