This past week, an unhinged man in Atlanta committed an atrocity. He went to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) with five guns and killed a policeman. He blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for making him depressed and suicidal, and it is reported that he had been reaching out for mental health assistance for weeks.
Since January 2022, I have been interacting with national experts on a clinical problem that has hit …
In recent years, kratom, a botanical herb indigenous to Southeast Asia, has surged in popularity across the United States.
Marketed aggressively online and sold openly in vape shops, convenience stores, and specialty herbal outlets, kratom is often portrayed as a natural remedy, an herbal escape from chronic pain, anxiety, and opioid withdrawal. But beneath the alluring veneer of wellness and relief lies a dangerous, largely unregulated substance capable of causing severe …
More than 78 million Americans rely on Medicaid or CHIP for their health care. Yet many still cannot access FDA-approved digital therapeutics because their state does not include them in covered benefits.
Prescription digital therapeutics (PDTs) are software-based treatments authorized by the FDA. They are delivered through smartphones or tablets and are used to manage conditions such as substance use disorder, ADHD, diabetes, and chronic insomnia. For people who face long …
In 1971, President Nixon initiated a battle that would reshape the United States: The War on Drugs. As a key part of that campaign, he enacted the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), which authorized the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to categorize modern-day controlled substances into 5 “schedules” based on their “medical use, potential for abuse, and safety or dependence liability.” They range from Schedule I, which are substances with no …
It is said that 57 percent of U.S. doctors receive drugmaker/industry funding and 66 percent of U.S. adults are now on prescription drugs. Any correlation?
Drug ads now cast such a wide “symptom net,” comedian Chris Rock said he expected to hear, “Do you fall asleep at night and wake up in the morning? You might be suffering from ….”
Here are six ways drugmakers hijack U.S. medicine
Diagnosing. Once upon a time …
As a health care professional, I’ve often observed how one critical aspect of medication safety and efficacy gets overlooked: food-drug interactions.
Every day, we prescribe and dispense powerful medications — but what patients eat alongside those medications can completely alter their effects.
This isn’t just a pharmacy concern. It’s a multidisciplinary issue that deserves greater attention from physicians, pharmacists, and patient educators.
The physician’s role: Asking the right questions
We often do a solid …
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Internal medicine and pediatric physician Charles LeBaron discusses his article “How the CDC’s opioid rules created a crisis for chronic pain patients.” Charles discusses the 2016 CDC opioid guideline, initially framed as …
The importance of diversity in clinical trials is well-documented, yet unfortunately the lack of diversity still occurs at an alarming rate. As a result, we continue to have less effective treatments, poorer health outcomes, one-size-fits-all medicine that falls short of many patients, and many more negative impacts on health care.
The reason for lack of diversity in clinical trials is similarly known, with language barriers, limited access to health care facilities …
As a health care writer and data analyst, I hear frequently from patients who are being denied safe and effective pain care due to unscientific bias on the part of U.S. health care agencies—and sometimes on the part of otherwise once-reputable medical journals. These are among millions of U.S. citizens who are now being deserted by the medical profession.
Thousands, overcome by their pain and depression, have already …
“Once it’s in your body, there’s no taking it back.”
That’s what the infusion nurse told a friend of mine after administering the injection.
She had just started a biologic medication for an autoimmune condition. Immediately, her body reacted: nausea, then hives, then a terrifying tightening of her throat. She rushed back to the clinic. The IV steroids and Benadryl may have stopped the immediate effects, …
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Surgeon and author Jeffrey A. Singer discusses his article “The FDA’s outdated prescription rules are failing women and opioid users.” He argues that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s requirement for prescriptions …
In a revealing snapshot of American mental health, the CDC recently reported that nearly 1 in 4 adults in the United States may be taking psychotropic medications. This staggering number should both draw attention and raise questions. Are we truly addressing the root causes of psychiatric illness, or are we sedating a nation in pain?
As a psychiatrist and internist who has worked at the intersection of …
An excerpt from Your Body, Your Health Care.
Tens of millions of American women—more than four out of five women who have had sexual intercourse—have used oral contraceptives, which are crucial for reducing unwanted pregnancies and the incidence of abortion. Obtaining a physician’s prescription can add up to $200 plus time and inconvenience to the cost of “the pill.” Nearly a third of American women who seek prescriptions for oral …
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Everyone seems so scared of the word government regulation when it comes to health care. Why? In part, this is because those against regulations (everyone making money off health care) make sure to scare laypeople into equating such action with socialism. Fear of concept is not a good argument against regulating monopolies that are bankrupting millions of Americans. Pretty sure most Americans would be happy to have limitations placed on …
The 340B drug discount program was enacted more than 30 years ago to lower the cost of medications so providers could deliver more comprehensive services for vulnerable patients. As care delivery has evolved greatly over that time, the program has not appropriately changed to match it and is no longer effectively meeting its original intent. The program’s rapid growth and misaligned incentives have led to a muddied, complex system with …
Across industries, artificial intelligence is revolutionizing how we approach innovation, and the life sciences and drug development sectors are no exception. This transformative technology is reshaping the way researchers discover and develop new products, particularly in the quest for groundbreaking treatments. While an AI-derived drug may feel like a distant reality, the integration of cutting-edge science, biomathematics, and computational power is accelerating the pace of discovery and testing. These advancements …
Starting January 1, 2025, the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan (MPPP) will give providers a powerful way to address one of the biggest barriers to effective care: cost-related medication nonadherence. With 54 million Medicare beneficiaries eligible, this program has the potential to improve adherence, reduce hospital readmissions, and ensure better health outcomes on a large scale. By helping patients access the program, providers can play a pivotal role in transforming patient …
If you think the labyrinth of U.S. government agencies and congressional subcommittees is complicated, be grateful you are not a pharmacy owner! Just to get your drugs reimbursed, you must navigate a river of upstream, midstream, and downstream suppliers, health plans and insurers, employers and other payers (including federal and state governments), rebate aggregators, “white and brown baggers,” and an alphabet soup of entities/concepts called things like PSAOs, GPOs, NADACs, …
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