It wasn't so much the side effects -- nausea and belly pain that had once kept me from enjoying my aunt’s home cooking. I didn't fill my prescription for the malaria prophylactic Malarone before a family trip to India because…
It wasn’t so much the side effects — nausea and belly pain that had once kept me from enjoying my aunt’s home cooking. I didn’t fill my prescription for the malaria prophylactic Malarone before a family trip to India because the $50 co-pay seemed outlandishly expensive to a medical-student-in-debt. Years later, I find that my patients skip crucial medications to treat diabetes and depression because of the reality or even …
Recently, I "launched" my oldest off to college. As anticipated, it was an intense emotional experience full of joy, sadness, and many things in between. (I have to tip my hat to Beverly Beckham for her piece I was the…
Recently, I “launched” my oldest off to college. As anticipated, it was an intense emotional experience full of joy, sadness, and many things in between. (I have to tip my hat to Beverly Beckham for her piece I was the sun, the kids were my planets that was very helpful. However, I might have written that my child was the sun, a burst of light in our household, and the experience …
Here’s an interesting clinical dilemma brought to my attention by another physician. She was asked to refill a prescription for a drug called domperidone to help a patient with lactation. Domperidone is not FDA approved in the United States for…
Here’s an interesting clinical dilemma brought to my attention by another physician.
She was asked to refill a prescription for a drug called domperidone to help a patient with lactation. Domperidone is not FDA approved in the United States for any indication. However, in Europe and in Canada it is approved as a promotility agent for patients with a condition called gastroparesis, which causes the stomach to empty very slowly and results in …
After investigating the potential of cannabis as a medication over the last year, I had a change of heart. I am more convinced than ever that we need to study this like any other medication and not deny it to…
After investigating the potential of cannabis as a medication over the last year, I had a change of heart. I am more convinced than ever that we need to study this like any other medication and not deny it to people who may currently benefit.
Dr. Sanjay Gutpa has come out on the side of medical marijuana. To him, that is a big deal. Here is a snippet of what he said: I apologize because I didn’t look hard enough, until now. I didn’t look…
I apologize because I didn’t look hard enough, until now. I didn’t look far enough. I didn’t review papers from smaller labs in other countries doing some remarkable research, and I was too dismissive of the loud chorus of legitimate patients
We have become a pill popping society. It makes absolutely no sense that 20 percent of our population regularly uses a psychotropic medicine and that the United States has more deaths each year from overdose with prescription drugs than from…
We have become a pill popping society. It makes absolutely no sense that 20 percent of our population regularly uses a psychotropic medicine and that the United States has more deaths each year from overdose with prescription drugs than from street drugs.
The causes of excessive medication use are numerous — the diagnostic system is too loose; some doctors are trigger happy in. their prescribing habits; the drug companies have sold …
A guest column by the American Medical Association, exclusive to KevinMD.com. Prescription drug abuse has reached crisis levels: overdoses and deaths from opioid analgesics have more than quadrupled in the U.S. since 1999. At the same time, a great deal…
Prescription drug abuse has reached crisis levels: overdoses and deaths from opioid analgesics have more than quadrupled in the U.S. since 1999. At the same time, a great deal of human pain and suffering remains inadequately treated. In fact, according to the Institute of Medicine, at least 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, creating an imperative to better prevent …
Osphena (ospemifene) is an oral medication recently approved by the FDA for painful sex (dyspareunia) due to vaginal dryness for menopausal women. As typically happens when a new drug gets FDA approval the PR machine for the company goes into…
Osphena (ospemifene) is an oral medication recently approved by the FDA for painful sex (dyspareunia) due to vaginal dryness for menopausal women. As typically happens when a new drug gets FDA approval the PR machine for the company goes into overdrive flooding the media with press releases. Since sex sells, well, Osphena received a fair amount of air time and print space. Headlines like FDA-Approved “Female” Viagra might lead someone to believe that Osphena is freaking amazing. Which, …
Electronic cigarettes are here, settling over the country, quite literally, like a fine white fog. Smokers in turn, have been turning to them as a tool to help them quit, though the device manufacturers are not allowed to market them…
Electronic cigarettes are here, settling over the country, quite literally, like a fine white fog. Smokers in turn, have been turning to them as a tool to help them quit, though the device manufacturers are not allowed to market them that way in U.S. It seems intuitive that a device that mimics the action of smoking but without the combustion and …
With Governor Rick Perry signing the restrictive Texas abortion bill into law many news organizations have shed light on traveling to Mexico for abortion and there has been much talk about the “Mexican abortion pill.” The medication that people typically…
With Governor Rick Perry signing the restrictive Texas abortion bill into law many news organizations have shed light on traveling to Mexico for abortion and there has been much talk about the “Mexican abortion pill.”
The medication that people typically call the Mexican abortion pill is misoprostol, marketed under the trade name Cytotec. It is a prostaglandin analogue and is used for prevention of stomach ulcers. It also has many uses in OB/GYN …
You’re searching for a new primary care physician or a specialist. Is there a way you can know whether the doctor is more partial to expensive, brand-name drugs than his peers? Or say you’ve got to find a nursing home…
You’re searching for a new primary care physician or a specialist. Is there a way you can know whether the doctor is more partial to expensive, brand-name drugs than his peers?
Or say you’ve got to find a nursing home for a loved one. Wouldn’t you want to know if the staff doctor regularly prescribes drugs known to be risky for seniors or …
The recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court brought Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics back to the headlines, with interest being stoked by Angelina Jolie’s recent disclosure of her double mastectomy. The lawsuit revolved around patents owned by…
The recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court brought Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics back to the headlines, with interest being stoked by Angelina Jolie’s recent disclosure of her double mastectomy.
The lawsuit revolved around patents owned by Myriad related to its BRACAnalysis test, which assesses the likelihood that a person will develop certain cancers, including breast cancer, by searching the DNA for disease-causing …
"Promising new drug shown to be no better than placebo" – and so the careers of countless drugs in development have terminated, from pain medicines to chemotherapies to antidepressants. The success of investigational drugs depends on their capacity to outperform…
“Promising new drug shown to be no better than placebo” – and so the careers of countless drugs in development have terminated, from pain medicines to chemotherapies to antidepressants. The success of investigational drugs depends on their capacity to outperform the pesky placebo effect, so researchers are often trying to control or minimize the placebo effect so they can demonstrate more clearly …
It’s happened at last: the epitome of ridiculousness in the already pretty ridiculous world of drug prior authorizations. I wish I could say that I made this up. I got a fax from a pharmacy requesting a prior authorization for…
It’s happened at last: the epitome of ridiculousness in the already pretty ridiculous world of drug prior authorizations. I wish I could say that I made this up.
I got a fax from a pharmacy requesting a prior authorization for a brand name drug called Protonix, one of a family of medications used to treat ulcers, acid reflux, and other forms of tummy ache. This happens. Because there are five different …
Hardly a day goes by when some news outlet does not report, often breathlessly, some new breakthrough in cancer research. We need to turn a skeptical eye on most of these reports, particularly those that contain information about very preliminary…
Hardly a day goes by when some news outlet does not report, often breathlessly, some new breakthrough in cancer research. We need to turn a skeptical eye on most of these reports, particularly those that contain information about very preliminary research findings. The always astute Gary Schweitzer gives a good perspective on this in his HealthNewsReview.org; it’s a good site to bookmark if you follow the medical news.
Recently a patient of mine brought in a bottle given to her by her acupuncturist. She had turned to acupuncture with my encouragement after traditional medicine fell short at addressing her chronic pain. Indeed, there is data to support the…
Recently a patient of mine brought in a bottle given to her by her acupuncturist. She had turned to acupuncture with my encouragement after traditional medicine fell short at addressing her chronic pain. Indeed, there is data to support the efficacy of acupuncture in the management of chronic pain. I was encouraged to hear that this treatment, often labeled as “alternative,” seemed to be helping her substantially.
It is increasingly difficult to find real ice cream. When reading the ingredient list it is discouraging how many cheap fillers, consistency modifiers, and shelf life extenders are included. One ingredient, namely guar gum, seems fairly ubiquitous. So what is…
It is increasingly difficult to find real ice cream. When reading the ingredient list it is discouraging how many cheap fillers, consistency modifiers, and shelf life extenders are included. One ingredient, namely guar gum, seems fairly ubiquitous. So what is guar gum, and why is it found in so many products including ice cream? Is it “bad” to eat?
Herbal medicines make most doctors cringe, laugh, or want to put blinders on and pretend they don’t exist. This is understandable. While allopathic medical education hammers pharmaceutical formulas and mechanisms of action into our brains, we learn little-to-nothing about herbs…
Herbal medicines make most doctors cringe, laugh, or want to put blinders on and pretend they don’t exist. This is understandable. While allopathic medical education hammers pharmaceutical formulas and mechanisms of action into our brains, we learn little-to-nothing about herbs in medical school. Quite the opposite – we are most often told to uniformly discourage our patients from taking herbs out of concern for safety; a conversation stopper with little …
If you believe in vaccines, can you speak up? When we are unsure about decisions, we want to know what our friends and loved ones think. This is normal and understandable; after all, these are people who are important to…
If you believe in vaccines, can you speak up?
When we are unsure about decisions, we want to know what our friends and loved ones think. This is normal and understandable; after all, these are people who are important to us, people whose opinions we value and trust.
We also turn to these people when making medical decisions–including ones about immunizations. While what …
Another year and another annual meeting for the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago. This is a meeting that regularly attracts many thousands of doctors, researchers, pharmaceutical folks and others interested in the science and business of cancer from…
Another year and another annual meeting for the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago. This is a meeting that regularly attracts many thousands of doctors, researchers, pharmaceutical folks and others interested in the science and business of cancer from around the globe to learn, to discuss, to persuade, to educate on the progress being made in clinical cancer …
