Larry Husten, PhD
Larry Husten is a writer.
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Latest articles
Drugs and prescribing
In general I support embargoes in medical journalism. Although the current system is far from perfect and contains all sorts of wrinkles and unexpected consequences, I support the system because it allows journalists a bit more time to work on…
In general I support embargoes in medical journalism. Although the current system is far from perfect and contains all sorts of wrinkles and unexpected consequences, I support the system because it allows journalists a bit more time to work on complicated stories and to try to get them right. Recently, though, I came across the single worst abuse of an embargo that I have encountered in the course of my …
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The worst abuse of an embargo this medical journalist has ever seen
Physician voices
For more than a year now, as most CardioBrief readers undoubtedly know, a scandal in Maryland has raised troubling questions about hundreds of stent patients treated by Mark Midei -- previously considered one of the top interventional cardiologists in the…
For more than a year now, as most CardioBrief readers undoubtedly know, a scandal in Maryland has raised troubling questions about hundreds of stent patients treated by Mark Midei — previously considered one of the top interventional cardiologists in the state. In the wake of the scandal, some have questioned whether other interventional cardiologists, in Maryland and elsewhere, may also have routinely performed unnecessary procedures.
Of course, no one …
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The official response to Mark Midei is not satisfactory
Physician voices
Here’s something little known outside of the small circle of industry marketers, academic docs, PR flacks, and medical journalists: pharmaceutical and device companies (or their PR agencies) regularly offer to arrange interviews with well-known academic physicians to talk about new…
Here’s something little known outside of the small circle of industry marketers, academic docs, PR flacks, and medical journalists: pharmaceutical and device companies (or their PR agencies) regularly offer to arrange interviews with well-known academic physicians to talk about new trials, drug approvals, and other items of obvious interest to the companies involved.
I receive these sort of invitations all …
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How academic physicians are being used as live bait for journalists
Patient voices
The approval of dabigatran (Pradaxa) has been long awaited in the cardiology community. Although just about everyone agrees that a good alternative to warfarin is highly desirable, there are many remaining questions about the drug as it prepares to enter…
The approval of dabigatran (Pradaxa) has been long awaited in the cardiology community. Although just about everyone agrees that a good alternative to warfarin is highly desirable, there are many remaining questions about the drug as it prepares to enter the marketplace.
Here are a few questions raised by electrophysiologist John Mandrola on his blog:
- In the RE-LY trial, dabigatran was used twice daily. When not symptomatic, patients often
…
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Dabigatran (Pradaxa) questions in atrial fibrillation
Physician voices
The official ESC journal Europace publishes an online case report by Dr. Martin Hudec about the extremely rare and spectacular failure of a recently implanted Biotronik 340 VR-T ICD in a 46-year-old man. The battery of the device apparently overheated,…
The official ESC journal Europace publishes an online case report by Dr. Martin Hudec about the extremely rare and spectacular failure of a recently implanted Biotronik 340 VR-T ICD in a 46-year-old man. The battery of the device apparently overheated, causing the device to malfunction and leading to severe internal burning.
On Wednesday, October 6, US electrophysiologist Westby Fisher summarizes the Europace article on his blog and reprints several extremely gruesome …
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Suspicious withdrawal of a publication from an academic journal
Drugs and prescribing
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…
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).
All …
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Avandia aftermath: winners and losers
Drugs and prescribing
The authors call it “an in-office linguistic study” and write that it “was conducted to assess physician–patient discussions of mixed dyslipidemia.” But it’s really an Abbott marketing study for Niaspan, the company’s long-acting niacin product, and the question is: why…
The authors call it “an in-office linguistic study” and write that it “was conducted to assess physician–patient discussions of mixed dyslipidemia.” But it’s really an Abbott marketing study for Niaspan, the company’s long-acting niacin product, and the question is: why is it published in the American Journal of Cardiology?
The study involves the recorded conversations of 12 cardiologists and 12 PCPs with 45 patients with low levels of HDL. The …
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Why a marketing study for Niaspan was published in a medical journal
Conditions and diseases
Recently, the New York Times reported that Harlem Hospital Center had finally completed its investigation into thousands of echocardiograms that after receiving an initial reading by a technician had never been read by a physician. It turns out that out…
Recently, the New York Times reported that Harlem Hospital Center had finally completed its investigation into thousands of echocardiograms that after receiving an initial reading by a technician had never been read by a physician.
It turns out that out of 7,000 tests that went unread, only 14 patients “might have been misdiagnosed because their tests had not been handled properly,” according to the hospital spokeswoman quoted in the story. …
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Unread echocardiogram fallout at Harlem Hospital Center
Physician voices
At least 200 patients whose echocardiograms went unread by a cardiologist for as long as three years have died, according to a new article in the New York Times by Anemona Hartocollis. Equally troubling, a cardiologist reading some of the…
At least 200 patients whose echocardiograms went unread by a cardiologist for as long as three years have died, according to a new article in the New York Times by Anemona Hartocollis.
Equally troubling, a cardiologist reading some of the tests says that he has found “life-threatening diagnoses” on some of the tests.
The Times reports that medical officials said that “none of those patients needed ‘follow-up care.” But the cardiologist, …
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Physicians have no excuse for years of unread echocardiograms
Conditions and diseases
“Let’s kill all the lawyers.” It’s every doctor’s favorite Shakespeare quote. And if you’re giving a talk to doctors there’s no better way to get the audience on your side than by starting with a lawyer joke. But perhaps we…
“Let’s kill all the lawyers.” It’s every doctor’s favorite Shakespeare quote. And if you’re giving a talk to doctors there’s no better way to get the audience on your side than by starting with a lawyer joke.
But perhaps we shouldn’t be too hasty about killing all those lawyers. As recent commentary about the Mark Midei case makes clear, modern medicine doesn’t know how to police itself. And until medicine does …
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Peer review may require random over-reads
Drugs and prescribing
Avandia continues to dominate cardiovascular-related news this week. Recently, the AHA and the ACC issued a highly detailed, thoughtful, though perhaps slightly over-diplomatic science advisory on TZDs and CV risk. Taking a completely opposite tack, GSK, in no mood to…
Avandia continues to dominate cardiovascular-related news this week. Recently, the AHA and the ACC issued a highly detailed, thoughtful, though perhaps slightly over-diplomatic science advisory on TZDs and CV risk. Taking a completely opposite tack, GSK, in no mood to take prisoners, and apparently about to nominate itself for a Nobel Prize, issued a 30 page White Paper in response to the Senate report published on Saturday.
At the core …
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Why rosiglitazone would not have been approved today
Conditions and diseases
Mauricio Arruda performed a live atrial fibrillation ablation at University Hospitals in Cleveland on the Today Show recently. The 6-minute segment was relentlessly upbeat. The TV producers pulled every trick in the book to overcome the inherent difficulty of portraying…
Mauricio Arruda performed a live atrial fibrillation ablation at University Hospitals in Cleveland on the Today Show recently.
The 6-minute segment was relentlessly upbeat. The TV producers pulled every trick in the book to overcome the inherent difficulty of portraying a hard-to-explain disease like atrial fibrillation and an even harder-to-explain procedure like catheter ablation. Instead of making any effort to truly educate their viewers, the producers took the easy …
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Treating atrial fibrillation with catheter ablation on TV may not be ethical
Social media in medicine
by Larry Husten, Ph.D. October brings the Nobel Prize announcements and the World Series. No one will mistake media coverage of one for the other. Each Nobel Prize will get one article and 10 seconds on the evening news. A…
by Larry Husten, Ph.D.
October brings the Nobel Prize announcements and the World Series. No one will mistake media coverage of one for the other. Each Nobel Prize will get one article and 10 seconds on the evening news. A soft feature will quote the new Nobel recipient’s complete surprise at the 4 AM phone call.
By contrast, baseball, like all major sports, is covered in great depth, by legions of sports …
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What if newspapers reported science the way they cover the World Series?
Health policy
There can be little doubt that the lethal combination of aging baby boomers, the obesity epidemic, and the growing success of medical and interventional therapies for CV disease (resulting in more and more survivors of major events) is going to…
There can be little doubt that the lethal combination of aging baby boomers, the obesity epidemic, and the growing success of medical and interventional therapies for CV disease (resulting in more and more survivors of major events) is going to produce a flood of cardiovascular disease in the coming decades, and cardiologists in great numbers will be needed to care for these people.
However, that doesn’t mean that the message conveyed …
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Will there really be an impending shortage of cardiologists?
Medical education
by Larry Husten, Ph.D. A recent hearing of the Senate Aging Committee on continuing medical education (CME) should scare anyone who might need to see a doctor in the next few years. But you don't need to be a Washington…
by Larry Husten, Ph.D.
A recent hearing of the Senate Aging Committee on continuing medical education (CME) should scare anyone who might need to see a doctor in the next few years. But you don’t need to be a Washington policy wonk to discover that there’s a huge problem with CME.
Just walk into the lobby of any major downtown hotel when a large medical conference is in town and you will …
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How to make industry influence transparent in continuing medical education
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