KAISER HEALTH NEWS – To several U.S. senators, it looked wasteful, even outrageous.
Every year, taxpayers pay for at least $750 million worth of expensive pharmaceuticals that are simply thrown away.
Companies ship many of the drugs in “Costco”-size vials, one lawmaker said, that once opened usually cannot be resealed or saved for other patients. Yet pharma gets paid for every drop.
So Congress turned to the prestigious National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine...
New Hampshire Union Leader – Wentworth-Douglass Hospital is taking legal action against a morbidly obese patient.
Administrators are claiming he’s spent weeks hospitalized for no acute medical reason and wants to stay in the Dover hospital until he can undergo weight loss surgery, which could take six to nine months.
“While Mr. Doe expresses that the surgery is his stated goal, he is not compliant with WDH’s care plan for weight loss and instead...
Executives at one of the US’s largest drug distributors circulated rhymes and emails mocking “hillbillies” who became addicted to opioid painkillers even as the company poured hundreds of millions of pills into parts of Appalachia at the heart of America’s opioid epidemic.
A third of psychologists said they are seeing more patients since the start of the pandemic. It seems likely that an increase in use of psychiatric medications -- which have substantial side-effect risks -- would follow.
CNBC – Coronavirus has rocked the nation with a year of restrictions, lockdowns, missed gatherings and events, isolation and a staggering loss of more than half a million American lives.
As the pandemic stretches into a second year, Americans struggling...
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Authorities arrested a suburban Milwaukee pharmacist Thursday suspected of deliberately ruining hundreds of doses of coronavirus vaccine by removing them from refrigeration for two nights.
The arrest marks another setback in what has been a slower, messier start to vaccinate Americans than public health officials had expected.
Leaders in Wisconsin and other states have been begging the Trump administration for more doses as health care workers and senior citizens line up...
A House committee is investigating Purdue Pharma and billionaire family’s role in an epidemic that has killed almost 500,000 Americans.
The Guardian – Two of a group of billionaire Sackler family members that own Purdue Pharma, the US pharmaceutical manufacturer of the prescription painkiller OxyContin, refused to apologize for their role in the opioids crisis that has killed almost half a million Americans, during a hearing in Washington on Thursday.
Kathe Sackler and David Sackler, former...
Dec 15, 2020
CNN – A large majority of Americans, 71%, say they will "definitely or probably" get a Covid-19 vaccine, according to a survey out Tuesday from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
That's up from 63% in September - indicating a steady increase in trust as regulators worked to authorize the vaccine and held public meetings to discuss data supporting their use.
But Black Americans, people living in rural areas and Republicans are more hesitant about...
OOPS ...
Dec 10, 2020
Gizmodo – Pharmaceutical company AvKare issued recalls on Wednesday after pills were inadvertently mixed during bottling, according to the FDA.
The generic drugs being recalled are sildenafil, used to treat erectile dysfunction, and trazodone, an antidepressant and sedative.
Unintentionally taking sildenafil may be dangerous for some patients because it can lower blood pressure and interact badly with other medications, especially people who take nitrates to treat conditions like diabetes, high...
"The White House looks to explain that the vaccine is safe and lay out the administration's plans to bring it to the American people."
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is taking a victory lap ahead of the expected approval of the first U.S. vaccine for the coronavirus, as the White House works to instill confidence in the distribution that will largely be executed by President-elect Joe Biden.
Trump scheduled an event celebrating "Operation Warp Speed,"...
"From 2011 to mid-2017, the FDA received more than 5.4 million reports of prescription drug adverse events, including more than 1 million deaths."
Oct 16, 2020
DrugWatch.com – Even though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration may approve a drug or medical device for use, it may still cause side effects or complications for some patients.
Manufacturers, regulators and health care professionals have to weigh the benefits of a drug or device against its risks....
Are vaccines safe, effective, and necessary? Answers to common questions from Mayo Clinic doctors |
Nov 30, 2020
Concerns from those who are hesitant about vaccines often fall into these categories:
Can I trust the source of the recommendation?
Is the vaccine effective?
Is the vaccine safe?
Is the vaccine needed?
Are there reasonable alternatives?
November 30, 2020
Mayo Clinic – Hesitance toward vaccines is common, says Dr. Robert M. Jacobson, medical director of...
"These are very exciting results." – Dr. Anthony Fauci |
In Moderna's trial, 15,000 study participants were given a placebo shot. Over several months, 90 of them developed Covid-19 – 11 of them severe.
Another 15,000 participants were given the vaccine, and only five of them developed Covid-19. None of the five became severely ill. – CNN
Nov 16, 2020
Stat News – Moderna’s vaccine against Covid-19 is strongly effective, the company said Monday, building excitement...
Fox News – New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's statements casting doubt on a potential coronavirus vaccine because he doesn't trust President Trump is "disheartening," a doctor who has treated critically ill COVID-19 patients in New York City said Saturday.
Trump, speaking in the Rose Garden Friday, said the government will delay delivery of the vaccine to New York until the Democratic governor commits to distributing it "immediately."
Cuomo responded by calling Trump a "bully" and expressing...
Candidate Joe Biden promised to restore, rebuild, and expand Obamacare. Now as the apparent president-elect prepares to take office, we revisit the views of an ER physician who is also a member of Congress ...
"I'm an ER doctor, here's why socialized medicine would be a total disaster for America"
By Dr. Mark Green, United States Congressman |
July 11, 2019
I’m an emergency room physician, a cancer survivor, the father of a cancer survivor, and founder...
