At least one aspect of the horrifying story from last year about contaminated steroid injections that killed 60-some people and sickened more than 700 may be coming to an end. As reported on AboutLawsuits.com, parties involved in the litigation against the New England Compounding Pharmacy (NECC), whose product was responsible for the outbreak of fungal….
Continue ReadingArchives for December 2013
The Costly Appeal of Alternative Medicine
In a review of the book “Do You Believe in Magic?” Temma Ehrenfield in the Weekly Standard writes that more than half of all Americans take vitamins; that they, and even people who don’t take them, generally believe they are harmless. But many studies, Ehrenfield says, show that high doses of vitamins can increase the….
Continue ReadingWhy People Turn to Celebrities for Health Advice
You love your car mechanic – he’s a genius who never fails to fix the flibberty gibbet on the frammus. You love your computer wonk – she’s a genius who never fails to retrieve your lost data and stop your email from crashing. But would you turn to either to help you resolve a health….
Continue ReadingHospital Chain Accused of Manipulating Data to Boost Rating
Hospital chain Prime Healthcare Services was highly rated by a reputable analytics service for the quality of its care. But, as described in a report by the Center for Investigative Reporting, (CIR) its profile might be less an accurate appraisal than a fictional goal. The California-based chain, says the CIR, “might be receiving five-star health….
Continue ReadingFeds Seek Scientific Info About the Safety and Effectiveness of Antibacterial Soap
Earlier this month, the FDA revisited the issue of growing resistance of microbes to antibiotics by announcing a plan to minimize their use in livestock. Last week, the federal agency continued to raise awareness of antibiotic resistance by requiring manufacturers of nonprescription antibacterial soap to prove that their products are safe for long-term daily use….
Continue ReadingBig Name in Big Pharma Ceases Its Unsavory Drug Payments
We’ve been among the many voices decrying the practice of pharmaceutical companies paying doctors to promote their drugs. Now, in a welcome announcement, GlaxoSmithKline says that it’s not going to grease those palms anymore. As reported by the New York Times, in addition to not paying doctors to hawk their wares, the Big Pharma big….
Continue ReadingTrendy Diagnosis of ADHD Is Bad Medicine
Earlier this month, the New York Times told a story, “The Selling of Attention Deficit Disorder,” about how diagnoses for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have boomed since the problem was accepted in recent decades as a true neurological problem in some children. How drugs such as Adderall and Concerta have become popular for helping….
Continue ReadingSuggested Reading — Medicare’s Wasteful Prescription Practices and Why Docs Prescribe Name-Brand Drugs
As the nation wrestles with a major health-care overhaul, one program whose implementation nearly 40 years ago also was greeted with doubt and concern has more than met expectations. Medicare is universally embraced, but as a recent series of stories by the investigative news site ProPublica concludes, Medicare’s prescription medicine practices are astonishingly wasteful because….
Continue ReadingFDA’s Weak Plan to Phase Out Routine Use of Antibiotics in Animals
The increasing resistance to antibiotics has long been in the news. So has the widespread practice of giving those meds to livestock not only to treat disease, but to speed growth. Last week, the FDA finally acknowledged that such business practices are a threat to public health, and announced that nonmedical use of antibiotics on….
Continue ReadingGood Intentions, but Not-So-Good Consequences in Using Unapproved Medical Devices for Rare Diseases
The humanitarian device exemption is a little-known regulation that permits certain medical devices to be used on patients without having undergone the research trials generally required for FDA approval. A recent story in the New York Times showed the potential benefits and pitfalls of giving treatment that hasn’t passed rigorous testing. The exemption program is….
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