Medications
Are you taking FDA-unapproved drugs without knowing it?
If you think the labyrinth of U.S. government agencies and congressional subcommittees is complicated, be grateful you are not a pharmacy owner! Just to get your drugs reimbursed, you must navigate a river of upstream, midstream, and downstream suppliers, health plans and insurers, employers and other payers (including federal and state governments), rebate aggregators, “white and brown baggers,” and an alphabet soup of entities/concepts called things like PSAOs, GPOs, NADACs, …
How to spot safe supplements: What you need to know about Good Manufacturing Practices [PODCAST]
How modern ads manipulate your health fears for profit [PODCAST]
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We dive into the controversial world of direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising with health reporter Martha Rosenberg. Drawing from her extensive knowledge, Martha unpacks how DTC drug ads manipulate consumers, fuel hypochondria, and create demand …
Medical crisis or government overreach: How misguided policies are destroying lives
A million vulnerable patients have died in the last decade, and while I have no doubt the rate of overdose and poisoning will drop nationwide—killing a million vulnerable patients has that effect eventually—I choose not to contribute to that death rate. This decision is in accordance with my deeply held beliefs. In 2014, Governor Asa Hutchinson signed the Arkansas Conscience Protection Act into law, supposedly protecting health care professionals who …
The role of social credit scores in the enforcement of health care regulations
As health care predictive algorithms, including the Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMP), expand their reach beyond traditional enforcement of health care regulations, the concept of a social credit score has emerged as a powerful but controversial tool. Like predictive policing, social credit scores use an individual’s behaviors, online activity, and social interactions to assess their perceived trustworthiness and risk to society and are used as fodder for the prosecution of …
How drug and soap commercials are manipulating you
Having worked as a copywriter and creative director at some of the world’s top ad agencies, including McCann Erickson (now McCann Worldgroup), I am vehemently critical of new advertising. Why? I know the tricks and how they manipulate well — think the old TV series Mad Men.
Leading the list of ads that I hate are direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug ads which began in the late 1990s. I am especially critical of …
GMP vs. non-GMP: the hidden truth about your supplements
Suppose you are looking for multivitamin supplements. You pick up two containers of multivitamins and wonder which one you should get. At first glance, they have similar labels, but then you notice that one has a comment indicating that the supplement was manufactured in a registered GMP-compliant facility, and the other does not.
Then you ask yourself the following questions: How much of what ingredients are included in proprietary blends? Where …
Doctors beware: the hidden legal risks of following CME guidelines
I have a problem with some of the continuing medical education courses offered by large health care institutions, even those like Harvard and Mayo, which have outstanding reputations for evidence-based medicine. That’s because what they teach, although scientifically sound and in line with the Department of Health and Human Services and CDC recommendations, can get you prosecuted and convicted by the DEA. If you get targeted for practicing the way …
How biased medical experts are destroying doctors’ lives and careers in the opioid crisis
As a U.S. health care writer and patient advocate for almost 30 years, I read a lot. Recently, some of that reading is in court transcripts of doctors being persecuted out of medicine or into jail by various prosecutors and their hired “experts.” I use the term “persecuted” intentionally. I believe that “medical experts” in many court or Medical Board proceedings are simply “hired guns” – clinical predators hired for …
Doctors under fire: Is the DEA turning them into drug dealers?
In the state of New York (you already know it’s going to be bad), a doctor and a pharmacist were arrested in a sting operation conducted by a joint task force of the DEA, FBI, IRS, and probably CIA and CBS, though I have no proof of the latter two. The doctor, Mordechai Bar, and the pharmacist, Feroze Nazirbage, have been accused of “violating their oaths,” something you almost never …
Why isn’t medical advertising regulated like other advertising?
As long as you live, you will never hear an article from news media contending that “America Runs On Duncan.” Why? Because the line is a marketing allegation created by the advertising company and designed to sell product.
Yet news media repeat medical claims from drug makers found in journals like they are news––which gives Pharma companies free advertising and can mislead consumers and patients.
The most recent example is the “news” …
A true win for the DEA and society at large
In most physician prosecutions for treating pain or addiction, there is never any actual evidence of criminal intent. Just the nebulous argument that a doctor “ignored the risk of overdose,” “ignored the risk of addiction,” or performed “an insufficient medical exam.” I have a big problem with these because the doctor didn’t ignore anything in about 80 percent of the cases I evaluated. Indeed, the DEA had to lie to …
From conviction to appeal: a doctor’s opioid case sparks debate
A doctor in Virginia named Joel Smithers was serving a 40-year sentence in an Atlanta prison when he won his appeal to the 4th Circuit. No, he didn’t shoot someone. That’s probably 25 years. He treated patients in pain. Now, he will get a new trial where he will be bludgeoned again with false metrics and innuendo. To ensure that the benefit of the doubt prevails, a Reuters article starts …
Are you storing your medications wrong?
Today, I want to talk about how creative humans are. As physicians, we encounter patients with ideas that amaze us every day and make our lives interesting, to say the least. The best ones are often the elderly, who have years of experience and unique ways of getting things done that differ greatly from the current generation.
I came across an elderly patient in the office who had previously been diagnosed …
Young lives at risk: the unseen dangers of fentanyl addiction
When we go charging in blood vessels at breathtaking speed to relieve the blockade that otherwise may bring a sad end to life, we expect to be doing it for the mature and elderly. The stress and strains upon the heart through the journey that is life upend the natural rhythm and flow, with the turbulence churning up clots like butter from milk that flow downstream till the narrowed channels …
Cinnamon versus brain cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and insomnia
I’ve always adored cinnamon. Its aroma warms the cockles of my heart, and its flavor makes me feel as if I’m wrapped up in an old fairy tale. However, I was floored when I reviewed some of the latest research regarding the effects of cinnamon on brain health.
Cinnamon is a type of laurel plant (believe it or not, there are almost three thousand members of the Lauraceae family). Cinnamon happens …
My fear of pharmaceuticals stole a decade from me
I have a cat.
That’s my go-to answer when people ask me if I have children. It’s just easier than saying my refusal to take FDA-approved medications for severe obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) stole a decade of what could have been normal life from me.
Studies show it takes an average of 17 years for patients with OCD to receive adequate therapy. Thankfully, in the past ten years, this duration is starting …
Transforming liver care: the evolution of MASH diagnosis and treatment
The term “revolutionary” is used too often in health care. New imaging modalities, pharmaceutical breakthroughs, advanced medical devices, and artificial intelligence are all regularly proclaimed to be revolutionary to attract interest and attention. But those of us trained in medicine who work in these fields know that revolutions don’t happen—it takes 17 years for new research to reach the translational stage.
In reality, the best we can hope for is …
Doctors or criminals? How misleading narratives hurt innocent lives
When it comes to journalism and health care prosecutions, today’s “papers” are so yellow that they could damage vision like a 580 nm laser. I have personally seen and suffered from this unbalanced approach to reporting and felt a need to provide a counternarrative based on reason instead of hyperbole. After studying hundreds of cases, I will argue that in roughly fifty percent of these, the government has paid hundreds …
Past Week
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The impact of digital health tools on preventing chronic disease: a public health revolution
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How physicians can win support for AI—and better patient care
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Do you think the needle is moving in health care?
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How primary care could transform our health system [PODCAST]
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How burnout sneaks up on health care professionals [PODCAST]
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Physical exams: the life-saving tool doctors must reclaim in modern medicine
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Past 6 Months
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If you are pro-psychiatry, should you be anti-RFK?
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Restoring compassionate pain care: a call to action
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Is the Goldwater Rule hindering us?
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How one ER’s choice changed my son’s life forever
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How to dress like a doctor
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Ways that one can succeed in dermatology residency: words of wisdom from a program coordinator
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Recent Posts
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How burnout sneaks up on health care professionals [PODCAST]
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How fee-for-service shapes your doctor’s decisions
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How being “the problem” can make you a force for change
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The testosterone surge: Are men chasing solutions or creating new risks?
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How primary care could transform our health system [PODCAST]
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Navigating Goodhart’s Law dilemma and the future of AI in medicine
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Past Week
-
The impact of digital health tools on preventing chronic disease: a public health revolution
-
How physicians can win support for AI—and better patient care
-
Do you think the needle is moving in health care?
-
How primary care could transform our health system [PODCAST]
-
How burnout sneaks up on health care professionals [PODCAST]
-
Physical exams: the life-saving tool doctors must reclaim in modern medicine
-
Past 6 Months
-
If you are pro-psychiatry, should you be anti-RFK?
-
Restoring compassionate pain care: a call to action
-
Is the Goldwater Rule hindering us?
-
How one ER’s choice changed my son’s life forever
-
How to dress like a doctor
-
Ways that one can succeed in dermatology residency: words of wisdom from a program coordinator
-
Recent Posts
-
How burnout sneaks up on health care professionals [PODCAST]
-
How fee-for-service shapes your doctor’s decisions
-
How being “the problem” can make you a force for change
-
The testosterone surge: Are men chasing solutions or creating new risks?
-
How primary care could transform our health system [PODCAST]
-
Navigating Goodhart’s Law dilemma and the future of AI in medicine
-
