by Crystal Phend, MedPage Today Senior Staff Writer The pandemic H1N1 influenza virus continues to disproportionately attack the young, the CDC warned. Children and adults under age 25 have accounted for 53% of hospitalizations for laboratory-confirmed H1N1 and 23.6% of…
by Crystal Phend, MedPage Today Senior Staff Writer
The pandemic H1N1 influenza virus continues to disproportionately attack the young, the CDC warned.
Children and adults under age 25 have accounted for 53% of hospitalizations for laboratory-confirmed H1N1 and 23.6% of related deaths since Sept. 1, the agency reported at a press briefing.
Seniors, on the other hand, have accounted for just 7% of …
Banning pharmaceutical companies from handing out token items to doctors at conferences is so tip of the iceberg. I have tales to tell of conferences past, where the excesses were beyond farcical. As a medical reporter covering such meetings, I…
Banning pharmaceutical companies from handing out token items to doctors at conferences is so tip of the iceberg.
I have tales to tell of conferences past, where the excesses were beyond farcical. As a medical reporter covering such meetings, I have seen everything. When my kids were young, I enjoyed roaming the floor of the exhibit hall along with the docs, collecting such swag as bouncy balls that lit on impact, …
Originally published in HCPLive.com by Anita Ramsetty, MD We are very fortunate to have a number of newer insulins available for our patients. For years we had animal insulins only. NPH and Regular, then we had Ultralente. The development of…
Originally published in HCPLive.com
by Anita Ramsetty, MD
We are very fortunate to have a number of newer insulins available for our patients.
For years we had animal insulins only. NPH and Regular, then we had Ultralente. The development of analog insulins marked the upswing in technology that we would sustain for a period of time. The most recent big blip in the …
Originally published in MedPage Today by Kristina Fiore, MedPage Today Staff Writer Contrary to information that led the FDA and other regulatory agencies to release warnings about varenicline (Chantix), a new study has found "no clear evidence" of a relationship…
Contrary to information that led the FDA and other regulatory agencies to release warnings about varenicline (Chantix), a new study has found “no clear evidence” of a relationship between the risk of suicide and the smoking-cessation drug.
Both varenicline and bupropion (Zyban), another drug used in smoking cessation programs, were …
Recently, a former staff medical writer at a MECC (Medical Education Communication Company) anonymously alerted me to a particularly sleazy advertising tactic used by a medical writing company. This person had worked as a pharma-supported medical writer for several years,…
Recently, a former staff medical writer at a MECC (Medical Education Communication Company) anonymously alerted me to a particularly sleazy advertising tactic used by a medical writing company. This person had worked as a pharma-supported medical writer for several years, but recently quit because, “I really couldn’t stomach the ethical problems associated with writing for the pharma industry.” Recently, looking for medical writing jobs, this writer came across a company …
by Diana Lee A recent episode of the A&E show Intervention about a woman with occasional migraines and other serious health problems who takes up to 50 Percocet pills a day made me uncomfortable. Maybe Danielle, the woman featured in…
by Diana Lee
A recent episode of the A&E show Intervention about a woman with occasional migraines and other serious health problems who takes up to 50 Percocet pills a day made me uncomfortable. Maybe Danielle, the woman featured in the episode, really does have migraine attacks. But she is also an addict. One condition really has nothing to do with the other. Many people with acute or chronic pain use …
Ghostwritten clinical papers. Off-label marketing. Channel-stuffing. Hiding of negative data. Pharma companies have earned a hefty percentage of the opprobrium heaped on them by a skeptical public. And it's mainly because of a failure to heed the Golden Rule. We…
Ghostwritten clinical papers. Off-label marketing. Channel-stuffing. Hiding of negative data.
Pharma companies have earned a hefty percentage of the opprobrium heaped on them by a skeptical public. And it’s mainly because of a failure to heed the Golden Rule. We all know the “classical” Golden Rule: Treat others the way you’d wish to be treated. But in so many cases, drug manufacturers seem to adhere to a different version: the Gold-in …
The FDA has declared war on acetaminophen, with Vicodin and Percocet being collateral damage. You can bet Dr. Gregory House is sweatin' pretty hard over this news. In the last few days, acetaminophen, otherwise known as the brand name Tylenol,…
The FDA has declared war on acetaminophen, with Vicodin and Percocet being collateral damage. You can bet Dr. Gregory House is sweatin’ pretty hard over this news.
In the last few days, acetaminophen, otherwise known as the brand name Tylenol, has been squarely in the FDA advisory panel’s crosshairs. In general, it’s a very safe medication, but there is …
A recent study in Lancet becomes the first study to pull back the curtain on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and its impact on global health. Since the money the Gates Foundation spends on global health (61% of its…
A recent study in Lancet becomes the first study to pull back the curtain on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and its impact on global health.
Since the money the Gates Foundation spends on global health (61% of its total $2.01 billion budget) is almost as large as the entire budget of the WHO, and because it is not a passive donor (it actively engages in policy making and agenda …
Here are some of the more interesting comments readers have left recently.1. Carla Kakutani on the lack of primary care access in Massachusetts:So we have a chicken and egg problem. Do we wait health care reform until we have revived…
Here are some of the more interesting comments readers have left recently.
1. Carla Kakutani on the lack of primary care access in Massachusetts: So we have a chicken and egg problem. Do we wait health care reform until we have revived US primary care, or is that even possible without health care reform to create the disruption needed to change our entrenched fee-for-service, procedure-happy payment …
What does that mean to you? More patients than you think are confused by drug labels:Did that mean a total of two, or a total of four? A third of patients who were deemed literate got confused. A more clear…
Did that mean a total of two, or a total of four? A third of patients who were deemed literate got confused. A more clear instruction would be: “Take two tablets in the morning and two tablets at night.”
The fix is not complicated. When I write a prescription, I spell out how …
Children and adults under age 25 have accounted for 53% of hospitalizations for laboratory-confirmed H1N1 and 23.6% of related deaths since Sept. 1, the agency reported at a press briefing.
In the last few days, acetaminophen, otherwise known as the brand name Tylenol, has been squarely in the FDA advisory panel’s crosshairs. In general, it’s a very safe medication, but there is …
