How OxyContin taught doctors to trust pills over patients

Medications
July 24, 2016

Treating pain is a notoriously tricky business. But it’s even harder if the medications on which we rely are inappropriately marketed. Last month, a Los Angeles Times investigation of Purdue Pharma asserted that for years, the company falsely elevated the efficacy of its twice-daily OxyContin, a powerful opioid pain reliever. The Times’ review of evidence — including three decades of court cases, investigations, patient and sales rep …

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How OxyContin taught doctors to trust pills over patients

Hospitals need a checklist for the patient experience

Physician
January 11, 2016

Earlier this year, when my mother was briefly hospitalized, nobody gave her the wrong medication (her wristband was checked before each medicine was dispensed).  Nobody missed a high or low blood pressure (her vital signs were taken every few hours, like clockwork). She was usually assisted to the bathroom so she wouldn’t fall (a sensor on her bed triggered an alarm if she started to get up).

Thank goodness for hospital-based …

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Hospitals need a checklist for the patient experience

Free nurse practitioners from their arbitrary bondage

Physician
May 8, 2013

As of early April, you can walk into Walgreens in 18 states (plus D.C.), and along with a gallon of skim milk, a pair of photo mugs, a six-pack of toilet paper, and a flu shot, you can meet your new primary care provider, get your cholesterol checked, pick up your statin, and schedule a return visit. That primary care provider will not be a physician …

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Free nurse practitioners from their arbitrary bondage