April 1st, 2010 by David Kroll, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, News, Opinion, Research, True Stories
Tags: Cimetidine, Father of Analytical Pharmacology, Medicinal Chemists, Nobel Prize for Medicine, Pharmaceutical Companies, Pharmaceutical Industry, Pharmacologist, Physician, Physician-Scientist, propranolol, Research, Scotland, Sir James Black, UK Telegraph
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Have you ever taken an over-the-counter heartburn relief remedy such as Tagamet, Zantac, or Pepcid? How about the beta-blocker atenolol (Tenormin) or metoprolol (Lopressor) for antihypertensive therapy, or the original less-selective beta-blocker propranolol (Inderal) for migraines, presentation anxiety, or stage fright?
If you answered “yes” to either question, you owe a debt of gratitude to Sir James Black, the Scottish physician who left us earlier this week at age 85. The best obituary I have seen memorializing Sir James comes from the UK Telegraph.
Black was called the father of analytical pharmacology and was said to have relieved more human suffering than thousands of doctors could have done in careers spent at the bedside. Certainly, no man on earth earned more for the international pharmaceutical industry. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Terra Sigillata*
March 31st, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Opinion, Primary Care Wednesdays, True Stories
Tags: Atrial Fibrillation, Cardiology, Dronedarone, General Medicine, Multaq, Pharmaceutical Companies, Pharmacology, Physician Advisor, Primary Care, Sanolfi-Aventis
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It’s very generous of Sanolfi-Aventis’s marketing department to make this offer for me to serve as an “advisor” for dronedarone (Multaq), but seriously–I was a bit skeptical that they wanted my “feedback on the reasons for and against utlilization of Multaq® in the appropriate patient as well as to understand communication and educational needs with regard to Multaq® and the atrial fibrillation state in general.”
Where were they when the drug launched? Might it be because this drug hasn’t quite been the blockbuster they’d hoped for?
But, of course, I’d never be swayed to use more of this drug by such important consulting work. No, really.
P.S. Sanolfi-Aventis marketers: Please update your prescriber database with my correct workplace.
–Musings of a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist.
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
March 31st, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, Primary Care Wednesdays, True Stories
Tags: ACP, American College Of Physicians, Diagnostics, Dr. Robert Cantor, General Medicine, Healthcare Commerce, Healthcare reform, Internal Medicine, Medical Imaging, Pathology, Patient Behavior, Primary Care, Unnecessary Testing
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Congress controls the nation’s purse strings. It can tell the Executive Branch how to spend money. It can regulate all commerce, and by the way, to Congress everything is “commerce.”
Congressional legislation can incent economic behavior–pay for this, but not for that–but it can’t change personal decisions. A case in point is Dr. Robert Cantor, ACP Member, of Boca Raton, Fla., who says he authorizes the tests that his patients demand. His opinion? “I do the damn test.”
He says there’s little incentive not to order tests and little in healthcare reform to make him and others change their habits. More likely is the idea that, once new medical technology is invented, it will find a use.
Another article compiles a wide spectrum of ideas on how to reduce healthcare spending. Tort reform was one, sure, but many doctors focused on changing patient behavior first.
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
March 30th, 2010 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Animals, Big Agriculture, Corn-Fed Beef, Dietitian, Eating Healthy, Farming, Fast Food Nation, Food Inc. Documentary, Grass-Fed Beef, High-Calorie, Inhumane Conditions, Meat, Michael Pollan, Perverted Economics, Processed Foods, Safeway, Slaughterhouse, Sugar-Laden, Whole Foods
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I watched a good documentary called “Food, Inc.” It was nominated for an Academy Award. The promo says “you’ll never look at dinner the same way” and they’re right. Since I’m a fan of Michael Pollan and have read “Fast Food Nation,” I was already a healthy-food fan, but seeing how agriculture and farming has changed over the last 40 years was still a shocker.
There’s no doubt that high-calorie, sugar-laden processed foods are contributing to serious health issues in America. And 10 billion animals are raised on factory farms under inhumane conditions.
So when I went to the grocery store today, I made a conscious choice to ask if Safeway had any grass-fed beef for a healthy stir fry I was making for dinner. The answer was “No,” so I journeyed over to Whole Foods where I bought a pound of grass-fed sirloin. The cost was a whopping $16.43.
I have to ask myself why grass-fed beef should be so much more expensive than corn-fed beef. There’s no way the average family could afford to eat the way we should. The impact on our environment and our health is suffering terribly because of these perverted economics.
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
March 30th, 2010 by DaveMunger in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research, True Stories
Tags: Census Forms, Decennial Census, Gary Locke, Population Policy, U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Postal Service, U.S. Secretary of Commerce, World Population
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The U.S. is ramping up its decennial census, and a few days ago I received my census form in the mail. Or, perhaps I should say, a census form. It wasn’t really mine at all, because it wasn’t addressed to me. It was addressed to a nearby house that doesn’t get mail delivery.
You see, our street—just two blocks long—has a “north” and “south” portion. My, northern, portion was developed about a decade and a half ago, and for some reason they decided to use the same house numbers as they had on the homes down the street, just with a “north” added to the street name. So there are two homes on the street with the same number—mine and another one about 50 yards away. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Daily Monthly*
