big pharma

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Okay, those lovable folks at Purdue Pharmaceutical decided to claim that Oxycontin, one of the favorite drugs at least of the street addicts I have seen and treated at an addiction center, is less “addictive” and less “abusable” than similar drugs.

Read more on Can’t They Sell Enough Oxycontin?…

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I was poking around, looking for what is brewing in psychopharmacology; a field I am no longer particularly proud I spent a lot of time studying and working in.  Strange, or maybe not so strange, that I’ve met both of the principals allegedly involved in this pharmacological ghostwriting scandal.

Ghost WriterI saw Dr. Schatzberg when he led various sessions at a large professional meeting on the coast.  My main memory of him is that he looked tired, maybe even a bit depressed.  I was told I had to write a lot of articles and do a lot of research projects, so maybe someday when I grew up I could do this kind of work.  I was told, often and a lot, that I had plenty enough neurons, so it would only take work, and a lot of it.  Dr. Nemeroff actually came to Kansas between visits to the coasts.  He was friends with my preceptor in psychopharmacology.  He came to speak at our grand rounds, where we were awe struck by the large amount of patients seen, as well as the large amount of numbers and lovely statistics.

Read more on Who Knows Who Writes This Stuff?…

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This is one of those stories that I find very difficult to write. My anger is great and clouds my mind. Yet if I do not, there may be some kind of eruption – tears, shouts, or pounding on the wall.

The headline in the Philadelphia Inquirer read, “4 ex-pharma execs face possible jail time.”

“Possible” jail time? This is murder.

Operating TableIn brief:

Synthes received FDA approval bone cement for use only to fill bony voids or defects in some parts of the body, but not in the spine.

In 2003 and 2004, the company is accused of having its representative train surgeons to use this cement for the very thing they were forbidden by the government to do.

For those who don’t know, many surgeries are performed by people who aren’t technically allowed to practice medicine.  A lot of times, people who didn’t complete medical school or people who have had their medical licenses taken away for various disciplinary reasons can get employment with a manufacturer of pharmaceuticals or medical appliances (like replacement hip joints) and will train doctors on how to utilize these new products.

This isn’t widely discussed and is shady, at best. It’s probably criminal, but that’s another column.

Synthes executives are charged with conducting illegal clinical trials in which 200 patients were treated for ways not approved by the FDA.

Of those 200, three died.

Read more on Getting Away With Murder — Cheaply…

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Doctor Woman Eating Red AppleOnce my husband found one of those funny videos that is called “Viral” because of the way it spreads across the internet like wildfire.  This one was an episode of a 1950s game show.

Like many shows of the era, it had a sponsor’s name and logo prominently displayed in every camera shot – the backdrop of the set where the panel sat and I think even the desk fronts of the panelists.  The sponsor was Raleigh cigarettes.

The show had made the rounds of the video sites because it was so hilariously biased.  The simple quiz format always yielded the same answer –

“What is the capital of North Carolina?” Read more on Infiltrating Medical School and Continuing Education…

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The idea of science attempting to study or explain the interaction between doctors and drug reps seems strange.

Beauty Queens Make Lovely Pharmaceutical Reps

Doctors seem receptive to beautiful sales reps

So I checked out the original article that had been reviewed as objective science. I put it all together.  I decided that none of the studies that were slopped together to make this meta-study were going to impress me.  I can’t remember seeing anything that looked scientific as I poked around.  We are talking about “naturalistic” studies here. Doctors really don’t seem to want to believe that anyone can control their thinking. Some might get contrarian and avoid prescribing things that are too aggressively presented.  Maybe others do succumb. The idea that the drug reps bring a lecturer and somehow useful information might be exchanged is idealistic at best. Let us switch from science to reality. I remember the muscled male French drug reps they sent to me in the hospital.  I remember when the dean of the medical school married a gorgeous female drug rep — a sort of midlife-change direction marriage — leaving behind someone who had once been described to me as a barracuda like entity. Read more on Influence Of Drug Reps On Physician’s Prescribing Habits…

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She was an administrative type, accompanying me to a meeting to which I did not particularly want to go.  I had told her about some particularly useless drugs that had been FDA approved since I don’t remember when, and she asked me the question that covered everything.

“Why doesn’t the FDA work?” Read more on Estelle On Why The FDA Is Screwed Up…

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Rarely do I see a poll or study that lines up so perfectly with what patients tell me as this study showing that plenty of women have no interest in sex. Whatever creator you believe in, with a seemingly infinite sense of humor, has given males a sexual response that sometimes looks or sounds like little more than a simple spinal cord reflex.

Although I will admit that I am sometimes a bit surprised at what the cues are, there seems to often be something unlikely that provokes the pleasure response pretty directly. Two of the strangest – and yet most common – things men tell me that are “turn-ons” are seeing a woman’s fingers with deep red fingernail polish resting on her blue-jeans leg warmers; and watching a woman bend over to fix the sink (yes – fully clothed). Read more on Lack Of Female Desire? Throw A Pill At It!…

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I used to be the darling of the pharmaceutical industry.  They gave me contracts to test their new drugs.  They hired me to travel the country and speak at meetings of medical groups. I don’t think their current opinion is quite so flattering.  I’m often asked, “Why do you hate prescription drugs? Why are you against drug companies?”  And the answer is, “I’m NOT!”  I strongly believe in using prescription drugs made by legitimate pharmaceutical companies in certain cases.  In fact, I insist on it.  If a patient who is aware of my facility in using natural treatments could do better with a prescription, that’s what I advise. If they refuse, I may decide to work with them on a second-best treatment, if it doesn’t run risk of serious illness or death. Otherwise, I tell them to find somebody else to give them natural treatments. I won’t risk their health or life.  What I oppose is the politics involved with pharmaceutical companies and some of the things they have done. Read more on Why Big Pharma Gets A Bad Reputation…

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Before you read this, I want to warn you – at any moment, I can veer off into an emotional rant.  And after you read this, you should be outraged, also.

There is a prescription form of Omega-3 fish oil being marketed by a major pharmaceutical company. It costs about seven times more than the same amount of Omega-3 fish oil you can buy as a dietary supplement.

Omega-3 HookIf I had no other reason to dislike “Big Pharma” this would suffice.  Everything I learn about pharmaceutical companies makes me think less of them. They are stealing our effective and useful natural substances without adequate science, creating patentable molecules, and making more money than any of us can imagine off human suffering and death. Read more on Fish Oil For $100 A Pill…

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I have assisted several people in changing gender. Most of them have been middle-aged. To me, it is simply a sort of birth defect.  Sometimes the chromosomal sex does not match the brain for a variety of very specific reasons, some of which we know something about, some of which we do not.
Milton Berle In Drag

Milton Berle In Drag

I am now far less involved with these folks.  Not that I do not venerate them and respect their struggle.  Rather, the condition of being a person requiring transgendering is so mainstream, that plenty of types of medical insurance pay for this.

Then again, several do not.  In fact, I had two patients in one year who worked for a major international conglomorate, and the sexual reassignment surgery was covered by their company benefits.  Let’s see if Obamacare is going to take that into consideration.

Read more on Sex Changes Are Confusing Enough When You Have Accurate Information…

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