The placebo effect is somewhat of a mystery in modern medicine. Wikipedia calls a placebo “a sham or simulated medical intervention.” Commonly, when we refer to a placebo we mean dummy-drugs, but the placebo effect has further applications in medicine, such as sham surgery or false information.
Now, a great video produced by an Australian journalist from the ABC Science Show has compiled …
Implications of the placebo effect for physicians
Comparative effectiveness research — investigations that determine which treatments are best — has attracted attention in the health care debate. Critics charge that these studies are designed to restrict choice. The Center for Medicine in the Public Interest released a report that suggested that they would stifle innovation. Often they are framed as studies to support efforts to keep useful but expensive …
Niaspan and how comparative effectiveness research was done well
In a thoughtful posting in the New York Times, Dr. Pauline Chen, a well respected observer of the doctor-patient relationship, points out an ethical dilemma that faces cancer researchers working in drug development conducting early phase (I) new drug studies. Ethicists have identified that patients in these studies often have unrealistic optimism about their personal outcomes despite …
Unrealistic optimism in early phase new drug studies
Stem cell therapies promise to be one of those scientific breakthroughs that will have an enormous impact on health care in the future.
Stem cells will bring us closer to the goal of personalized medicine, just as genomics is doing. The course of a disease will change once we have the technology to develop and then insert stem …
Stem cells will bring us closer to personalized medicine
Stem cells will usher in the era of regenerative medicine, allowing the creation of cells, tissues and organs to treat or cure diseases and injuries. This will be a fundamental alteration in our approach to medical care and a transformational medical megatrend. And it will be very “personalized medicine” to provide the specific individual with custom tailored new cells and tissues for organ repair or …
How stem cells will impact medical care
Omega-3 fatty acids (more properly called “n-3 fatty acids”) are a group of naturally occurring fat molecules.
They are found mainly in fish and other marine-derived oils, but some can also be extracted from plants. Omega-3′s are currently very popular, but the evidence for their usefulness isn’t so clear. A recent study failed to show any benefit in preventing dementia. A new study out …
Omega 3 fatty acids and the prevention of heart disease
Herpes zoster (or shingles) is caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox.
Zoster increases in incidence with advancing age. It is estimated that over 1 million Americans get shingles annually with the resulting acute discomfort and often chronic pain thereafter. A vaccine was introduced by Merck in 2006; the initial studies of 38,546 patients indicated …
Almost everyone over the age of 60 should receive the zoster vaccine
Holy crap.
My medication did not arrive today.
How can this possible be happening? Do they not know this medication is not optional?
Let me recap. I called over a week ago for a refill. I am only allowed (by my insurance) to use the (non-local) specialty pharmacy that they own for this medication. They told me my medication would arrive yesterday, which was the day after I’d use my last …
How a specialty pharmacy denies a physician his medication
Genomics promises to fundamentally change much of medical care. But the ultimate value of this new understanding of basic human biology will in many cases come with fits and starts. The saga of belimumab (Benlysta) and Human Genome Sciences (HGS) is illustrative.
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) occurs in somewhere between 300,000 and 4 million Americans according to the …
Belimumab (Benlysta) to treat systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)
Actually I’ll take a Ford Shelby GT500 Convertible, thank you very much …
Today’s stream of socially conscious thinking comes to you after having feasted on a tasty lunch paid for by a drug company (and no, it wasn’t Pfizer).
It has spurred me to contemplate the ever increasing scrutiny paid to the relationship between the pharmaceutical industry …
Lunch money Pharma spends on physicians
The Douglas County Health Department in Omaha, Neb., responded to a 26-person outbreak of pertussis from Sept. 26 to Nov. 21, 2008. Afterward, the department and the CDC assessed the total cost in time and personnel of the response.
“The elevated incidence of pertussis and the burden of response placed on health departments warrants exploring the impact of alternative response and …
The best way to control a pertussis outbreak is to vaccinate
There’s been a lot of talk in the past year about how we need to re-think the role and profile of the pharmaceutical/biotech sales rep.
This dialogue needs to happen, given the trends that are rapidly shrinking the size of sales forces. Of course, when you poll the doctors, they are going to focus on the need for greater depth of clinical knowledge. …
How business will affect pharmaceutical reps
The Wall Street Journal reported that a study of prescription patterns in 2009, conducted by IMS Health, showed that 25% of children in the US were on regular medication.
IMS Health is a firm that provides “marketing intelligence” to pharmaceutical companies. The firm’s job is to keep the $800 billion per year global pharmaceutical industry on a continued pattern of growth. Hopefully these consultants accomplished something quite different this week. Hopefully they …
One in four children in the United States are on chronic medications
ADVERTISEMENT
Little more than a decade ago, most people had never heard of the word genomics; today it is used frequently. It is indeed a revolutionary science that is and will transform medical research and medical care. To better understand how this new science will markedly change medicine, it is convenient to consider it through a few categories:
How genomics can help doctors target drug therapy
Content drives conversations. Conversation engages your customers.
Engaging with people is how your company will survive and thrive in this newly social world. In other words, online content is a powerful envoy for your business, with an ability to stir up interest, further engagement, and invite connections. Why hasn’t the healthcare industry focused more on better content that drives engagement and creates trust?
Creating and sharing relevant, valuable information that attracts people …
Creating and sharing great content builds authority for your brand
Pharmaceuticals are amazing stuff. You can bitch and moan about their costs, side effects, or the number of them you’re taking, but what they’ve done to extend life and improve its quality is truly remarkable.
And for all the bad raps they get, I salute the pharmaceutical industry, and those who work anonymously in labs around the world, to bring us these miracles.
But …
The trend from drugs of value to medications of convenience
by Patrick Fitzgerald, MPH
Health advocacy organizations (HAOs) are typically organizations of prominent, trusted stakeholders who conduct campaigns to promote disease awareness, update members to new diagnostic tests and drugs, facilitate physician referrals, deliver health care services, and advocate for policies believed to be in their member’s best interest.
They range in size from national organizations with many thousands of members focused on widespread disease to smaller …
Health advocacy organizations and the lack of transparency
A vaccination policy statement released by the American Academy of Pediatrics has already drawn fire from a number of anti-vaccine groups, specifically for its endorsement of vaccination against HPV infection in boys.
First, let’s examine exactly what the AAP added to its guidelines regarding the HPV4 and HPV2 vaccines: “HPV4 may be administered in a 3-dose series …
Myths about the HPV vaccine for boys
Beth wrote, “I plan on having my daughter vaccinated against HPV when she’s the right age (which is what by the way?). Recently, some friends were saying they were planning to have their sons receive the vaccine as well because although males obviously don’t get cervical cancer, they can spread HPV and put their future partners …
Should the HPV vaccine be given to boys?
Many people believe that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States approves uses of drugs. It does not.
This confusion comes from insufficient clarity of language.
The FDA does approve whether or not a prescription drug can be manufactured, marketed, and sold, the language on the label, and the claims of advertising.
Drug manufacturers must use an elaborate, detailed, lengthy, and very …
The FDA does not approve the uses of drugs
Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.
