Their Cheating Hearts - Latest Allergan Settlement Is a Reminder of Merger Participants' Sketchy Pasts
A Huge, but Sketchy Merger The announced merger and "tax inversion" of Pfizer and Allergan would be one of the largest corporate marriages in US history. It has drawn more than its share of criticism. For example, per the Los Angeles Times, former US Senator and Secretary of State, and current presidential candidate Hilary Clinton said "this proposed merger, and so-called inversions by other companies, will leave U.S. taxpayers holding the bag." By creating the world's largest drug company, it could certainly further consolidate the US and global pharmaceutical market and raise already high drug prices. W...
Source: Health Care Renewal - November 24, 2015 Category: Health Management Tags: Allergan crime deception fraud impunity kickbacks legal settlements obstruction of justice Pfizer RICO Source Type: blogs
Prescription Drugs And The Slowdown In Health Care Spending
Several studies have examined the underlying sources for the recent slowdown in health care spending. These analyses have focused largely on the role of the 2007-2009 recession, the increasing prevalence of high deductible health insurance plans, and other structural changes in the payment and delivery of care. However, the studies examining these factors do not account for the full decline in spending, or raise questions about the pattern and timing of the slowdown.
Role Of Prescription Drugs In The Health Spending Slowdown
Certainly the recession accounted for a component of the post 2007 slowdown in spending. However, t...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - November 18, 2015 Category: Health Management Authors: Kenneth Thorpe and Jason Hockenberry Tags: Costs and Spending Drugs and Medical Technology Featured Quality generic drugs medication adherence Prescription Drugs Source Type: blogs
Test your medicine knowledge: 48-year-old woman with type 2 diabetes mellitus
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.
A 48-year-old woman is evaluated during a follow-up visit. She has a 5-year history of type 2 diabetes mellitus. She has no other significant medical history. Medications are atorvastatin, metformin, and a multivitamin. She works as a mail carrier and has a walking route that takes 3 hours each day. She consumes a diet high in fruits and vegetables and does not smoke.
On physical examination, the patient is afebrile, blood pressure is 128/80 mm Hg, pulse rate is 70/min, and respiration rate is 12/min. BMI is 26....
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - October 31, 2015 Category: Journals (General) Authors: mksap Tags: Conditions Diabetes Source Type: blogs
What medications have you been able to stop on the Wheat Belly lifestyle?
I posed this question on the Wheat Belly Facebook page recently and received an overwhelming response. Here, I share a partial list of the responses: medications people have been able to stop by following the Wheat Belly lifestyle.
Just take a look at this incredible list: these represent medications prescribed by doctors to, in effect, “treat” the consequences of consuming wheat and grains. They prescribe drugs to treat the inflammation, swelling, skin rashes, gastrointestinal irritation, high blood sugars, airway allergy, and other abnormal effects all caused by wheat and grains.
The list includes anti-inf...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - October 6, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Wheat Belly Lifestyle asthma cholesterol diabetes drugs gluten grains hypertension prescription medication reflux Source Type: blogs
Marcia Angell writes
By Marcia AngellIn 1953, a new drug was released by Burroughs Wellcome, a pharmaceutical company based in London. Pyrimethamine, as the compound was named, was originally intended to fight malaria after the microorganisms that cause the disease developed resistance to earlier therapies. The drug was used against malaria for several decades, often in combination with other compounds. It ’s mostly used now to treat toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection that can be life-threatening in people whose immune systems are suppressed, for example, by HIV/AIDS or cancer.More than 40 years later, Burroughs Wellcome merged with the...
Source: PharmaGossip - October 4, 2015 Category: Pharmaceuticals Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Marcia Angell writes
By Marcia AngellIn 1953, a new drug was released by Burroughs Wellcome, a pharmaceutical company based in London. Pyrimethamine, as the compound was named, was originally intended to fight malaria after the microorganisms that cause the disease developed resistance to earlier therapies. The drug was used against malaria for several decades, often in combination with other compounds. It’s mostly used now to treat toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection that can be life-threatening in people whose immune systems are suppressed, for example, by HIV/AIDS or cancer.More than 40 years later, Burroughs Wellcome merged with the ...
Source: PharmaGossip - October 3, 2015 Category: Pharmaceuticals Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Test your medicine knowledge: 58-year-old man with type 2 diabetes
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.
A 58-year-old man is evaluated during a routine appointment. He is asymptomatic. He was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus 4 years ago and has hypertension, dyslipidemia, and obesity. His medications are enteric-coated low-dose aspirin, lisinopril, fluvastatin (20 mg/d), and metformin.
His calculated 10-year risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) using the Pooled Cohort Equations is 10%.
On physical examination, blood pressure is 126/78 mm Hg and pulse rate is 72/min. The remainder of the ex...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - October 3, 2015 Category: Journals (General) Authors: mksap Tags: Conditions Diabetes Heart Source Type: blogs
The Wheat Belly lifestyle BEGAN with heart health
Debbie posted this comment on the Wheat Belly Facebook page:
“I posted a few weeks back about our scare from our primary care doctor. My husband had a calcium score of 1200. We panicked! Messaged Dr. Davis and went the next day to a cardio doctor and had a stress test, ultrasound, and blood test (inflammatory markers). Got him on recommended supplements per Dr Davis.
“Latest update: Cardio doctor says, being as you started ‘Wheat Belly’ back in October, 2014, your score could have been higher and already started to improve, we don’t know. What we DO know is, because of this new way of eating,...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - September 15, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Wheat Belly Lifestyle calcium score cholesterol fish oil gluten grains heart disease iodine Thyroid vitamin D Weight Loss Source Type: blogs
Pfizer's Latest International Pfiascos - Charges of Anti-Competitive Practices, Inflated Prices, Deception and Secrecy
Many big health care organizations seem to just be unable to keep out of trouble, and the bigger they are, the more kinds of trouble. Pfizer Inc, considered to be one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, has supplied us with plenty of stories. Enough new stories about Pfizer have accumulated since last year to do a roundup. Presented in chronological order....Italy Demands Damages from Pfizer for Anti-Trust ViolationsThis story came out in May, 2014, via Reuters,Italy said on Wednesday it was seeking more than a billion euros in damages from multinational drug companies following a...
Source: Health Care Renewal - September 13, 2015 Category: Health Management Tags: adverse effects antitrust deception executive compensation health care prices legal settlements marketing Pfizer suppression of medical research vaccines Source Type: blogs
The Orange Juice Clue
The parents of a 16-month-old boy who presented to the ED were concerned that he was too sleepy. His initial point-of-care glucose was noted to be 42 mg/dL, and he was somnolent but arousable, and was given orange juice.
Twenty minutes later, the child’s symptoms had completely resolved. Toxicology was consulted for evaluation of a possible toxic ingestion, and a medication inventory was recommended.
Differential Diagnosis of Hypoglycemia in Children
n Ethanol intoxication
n Beta blocker intoxication
n Salicylate toxicity
n Sulfonylurea
n Insulin injection
n Endocrine disorder (hypopituitarism, Addison’s disease,...
Source: The Tox Cave - September 1, 2015 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
The Orange Juice Clue
The parents of a 16-month-old boy who presented to the ED were concerned that he was too sleepy. His initial point-of-care glucose was noted to be 42 mg/dL, and he was somnolent but arousable, and was given orange juice.
Twenty minutes later, the child’s symptoms had completely resolved. Toxicology was consulted for evaluation of a possible toxic ingestion, and a medication inventory was recommended.
Differential Diagnosis of Hypoglycemia in Children
n Ethanol intoxication
n Beta blocker intoxication
n Salicylate toxicity
n Sulfonylurea
n Insulin injection
n Endocrine disorder (hypopituitarism, Addison’...
Source: The Tox Cave - September 1, 2015 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
Rising Cost Of Drugs: Where Do We Go From Here?
The trends are clear: patients and institutions across the nation are concerned about skyrocketing drug prices. This post offers some information about drug pricing, explores the notion of market intervention, and proposes a series of responses to high pharmaceutical costs.
A few jaw-dropping facts quickly illustrate the pattern of rising drug costs. The average annual cost of cancer drugs increased from roughly $10,000 before 2000 to over $100,000 by 2012, according to a recent study in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Several breakthrough specialty medications and orphan drugs recently approved by the Food and Drug Administratio...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - August 31, 2015 Category: Health Management Authors: Ifrad Islam Tags: Costs and Spending Drugs and Medical Technology Featured Medicaid and CHIP Payment Policy Public Health Big Pharma CMS FDA Gilead Sciences hepatitis C Pricewaterhouse Coopers Source Type: blogs
OTC Lipitor? Why Pfizer made the right decision for the wrong reason.
There were several news stories recently that reported that Pfizer had abandoned its efforts to have its Lipitor brand of atorvastatin made available over the counter (OTC), without a prescription. I was never a big fan of OTC statins, but I was struck by the reason that Pfizer put out:
The study did not meet its primary objectives of demonstrating patient compliance with the direction to check their low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) level and, after checking their LDL-C level, take appropriate action based on their test results.
Left unstated (and unclear) in this is exactly what the appropriate action was sup...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - August 15, 2015 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Ira Nash, MD Tags: Meds Heart Medications Source Type: blogs
PCSK9 inhibitor – Cardiology MCQ
The PCSK9 inhibitor which was recently approved by US FDA:
a) Evolocumab
b) Alirocumab
c) Infliximab
d) Abciximab
Correct answer: b) Alirocumab
Both evolocumab and alirocumab are PCSK9 inhibitors (proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitors) [1]. PCSK9 inhibitors have been approved by US FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) in those whom hypercholesterolemia is not controlled with diet and maximally tolerated statin treatment, if they have clinically manifest atherosclerotic disease like stroke or myocardial infarction [2]. Alirocumab can be given as a self administered subcutaneous injection once in tw...
Source: Cardiophile MD - July 31, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Prof. Dr. Johnson Francis, MD, DM, FACC, FRCP Edin, FRCP London Tags: Cardiology MCQ DM / DNB Cardiology Entrance Featured Alirocumab hypercholesterolemia proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitors Source Type: blogs
Cholesterol Drugs: New Studies Could Spur Even Wider Use. Is That a Good Thing?
By STEVEN FINDLAY
Chances are that a third of you reading this sentence take a statin, the ubiquitous cholesterol-lowering drugs. I do. Is it a good or bad thing that so many of us are taking these meds? Two studies out this month advance the long-running debate about the widespread use of statins—and they could propel doctors to prescribe the drugs to millions more people.
The cholesterol/statin story starts in the early 1980s. Here’s a quick summary:
By 1985, studies showed conclusively that statins (the best known one then was Mevacor/lovastatin) substantially reduced the risk of another heart attack in people who ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - July 27, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: suchandan roy Tags: THCB LDl Lipitor Statins Steven Findlay Source Type: blogs
