When it comes to opiate drugs, like morphine, there is a bitter debate between patients who are in chronic pain, and the doctors who are vilified for under or over-prescribing these medications.
But there are some other subtle influences that push doctors to prescribe these drugs, in some cases inappropriately. An ER physician talks about the issue, saying, "when dealing with a patient who is in pain, or appears to ...
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The recent RECORD trial did not associate the diabetes drug Avandia with cardiovascular events.
Internist Matthew Mintz, a staunch defender of the drug, argues that because of the scare, "over 100,000 type 2 diabetic patients [needed] insulin, which could have been avoided."
Who's to blame? Dr. Mintz blames cardiologist Steven Nissen, whose questionable meta-analysis started the debacle, and The New England Journal of Medicine for fanning the flames. He ...
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Patients who are addicted to narcotic painkillers reveal methods to try and receive more drugs from an emergency room. In the interview, the patient admits calling 911 and feigning chest pain. Why?
What the caller, and only the caller, knows is that his chest is not throbbing in pain. Actually, his chest is fine. What he has done is just reserve his personal medical limousine for transport to the head of ...
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Zicam is becoming an example of the dangers of mass-marketing unproven homeopathic remedies.
As MedPage Today reports, the FDA has warned patients to stop using Zicam, as the product can lead to anosmia, or loss of the sense of smell.
This isn't a new claim, since, "In 2006, the company paid $12 million to settle 340 lawsuits brought by consumers who claimed the zinc nasal gel adversely affected their sense of ...
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Popular smoking cessation drugs Chantix and Zyban received black box warnings from the FDA, the strongest of its kind.
Chantix, in particular, is quite effective in helping patients to quit smoking, but has been dogged by instances of increased suicidality, especially in those already having a psychiatric diagnosis.
As this report in MedPage Today states, "Reports of behavioral changes, depressed mood, agitation, ...
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As predicted, the details surrounding the singer's death continue to get more bizarre.
Recent reports have stated that the powerful anesthetic Diprivan, generically known as propofol, was found in the singer's house. Apparently, according to a nurse, Jackson "was begging for the powerful sedative to help him get over insomnia."
There are zero circumstances where propofol should ever be used for ...
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The FDA has declared war on acetaminophen, with Vicodin and Percocet being collateral damage. You can bet Dr. Gregory House is sweatin' pretty hard over this news.
In the last few days, acetaminophen, otherwise known as the brand name Tylenol, has been squarely in the FDA advisory panel's crosshairs. In general, it's a very safe medication, but there is ...
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The potential link between a specific form of long-acting insulin, known as insulin glargine and branded as Lantus, and cancer, could be gaining momentum.
First off, let me say that both human and porcine insulin are safe, and have no association with cancer. The report specifically relates only to a synthetic, long acting form of insulin.
According to a series of ...
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I wrote back in February that one of the biggest threats to health reform was not from conservatives and the right, but from within President Obama's own party. Today, some four months later, the Washington Post reports that that's pretty much what's happening. In its report, the Post writes:
In the high-stakes battle over health care, a growing cadre of liberal activists is aiming its sharpest firepower against Democratic senators ...
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It seems that most industries are rushing to jump aboard the Twitter bandwagon.
That's true for most cases, with the pharmaceutical industry being the exception.
David Williams points out the lack of Twitter activity from the major pharmaceutical companies, where many of the Pharma-related keywords being owned by those not affiliated with the company.
Worse, when he looks at the Twitter names for the top 10 prescribed drugs, they're owned by ...
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"A comprehensive and extremely useful roadmap for doctors."
-Eric Topol, MD, author of The Creative Destruction of Medicine
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