I was chatting with an M.D. woman friend, and told her my medications and my natural supplements and herbs and my “numbers” — my blood sugar and my blood pressure — when I still was convinced that I had those things.
My blood sugar was 120 mg/dL. My blood pressure with medications was around 140/85.
She surprised me with her reaction. Read more on What The Heck Has Happened To Medicine?…
Okay, so my Continuing Medical Education Provider gave me every imaginable disclaimer on this one.
Abstracts at a meeting, so the demands were not as rigorous as for published articles. There could be confounding factors. A British study; maybe they aren’t wired the same way us yanks are. People who take a nap of at least a half hour during the day have lower blood pressure 4 mm. lower 24 hr. average systolic than folks who don’t. Espresso, on the other hand, raises blood pressure. This study was done on Italians. Are they wired like us? Drinking enough espresso may also be increasing the incidence of type 2 diabetes, by some kind of an effect on long term glucose (sugar) metabolism. Read more on Helpful Hints From A Former Caffeine Fiend…
“There’s no such thing as a free lunch” – but there are plenty of free samples when you go to your doctor’s office for a prescription.
Be wary of free samples.
What? Am I asking you to look a gift pill in the mouth? Drugs are expensive, even the co-pay for drugs can be expensive. What’s wrong with getting a freebie?
First, the drug companies that make them do not give them out forever. Usually, they give out samples on a newer drug as part of a launch – kinda like a “grand opening” at a store. The prices are really great that first week and it gets you trained to go to that store.
Another reason drug companies discontinue free samples is that, very often, the insurance companies or government programs may not have them on the “formulary” (the list of available drugs) right away. As soon as the relevant insurance (mediCal in California) starts paying for them, you can say “Bye-bye” to free samples. Read more on Free Samples Might Carry Heavy Cost — Health…
Filed under Doctors, medicine, News by on Dec 7th, 2011. Comment. 
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.
In 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.
Filed under big pharma by on Nov 22nd, 2011. Comment.