Never heard of this one until now. Some big companies are setting up their own drug companies.
Not a bad idea. Read more on Big Business Takes Healthcare Into Their Own Hands…
Filed under Government, Healthcare reform, medicine, News by on Feb 8th, 2018. Comment. 
Trump’s Just Say No Campaign
Patients often try to discuss politics with me and I always avoid it the best I can.
I don’t care what folks believe, for here in the U-S-of-A I will not stop believing that every one of us has the right to choose. I try to tell them I am about as apolitical a human as they are going to find.
Should they want to push me into a corner and find out if I am “left” or “right,” I try to convince them that I grew up in Boston and so am “fairly liberal,” or remind them I am a veteran of the United States Army Medical Corps, which is usually enough to make me pass for “conservative.” Read more on Reviving The Failed “Just Say No” Drug Campaign…
Filed under Government, News, politics by on Nov 3rd, 2017. Comment.
Blue Cross of Georgia does not always want to pay for people’s visits to the emergency room. The question, clearly is what they pay for and what they do not. To a certain extent, there are alternatives now that folks saw rarely if at all in the past.
Alternatives like urgent care. In the trade we call it a “doc in a box.” Long waits are not uncommon — it is generally one doctor present at a time, with many nurses and technicians who have enough time to at least have an authentic — if brief — interpersonal relationship with the patient. Sometimes people get wheeled into such places. By definition, patients are usually ambulatory in a “walk-in clinic.” I have worked in such places that specialized in psychiatry, where you could see pretty much anything, although prescription refills were clearly dominant. Read more on Avoiding Emergencies In Georgia…
Filed under Doctors, Government, News by on Jun 16th, 2017. Comment.
I value those behind-the-scenes programs on TV, especially when they warn you of dangers that you may never know. Here is a little behind-the-scenes story that you will really want to read because it might involve you! One of my chief interests in making sure patients are not only treated properly but that all the safeguards and protections are observed.
Filed under Doctors, Government, Healthcare reform, News by on Jun 15th, 2017. Comment.
By now I think folks on the business management level of health care are at least aware that we Americans spend a lot of money on health care and seem to get very little in return. The author of a provocative piece in Forbes thinks “unnecessary health care” is our worst problem. This statement hit me broadside. This does seem pretty true for the example she chose, even though it is decidedly outside of my field.
As far as I can figure, this sort of planned emergency delivery she talks about brings nothing to obstetric science or to the quality of human life whatsoever. Around the net, I see estimates of how much of what we do is actually science. It usually comes out as about 50 or 60%; maybe a little over half. This is happening as part of what seems to be a massive drive towards EBM, known as “Evidence Based Medicine.”
Filed under Government, Healthcare reform, News, Psychiatrists by on Jun 12th, 2017. Comment.
Too many Americans can’t afford to and simply do not–take their medicines as prescribed. That estimate is based on information from the (American!) Centers for Disease Control). I have had patients come into my office who take their medications –in both cases, for life-threatening infectious diseases — only every other day, simply because that is all they can afford. I explained to each one individually the idea of the half-life of a drug. They only stay in your body for a certain length of time, then they leave your body in waste products. That is why taking a drug every other day is not really effective. They both gave me almost exactly the same response — It was all they could afford, and it was probably better than nothing. Read more on Big Pharma Is Capitalism Out Of Control…
Filed under Alternative Medicine, Diagnosis, Disease, Doctors, Education, Government, Hepatitis C, medicine, News, politics, prescription drugs, Psychiatrists, Psychotherapy by on May 29th, 2017. Comment.
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.
Filed under Addictions, Alternative Medicine, big pharma, FDA, Government, News, prescription drugs, Substance Abuse by on May 25th, 2017. Comment.
I have been in screaming and crying mode since this morning. When I got started, I wanted to look up more info about veterans to help out my beloved veterans who have told me that they are having hard times getting enough benefits to survive. I’m sure you read or have heard of by now about the story from the LA Times. Trying to figure out what happened is tough. But it seems that about a decade ago, someone offered the California National Guard monetary rewards of ten thousand dollars and up for re-enlisting, which they took. I don’t think anyone can blame them for that. Read more on Can being a veteran (or soldier) get any worse?…
Filed under Family, Government, military, News, politics, Society, war by on Oct 25th, 2016. Comment.
As a proud veteran of the US Army, I fought tears as I read how the pain of our combat veterans has been manipulated by war profiteers. I put on that green uniform and I swore to put my life on the line. I became a lifetime member of the Jewish War Veterans and the co-surgeon general for the Jewish war veterans and I tried, really tried, to make things better for the troops.
Read more on Veterans are getting screwed more than you or I knew….
Filed under Government, military, News, politics by on Oct 16th, 2016. 2 Comments.
I remember, several years ago, going to a national drug development meeting; the first time I had been at such a meeting, with drug company folks from the highest national levels. I remember how excited I was. Maybe someone could develop an antipsychotic that really could escape all those neuromuscular side effects. Maybe they had new things that were more powerful than antibiotics, which I already knew were not working as well as they ought to. I remember, with characteristic naivete, that it felt impossible to find anyone with whom I could discuss the pharmacology that so impassioned me, for the “big” drug guys seemed to be more interested in the business and politics of the thing. Read more on Could Fish Oil Prevent Schizophrenia?…
Filed under Alternative Medicine, FDA, Government, medicine, News, politics by on Sep 26th, 2016. Comment.