Medications

Ensuring medication safety: a shocking incident that exposed a dangerous flaw

Meds
June 28, 2023

At six-week intervals, I replenish my supply of omeprazole. Initially, I took it for symptomatic relief of GERD, becoming symptomatic again within a week or two during periodic self-directed suspensions. An esophagogastroduodenoscopy, done for another reason, disclosed Barrett’s esophagus, shifting that daily pill of personal comfort to a more essential intervention. It falls within several Gastroenterology Society recommendations as a component of later malignancy prevention. My weekly pill case, set …

Read more…

How misused terminology and biased studies may be misguiding our understanding of opioid addiction and mortality

Conditions
May 23, 2023

As a health care writer and policy analyst, I frequently encounter the term “risk” in discussions of medical issues. I also frequently see the term grossly misused in both the popular press and medical literature. Nowhere is this more evident than in the 2016 and 2022 CDC Guidelines for the prescription of opioids in the treatment of pain.

In science, the term “incidence” is a measure of the likelihood …

Read more…

Is FDA-approved Veozah a game-changer in menopause hot flash treatment?

KevinMD
May 12, 2023

The medical world is buzzing following the FDA’s green light for Veozah. This is a one-of-a-kind, non-hormonal drug designed to tackle hot flashes in menopausal women. It brings fresh hope to countless women in the U.S. who’ve been grappling with these troublesome symptoms.

Around 80 percent of menopausal women suffer from hot flashes, which bring sudden spells of sweating, flushing, and chills. This unpleasant condition is caused by a glitch …

Read more…

The real story of Xylazine contamination in street fentanyl and how we can manage it

Meds
May 9, 2023

Have you heard the news?

“Flesh-eating ‘zombie’ drug ‘kills you from the inside out,'” headlines a CNN article.

“Tacoma market busted for selling ‘zombie’ drug,” barks out a Seattle-area news affiliate.

” Zombie drugs? Florida man stabs couple, eats dead man’s face in ‘random’ attack,” shouts a Syracuse news outlet.

Surely by now, you have heard chilling stories about …

Read more…

Not treating addiction in criminal justice settings violates the 4 ethical principles in medicine

Physician
May 4, 2023

As physicians, we are bound by four ethical principles. Beneficence (acting for the benefit of the patient), nonmaleficence (avoiding the harm of the patient), autonomy (respecting patients’ right to make their own decisions), and justice (fair and equitable treatment of patients). When people think of the ethical principles that guide physicians, “First, do no harm” comes to mind.

Unfortunately, our medical system in the United States is violating all four …

Read more…

The rise and dark side of fungi: Exploring health benefits and pathogenic threats

Meds
April 15, 2023

Fungi have a well-deserved surge in popularity. More mushroom varieties have found their way to grocery store shelves, shopping lists, and food blogs. Mushroom foraging is a trending activity as people endeavor to connect to nature. There is a growing market of mushroom coffee shops touting health-related boosts and “medicinal fungi” being sold as herbal teas and supplements. Innovative products have hit the market, from …

Read more…

Advocacy and collaboration lead to major patient safety benefits on sterile pharmaceutical compounding: a review of USP’s revisions to Chapter <797>

Meds
April 10, 2023

In November 2022, revisions to the United States Pharmacopeia’s (USP) General Chapter <797>, a standard for sterile pharmaceutical compounding – defined as the process of “combining, admixing, diluting, pooling, reconstituting, repackaging, or otherwise altering a drug product or bulk drug substance to create a sterile medication” – were published. USP <797> plays a major role in guiding …

Read more…

Is personalized medicine worth the cost? [PODCAST]

Podcast
April 8, 2023
YouTube video

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes!

In this episode, we discuss personalized medicine with guest Ketan Desai, a physician-executive. We explore how Henry Ford’s mass production method influenced the pharmaceutical industry, and how personalized medicine presents new challenges. CAR T-cell therapy is an …

Read more…

Counterfeit drugs: a hidden danger lurking in your medicine cabinet

Meds
April 1, 2023

The timing of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration’s One Pill Can Kill campaign is crucial, considering the recent Carrollton teen tragedy in which Fentanyl-laced pills posing as oxycodone were distributed through a “juvenile dealer” to high school students who then sold the deadly drugs to high school and middle school students. Commenting on the dramatic increase in drugs laced with Fentanyl in North Texas, Nexus Recovery Center’s …

Read more…

Telemedicine in the opioid crisis: a game-changer threatened by DEA regulations

Meds
March 27, 2023

In March 2020, I was directing a federally qualified health center in rural New Mexico when the first flashover of COVID ripped through the state. In two days, the clinics transitioned from an entirely in-person model to a near-total remote model. The transformation was raw and unplanned, trialing mediocre communications platforms in real-time and stumbling through the vagaries of electronic prescribing. As we got our feet under us, unexpected upsides …

Read more…

An inside look at the orphan drug revolution [PODCAST]

Podcast
March 11, 2023
YouTube video

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes!

Join us as we explore the history and evolution of the orphan drug revolution with James Geraghty, a health care executive. Discover how the pharmaceutical industry of the 1970s, driven by a pursuit of predictable profitability, led …

Read more…

Why North American medical cannabis can’t compete globally

Meds
February 5, 2023

The United States and Canada started a movement that began as medical cannabis and quickly exploded into adult-use cannabis markets. However, the North American operators failed to properly regulate the processes from growing to manufacturing to compete in a global pharmaceutical-level market. Europe has taken the lead as the heavy-weight producer of truly medical-grade pharmaceutical cannabis flowers and products. Notably, many operators in the U.S. and Canada claim to produce …

Read more…

Pain management beyond prescription pills [PODCAST]

Podcast
January 31, 2023
YouTube video

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes!

In this episode, we welcome Cindy Perlin, a licensed clinical social worker and chronic pain survivor, to discuss the ongoing issue of prescription painkiller abuse and the dangers of relying on medication to treat pain. Research shows …

Read more…

ADVERTISEMENT

The dark side of cannabis: increased risk of psychosis

Conditions
January 31, 2023

Psychosis is a broad term that describes a change in the perception of reality. It can be caused by various conditions, including metabolic, psychiatric, neurologic, genetic, and other medical conditions, as well as licit and illicit substances, particularly cannabis. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) states that abnormalities define these disorders in one or more of the following five domains: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking (speech), …

Read more…

A rush to judgment on acetaminophen?

Meds
December 6, 2022

Less than a year ago, a position paper/meta-analysis was published whose authors concluded that the pain reliever acetaminophen, and products containing this compound, were contraindicated in pregnancy as they could result in premature or stillborn births or developmental defects. Earlier studies appeared more positive and resulted in recommendations for its use by professional and governmental organizations. The present authors acknowledged this disjunction and made both the routine recommendations for further …

Read more…

Think twice before prescribing opioids as a first-line treatment for pain

Meds
November 22, 2022

Everyone knows the terrible toll the opioid epidemic takes on our society. It doesn’t matter where you live and how wealthy or educated you are, no one is immune. I watched as a colleague tried to help a child struggling with addiction, spending countless hours of worry and thousands of dollars, only to have the child succumb to an accidental opioid overdose. The emotional and financial cost on individuals and …

Read more…

Integrated care is the key to optimizing cancer outcomes

Meds
November 16, 2022

The American Cancer Society released its annual report on cancer statistics, showing that we have made clear and significant progress in treating numerous forms of cancer. The overall rate of death has declined steadily since 1991, translating to over 3 million lives saved.

Despite this progress, I still see room for improvement in a care model where patients too often slip through the cracks.

The National Cancer Institute identified that …

Read more…

How to swallow a pill

Meds
November 11, 2022

You’ve been swallowing things your entire life: breast milk (or formula), food––maybe a marble or small Lego. But did you know that swallowing pills is different?

Let’s start with how not to swallow a pill.

Sorry, but Bruce Willis in all five Die Hard movies is incorrect. You don’t just take a small handful of aspirin, toss them into your mouth, and jerk your head back while swallowing.

Not to mention, if you have …

Read more…

15
pages