Roche Discontinues and Plans to Delist Accutane in the US.

Link to Roche's news:
http://www.rocheusa.com/newsroom/current/2...2009062601.html
Copy/paste of Roche' news release:
June 29, 2009 -- Nutley, N.J.

Roche Discontinues and Plans to Delist Accutane in the U.S.


Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. has notified the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of its intent to immediately discontinue the manufacture and distribution of Accutane® (isotretinoin), its ground-breaking treatment for severe recalcitrant nodular acne that has not responded to other therapies. This decision is being taken for business reasons during a reevaluation of our product portfolio of medicines that are now available from generic manufacturers, and is not being taken for reasons of safety or efficacy.

Since 2002, generic formulations of isotretinoin, the active ingredient in Accutane, entered the market. Current manufacturers/distributors are Barr Laboratories Inc., Genpharm, Inc. / Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Ranbaxy Laboratories Inc. As a result, Roche’s prescription market share of Accutane has steadily declined for several years and is now below 5 percent. Therefore, the generic companies can supply the market. In addition, Roche has been faced with high costs from personal-injury lawsuits that the company continues to defend vigorously.

Roche stands behind the safety of Accutane and the rigorous risk management program Roche developed over decades of cooperation with the FDA and the American Academy of Dermatology. Currently, the iPledge pregnancy risk management program is a model in the pharmaceutical industry. Roche is committed to working with the FDA and the isotretinoin generic manufacturers for the eventual transition of Roche’s business responsibilities in iPledge to the remaining sponsors.

We are proud of Accutane, a product of original Roche research that has been used in the treatment of severe recalcitrant nodular acne by more than 13 million patients since it was introduced in 1982.

Please see complete Accutane prescribing information at www.rocheusa.com/products/accutane and www.iPledgeProgram.com.

Generics are NOT affected by Roche's decision. Generic isotretinoin is still available in the US and abroad.

Growing your own veggies

And where do you find your seeds/plants? What type of organic gardening practices do you use to help prevent pests and pathogens? Probiotics (B. subtilis )/hot pepper, etc?

Is your climate conducive to veggie growing? Have you considered growing plants inside with grow lights if you haven't a nice gardening plot or live in an apartment? I had great luck with inside gardening when I lived in a small efficiency apartment and had no plot of land for gardening. I ended up growing not only flowers but also green peppers, cucumbers, AND tomatoes in containers. First started them inside in plant trays on a tall storage rack I built myself, suspending the grow lights from the shelves above each tray. I wish I had a picture of the racks and light system as they worked so well.

Please share your gardening stories and purchasing/growing advice.

Tea Tree Oil and Lavender

http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/jan2007/niehs-31.htm

from: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/571625_5

Be advised that all topicals do require due diligence in their usage. High concentrations of tea tree oil (more than 5%) can lead to blistering skin conditions due to immune reactions.

Amazing jewelry

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=94188

I think these are my favorites. Or http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8806393 Man, so tempting!!!!


Please post jewelry you love, or even jewelry you've made yourself.

Home renovation (cosmetics and home style!)

and built a waterproof walk-in shower? By walk-in, I mean no threshhold to step over into the shower, the shower will be even with the floor. By removing the acrylic/fiberglass enclosure, the shower space will gain six inches total. If I end up removing a wall that was built out to accomodate the shower enclosure, I could gain another six inches. That would be a whole extra foot of shower space! It would approach having enough room to install multi-tier spray attachments to make the space into a luxury-feeling shower.

I am thinking of getting a Kerdi Shower system for creating the waterproof membrane on which to lay ceramic tile. Has anyone here ever worked with the product, any good experiences? I've found various tile forums that highly recommend the product, and even a few places that sell instructions on how to build the framing, set up the membrane, then tile the surface. It looks doable, and I'd like to know if there are any with personal experience of such work.