The source of the current Ebola outbreak?

This article describes the efforts to identify the source of the current Ebola outbreak, this individual may have contracted the disease and how this has impacted his relatives and community http://www.the-scientist.com//?articles.view/articleNo/41353/title/Patient-Zero-Identified-/

Nobel prize winners weigh in on side effects

Here is a video of interviews with Nobel prize winners on the side effects of drugs and whether or not they can be eliminated http://bcove.me/i7c07hox.  You will probably not be surprised to hear that our genetics are involved.

NSAIDS in the environment and compliance and ethics in clinical trials

Some important pharmacological issues that have been discussed this week center on  environmental problems and clinical trials issues.  The use of anti-inflammatory drugs known as NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) in farm animals is having a signficant impact on those higher up in the food chain-vultures http://www.nature.com/news/poisoned-vulture-could-herald-european-bird-crisis-1.16161.

Issues in the clinical trials arena include compliance, that is, how do we know that the participants in the clinical trials are actually taking the drugs like we think they are? http://www.sciencemag.org/content/346/6207/288.full.

Finally, the global concerns regarding how we can rapidly develop drugs to effectively treat Ebola continues to raise ethical issues http://www.sciencemag.org/content/346/6207/289.full

Should clinical trials always include a placebo control group?

In this article, some are questioning whether the use of a placebo control in clinical trials performed to test the effectiveness of potential Ebola therapies is ethical http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/13/us-health-ebola-drugtrials-idUSKCN0I20W520141013.

Drug metabolizing enzymes and coffee intake

As recent study has shown that variations in genes involved in the metabolism and disposition of caffeine (AHR, CYP1A1, POR and ABCG2) can influence how much coffee we drink (http://www.the-scientist.com//?articles.view/articleNo/41167/title/Java-Genes-/)