Though I am not going to say that the New York Times lied, they either purposely and grossly misrepresented the truth or did a horrible job of reporting.
In their article, “Diabetes Drug Maker Hid Test Data, Files Indicate” the Times states that Avandia maker GSK “secretly began” a study which “provided clear signs that it (Avandia) was riskier to the heart.”
In the first installment, we looked at the history behind consumer advertising of prescription drugs. We also explored the concept of commercial free speech and why this form of advertising is legal. To fully appreciate the controversy about direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising, we must now examine the commercial effects of these ad campaigns. …
Blockbuster drugs. They are, to this day, an addiction for big pharma. A blockbuster can produce a huge ROI and fund the development of new drugs and new marketing programs but today the deck is stacked against blockbuster drugs.
The healthcare environment today is one in which cost containment is a key element. In the next few years a lot of blockbuster drugs are going to come off patent including Lipitor, …
Patients want a quick fix. Society wants patients to have a quick fix, so that they can quickly return to their usual performance at work and home.
Patients still have shame about seeking help from a psychiatrist or other mental health professional. So they ask help for their depression from their primary care physician. The PCP feels an emotional pressure to provide the quick fix in that 15-minute appointment – the …
The commonly prescribed breast cancer drug, Arimidex, was released as a generic in June 2010. The generic name is anastrozole. I called several local pharmacies last week to find out how much this medicine would cost for a one-month supply. I found some very surprising results:
This is the story of a boy who had hemophilia, a bleeding disorder that resulted in pain, disability and death before adulthood. A new medicine was developed which brought an end to suffering and increased longevity in persons with hemophilia. The effect of the new medicine was like magic. It was a remarkable revolutionary advancement …
Recently there has been a lot of controversy about the use of NSAIDs and heart health.
NSAIDs are medications for pain and inflammation. Many of them are sold over the counter and they are used by millions of people for various aches and pains as well as for more serious chronic conditions such as arthritis. Aspirin is technically an NSAID, but its effects …
It may be hard for people to imagine that drug reps can get us to prescribe a particular drug by simply giving us a meal or being nice to us. The process is subtle, but …
The noose was loose on its neck. At first I worried, but then I relaxed. This was a bottle of pomegranate juice, the antioxidant superpower. As the billboard implied, it could cheat death. Perhaps if I consumed pomegranate juice, I could cheat death.
Last week, the Federal Trade Commission charged POM Wonderful, LLC, makers of pomegranate products, with deceptive advertising. …
Unapproved drugs have never been tested by the Food and Drugs Administration for safety and efficacy. Prescribed by the million every year in the United States, these products pose a potential danger to all patients, but HIV/AIDS patients who suffer weakened immune systems are at an even higher risk as they are more vulnerable to injury due to their disease.
Just in case you thought the problems with abuse of powerful prescription drugs have been overstated, here’s a wake-up call.
The CDC’s Director is taking this very seriously, saying: “Overdose with prescription drugs is one of the most serious and fastest-growing problems in this country.”
The problem is showing up in a doubling of emergency room admissions due to prescription drug abuse, driven primarily by oxycodone, methadone, and hydrocodone.
Responses to the Avandia panel have been all over the map, as cleverly noted on the Wall Street Journal‘s Health Blog. Avandia is “dead” (Forbes), or, perhaps worse, “now a Zombie” (BNET). By contrast, others thought the panel granted Avandia a “reprieve” (Wall Street Journal and that Avandia would now probably be allowed to stay on the market (Los Angeles Times, Pharmalot).
These days many thought leaders find themselves on shaky ground. The past few years have not been good for business. Some of the most prominent thought leaders have been exposed and censured by Grassley. Others have seen public opinion turning against them and gone underground. As more states institute Sunshine laws, anyone considering an industry …
One of the topics that I have often thought about (especially in light of our seeming inability to develop zero-risk obesity drugs) is the problem of averages. Our entire medical philosophy of “evidence-based” medicine seems built on the “Gaussian” assumption that averages can reflect the true benefit (or risk) of a drug, when in real life (or medical practice) there is no such thing as the truly average patient.
It just shouldn’t be hard to get a refill on the medicines I’m taking:
phone the pharmacy to refill prescriptions
show up the next day to pick up refills
pay
Simple, right?
Note that this is about my old pharmacy, not the new one. For quite a while the pharmacy had been having difficulties, which is why I never trust the pharmacy. Between the distance and the frustrations I had dealing with them, …
Should the public be shielded from medical information that can mislead it?
Many argue against direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising, which is omnipresent in print and on the airwaves. Opponents of this practice argue that it promotes the use of expensive medications when patients ask their doctors if the “drug is right for them,” the tag line that appears at the end of every ad. This phrase is the drug company’s limp disclaimer …
I have a lot of diabetes patients and have been an avid user of the thiazolidinediones (TZD) class. There are many reasons to like the TZD’s:
The older, generic medicines like metformin and sulfonylureas are known to fail over time. After 3 years, most patients on one of these drugs lose control of their blood sugar. In contrast, patients on TZD’s maintain glycemic control (at least up to 4-5 years which …
That should come as no surprise to anyone who has lived in modern America. It is impossible to turn on the television, ride the subway, or even sort through the daily mail without coming across an ad for a new car, a soft drink, or the latest digital toy. These advertisements have only one goal: to entice you to buy their products. This is harmless enough when these …
Recently, the New York Times reported of the movement in Washington State to officially do something about prescription opioid abuse, coming on the heels of course of the FDA rejecting the current risk evaluation and mitigation strategy plan as, essentially, not going far enough.
The article basically discusses the discussion in Washington about what to do; no formal new plans have been …
