My French medical school professor of bacteriology, Mme. le Professeur Jeanne Orfila, stood in front of her (our) class near tears. She was not the sort of woman who frequently fell into that state, so I vividly remember the day she told us this:
“Prescribe antibiotics carefully, and only when you have to. Every time you prescribe antibiotics, you are creating more and more bacteria who will “learn” to make themselves resistant to antibiotics. So they will work less well against human disease. Read more on How Many Deaths Will It Take?…
Filed under Alternative Medicine, medicine, News by on Nov 5th, 2019. Comment. 
“The whole world has ADHD.”
No, he was not a mental health practitioner speaking with us. He was a professional fund-raiser.
His sentiment, however, was one I had heard before, in other kinds of jargon. Read more on The Whole World Has ADHD …
Filed under Addictions, Diagnosis, Disease, Doctors, life, military, Substance Abuse by on Dec 23rd, 2017. Comment.
The lyrics start:
Filed under Alternative Medicine, Doctors, medicine, News, Research by on May 23rd, 2017. Comment.
While I was training in psychiatry 30 years ago, the field was changing around me. The older psychoanalysts were forced — reluctantly — to add prescription of psychotropics to their practices or else patients would never make it to their door. Of course, they had little to no training in pharmacology and less interest so they didn’t usually know what they were doing. While I was ascending in the ranks of psychiatric trainees, the best and the brightest of us were ushered into special training in pharmacology research. I was (and probably still am) about as idealist and apolitical an up-and-coming psychiatrist that anyone could have invented. Read more on The Politics of Drug Development…
Filed under politics, prescription drugs, Psychiatrists, Uncategorized by on May 20th, 2017. Comment.
I’ve got my outrage in motion and I’m blowing the whistle on one of the dirtiest tricks the big pharmaceutical companies play on us.
They have a technique called “Seeding Trials” that masquerade as drug testing (clinical trials) but are really nothing more than marketing surveys they can use to get around government regulations about promoting their drugs for alternative uses (also know as “off-label” uses).
But I’m printing this news in my private newsletter — not in my public blog.
The good news, you can read this for free. All you need to do is sign up for my free newsletter (that means “free of charge” as well as “Spam-Free”).
Just type your name and email address in that little box in the upper right hand corner of this page to opt-in. Of course, you can opt-out at any time also.
But I’m hoping that you find me so fascinating that you will continue to read.
The news I print in this blog is pretty general and the items in the newsletter are more personal and specific.
I think you will find it fascinating to see into the world of medicine, science, politics, government and even culture.
The newsletter will go out by email in a day or two … so please sign on now and take this journey with me. I promise to make it worth your time.
Take care and be happy!
Dr. G
Filed under Government, medicine, News, politics, prescription drugs by on Feb 27th, 2013. 1 Comment.
I was trying to remember when prescription drugs were allowed to advertise on television (called “Direct To Consumer Advertising, or DTCA”). Fortunately, I didn’t have to bust my memory cells – I just had to “Google it.”
1995. The year all HHHHell broke loose. At least if you were a doctor.
Suddenly, patients could make their own diagnoses and prescriptions and just phone the order in to their doctor. At least, that’s how most patients thought it should work. And – hoo boy! – were they upset when it wasn’t quite that easy.
Comedian Dennis Miller has a hilarious line: “I divide medical practitioners into two camps. Those who will give me a scrip for Vicodin over the phone, and those who won’t.”
Hilarious if you aren’t a doctor, that is. Read more on RX Package Insert — Just Read It!…
Filed under Diagnosis, medicine, News, prescription drugs by on Dec 1st, 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.
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?
Filed under prescription drugs by on Aug 14th, 2011. Comment.
Once 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…
Filed under big pharma by on Jul 20th, 2011. Comment.
One of my Frequently Asked Questions is “why do you hate prescription drugs so much?”
And the answer is, I DON’T. Not at all. I have used, and will continue to use, prescription drugs whenever they are the best treatment for an individual.
What I DO hate is the way they are mis-used, and the way some companies push their drugs for inappropriate purposes, or in dosages that are harmful when they could be helpful in (usually lower) doses. Read more on A Remarkable Medicine And Its Champion…
Filed under prescription drugs by on Apr 29th, 2011. Comment.