I used to really enjoy going to the kind of tiny circuses that tour the small towns in rural areas. Much of my adult life has been as a wandering gypsy doctor through such areas and it seems that many of the little towns had little to offer and went wild when the circus came to town – no matter how modest the offerings were.
Of course I had experience with the really big shows. When I was a kid my folks took me once to the Greatest Show On Earth — Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey — where I think now the plethora of amusements in three rings is probably best suited for those who really enjoy their attention deficit disorder.
But it was in a tiny field in France by a beach on the English Channel that I saw a lovely one ring circus. I was most impressed with the lion tamer — a person of African descent, large and muscled and handsome — but I was close enough to see each time he put his head in the lion’s mouth, and he did it multiple times.
The old, indifferent lion had no teeth, but the effect was still thrilling.
The image was vivid, and I have not thought of it for many years.
I think of it when I hear talk about the Food and Drug administration (FDA).
The FDA has no teeth, and as you can tell from the interview below, is simply
Read more on FDA: A Toothless Old Lion…
Filed under FDA by on Apr 20th, 2013. Comment. 
Warning: Daily use of aspirin can lead to side effects which may include total loss of impulse control, man boobs, toe hair, and third nipples. Please consult your doctor before taking this and other over the counter medicine.
Well, not really. But your really should know the risks and benefits of anything you take, even if it’s over the counter, even if it’s aspirin. I have an early memory, and I cannot have been beyond high school or early college, for I was still going to Friday night services with my Parents-of-Blessed-Memory. My father would not let me in the choir with the other retired senior types with weak voices; but, it seemed to amuse him to no end when I out sang them and the cantor from the congregation. The cantor had some kind of a congenital dislocation of the hip and some kind of back pain and I don’t know what else. My parents had discouraged my still premature medical curiosity and told me not to ask him. Read more on To Aspirin or Not To Aspirin; That Is the Question…
Well, it turns out there aren’t really gators in Gatorade. The drink was named as such because a University of Florida coach – team name Gators – worked with a researcher to find a way to replenish fluids in his heat exhausted, wilting athletes. And Gatorade was born. Read more on What’s In Gatorade? Gators?…
Filed under News, Research, Sports, Stimulants by on Dec 24th, 2012. Comment.
I’ve got to admit, I must have already been living in the world of alternative medicine by the time the FDA approved Xyrem. As far as I can figure, it’s exactly the same as the street drug GHB. Us pharmacology types call this gamma hydroxybutyric acid. In a stable salt form that people can take as a prescription drug, it can also be called sodium oxybate. Among other sets of cognoscenti with whom I would usually not hang out — read “on the street” — it is known as various other things that those initials can stand for such as “Georgia Home Boy” or “Grievous Bodily Harm,” a lovely term from old British law. There have been a couple of high profile American cases where Xyrem was used as a date-rape drug. The FDA has warned against taking dietary supplements that contain it. It’s the very same chemical as GHB. It is also an FDA approved prescription drug. Read more on Topic: Xyrem and Doctors…
Filed under medicine, politics, prescription drugs by on Dec 8th, 2012. Comment.
Maybe the folks who continue to argue against stem cell research are just afraid their own stem cells could beat them at a game of checkers.
Listen, I want to live forever. Not like in the song “Fame,” but like in the way that most of us would do anything to live. Or like the guy who had to leave the country to get life-saving treatment for cancer of the trachea. Now he is alive when everyone thought he wouldn’t be. It’s a treatment he couldn’t get in the States. In the States, stem cell benefits are masked by misinformation and fear.
Okay, so I had a metabolic disease that threw me into a coma and nearly killed me a few times. But here I am to talk about it. I think about it every blessed day and I find myself grateful to this universal intelligence. Yes, I am a theist. But I still live in a personal world where I would do anything to live. Read more on Stem Cell Benefits Masked By Fear and Misinformation…
Filed under Alternative Medicine, Diagnosis, Disease, Religion, Religion and Politics, Research, Science, Stem Cells by on Aug 17th, 2012. Comment.
To paraphrase some recent political campaigns, the FDA was against Qnexa before they were for it.
I’ve written about this diet drug compound before – HERE And HERE.
Last time I wrote about this “drug,” I thought it was down for the count. Aauugghh!!!!
Like a scene from “Night Of The Living Diet Drugs” – it is back from the grave.
You bet your life! (Literally if you take this) – our protective government watchdogs at the FDA originally said this was too dangerous to unleash on the public. Then – as the politicians say – they did a “Flip Flop.” This No-Vowel remedy QNEXA (ok, it has a couple of vowels, but not enough) is not actually a drug – it is a combination of two drugs.
This is of course, the cheapest way to get a new product on the market and eliminate R&D costs as well as testing for safety and efficacy. The company takes two separate FDA-approved agents and combines – kind of like making Frankenstein out of left-over body parts.
(This is turning into a Halloween column, isn’t it? Sorry.) Read more on They’re Ba-a-a-a-ck!!! Zombie Diet Drugs!!!…
Filed under eating disorders, medicine, News, Nutrition, prescription drugs, weight by on Feb 28th, 2012. 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.
Read more on Getting Away With Murder — Cheaply…
Filed under big pharma by on Nov 22nd, 2011. Comment.
Why would a pharmaceutical manufacturer want to change a drug from prescription to over the counter (OTC)?
Well, one thing I’ve learned in my lifetime is – When the Question is “WHY?” then the answer is “MONEY.”
In this case, the most obvious reason is more money for pharmaceutical companies. I certainly cannot think of anything — I mean any way shape or form — that can benefit patients.
Oh, sure – in our economically-ignorant country, many people think – “Whee! I can buy any drug I want without spending money on a doctor’s appointment and without having to get a prescription! ”
These people are prime candidates for the Darwin Awards.
Yes, believe it or not, the “RX to OTC Switch” can actually HURT patients.
Drug patents expire relatively quickly, competitors are waiting at the gates with generic equivalents, and when a drug becomes OTC, there is a chance that insurance does not cover it.
This makes insurance companies and government programs (Medicare, Medicaid/Medi-Cal, etc.) very happy. They are so strapped for cash that even paying for a cheaper generic is a strain on the budget. When this kind of money is involved, you can bet that lobbyists are pressuring the government to ease their restrictions so that drugs once considered risky enough to warrant a prescription so that not just anybody can have access will be available to anyone who can walk into a drug store or click on a shopping cart on the web.
Patients will have to pay for OTC meds in cash money and doctors usually do not bother prescribing an equivalent drug. If they do not already know of an equivalent, they will probably — and generally do — just tell a patient to go buy it over the counter.
A patient who cannot afford the drug will go off it.
OK – so what’s the big deal if a cold medicine, allergy remedy or hair-restoring pill is no longer a prescription drug?
Read more on When Prescription Drugs Go Over-The-Counter…
Filed under prescription drugs by on Aug 14th, 2011. Comment.
Who should be worried about bath salts abuse?
I mean, what’s the worst that could happen? You should start smelling great? Believe me, I’ve had some people in my office that could use some abusive bathing.
But on a serious note, there have been some street drugs that are sold as bath salts and those can cause a lot of problems.
As far as the FDA is concerned, soap, bath oil, and legitimate bath salts aren’t regulated. As for the Fair Trade Commission, there are some labeling requirements for products that make a claim (such as moisturizing the skin).
But the bath salts that have the feds worried now are a legal high – and they want to make all “highs” illegal. Read more on Stimulating Bath Salts — Avoid At All Costs…
Filed under depression, News, Stimulants by on May 3rd, 2011. Comment.
My psychopharmacology preceptor told me a long time ago that the best and most efficient way to know what is happening in pharmacology is to check out the business news. He was right.
I want to applaud the FDA for doing something perhaps a bit audacious, surely without precedent, but something I consider correct and appropriate.
They declined acceptance of Contrave, a pill for obesity, and requested a longer term and larger study.Bravo. It’s rare that I give the FDA a “standing O.” The folks at Orexigen pharmaceuticals concocted Contrave — an amalgam of 400mg. of Wellbutrin sustained release and a couple of different doses of naltrexone, 48 and 16 mg. Here is the clinical trials record if you are interested. Read more on Prescription Diet Drug Makes Food Taste Horrible…
Filed under News, prescription drugs, weight by on Mar 29th, 2011. Comment.