Being High Risk
Normal people get exposed to something and they get told ' call us if there are any changes in whatever it is that is bothering them ' . They get sent home basically with a ' take two options and call me in the morning ' .Me? I ' m not a normal person. With my medical history? Of course not.We live in a wooded area with lots of deer and mice outside. Our two cats like to go in and out and in and out and in and out. They bring us home presents and usually leave them outside. But sometimes they don ' t.Yesterday I came home from the gym and took a shower. The cats went in and out and in and out. I decided it was time to trea...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - April 8, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: ailments Lyme disease Source Type: blogs
Antitrust and Generic Drugs – A Rare Combination
This article outlines several different actions focused on generic pharmaceutical manufacturers that are presently working their way through the courts.
On December 12, 2016, two former senior generic pharmaceutical executives were charged for their alleged roles in conspiracies to fix prices, rig bids, and allocate customers for certain generic drugs. Jeffrey Glazer, the former CEO of Heritage Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Heritage”), and Jason Malek, the former president of Heritage, allegedly conspired to fix prices, rig bids, and allocate customers for two different generics: an antibiotic (doxycycline hyclate) and a me...
Source: Policy and Medicine - March 1, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
Finding the tick in time could save you from Lyme!
“Doesn’t it typically happen during the summer?” asked a worried lady that had walked into my clinic in November with a growing circular rash on her wrist. She was referring, of course, to Lyme disease, that scourge of outdoor enthusiasts. While the peak season for Lyme disease is indeed summer, the ticks that transmit it are active March through December. And, while this may be off-season for the ticks, it is a good time to catch up on how to stay safe in the not-so-distant spring.
What is Lyme disease, and how do you treat it?
Lyme disease is caused by a bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi which is spread to peop...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - February 24, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Meera Sunder, MBBS, MRCOG Tags: Health Infectious diseases Prevention Source Type: blogs
Twenty State Attorneys General Sue Pharma Companies for Alleged Conspiracy
Twenty states have announced that they have filed a lawsuit against generic-drug makers including Heritage Pharmaceuticals Inc., Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc., Aurobindo Pharma USA Inc., Citron Pharma LLC, and Mayne Pharma (USA) Inc., alleging that the companies conspired to fix prices and constrain competition for antibiotics and diabetes treatments.
The suit, filed in Connecticut federal court (redacted version here), claims that an investigation by that state into the generic drug market has uncovered evidence that some of the companies illegally divided up the market for doxycycline hyclate...
Source: Policy and Medicine - December 15, 2016 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
Skyrocketing prescription prices force patients to skip meds
This article is adapted from the AAFP Leader Voices Blog.
Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - November 10, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/michael-munger" rel="tag" > Michael Munger, MD < /a > Tags: Meds Medications Source Type: blogs
Two Novel Conditions with an Intriguing Link
How could a Lyme disease lookalike rash and anaphylaxis to meat have anything in common? As I found out recently, they do. They both have a common vector, the Lone Star Tick, which is also known by its formal name, Amblyomma americanum, and is found predominately in the East, Southeast, and Southwest. It is an aggressive tick that loves humans.In fact, all three growth stages (adult, nymph, and larva) are known to feed on humans. Besides the common signs of irritation that often accompany a tick bite, a rash similar to the rash of Lyme disease has been commonly described. This "bull's-eye" rash is often accomp...
Source: M2E Too! Mellick's Multimedia EduBlog - September 1, 2016 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
Welcome to McMedicine, may I please take your order?
A.J. Smith, a pseudonym of course, walked into my office today, unhappily. Most of her topical medications for acne caused too much irritation. The ones that didn’t, weren’t working. The doxycycline caused photosensitivity in the past. But her friend’s dermatologist gave her isotretinoin, better known as Accutane, and she completely cleared. As such, that’s what my patient demanded. There was only one problem. The degree of her acne didn’t warrant such an aggressive approach. I explained the risks at length with her, and I explained politely why she wasn’t a candidate. This fell on deaf ears....
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - August 22, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/anonymous" rel="tag" > Anonymous < /a > Tags: Physician Primary care Source Type: blogs
Sun Pharma Receives Grand Jury Summons
Sun Pharmaceuticals, India's largest drug maker, recently disclosed that the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has subpoenaed the company seeking information about pricing and marketing of the generic drugs it sells in the United States.
The anti-trust division of the DOJ has also issued summons to the company's U.S. subsidiary to appear before a grand jury.
While Sun Pharmaceuticals did not elaborate on the particular reasons for the summons, it stated that the DOJ has sought "documents from [Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries Inc] SPII and its affiliates relating to corporate and employee records, generic pharmac...
Source: Policy and Medicine - June 15, 2016 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
MKSAP: 30-year-old woman with right antecubital fossa and biceps pain
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.
A 30-year-old woman is evaluated for a 2-day history of increasing pain in the right antecubital fossa and biceps. She reports daily injection drug use. Medical history is otherwise unremarkable, and she takes no prescription medications.
On physical examination, temperature is 39.7 °C (103.5 °F), blood pressure is 90/56 mm Hg, pulse rate is 120/min, and respiration rate is 28/min. BMI is 28. She appears ill. No lymphangitis or right axillary or epitrochlear lymphadenopathy is evident. The right biceps area i...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - April 9, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: mksap Tags: Conditions Infectious disease Source Type: blogs
A Nefarious Character with an Agenda
Every new advanced nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or resident gets his fair share of complex emergency department procedures during training. Seasoned providers, however, are just as excited to place a central line in a septic patient, LP a "rule-out meningitis," or swiftly fix a nursemaid's elbow.This month we hope to remind you of a few sweet and satisfying procedures that take only moments to do. Your skill in completing these procedures is imperative. Not only will you amaze your patient, but you'll shorten your door to dispo-time.The StyeThe stye is a nefarious character with an agenda. It starts o...
Source: The Procedural Pause - February 1, 2016 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
Antibiotics: Preserve the miracle?
The placebo effect is well-known in modern medicine. Unfortunately, the most effective medicines we’ve ever discovered are more often used as placebos rather than cures. What are these medicines? Antibiotics.
They’ve added 20 years to the average human life expectancy, some would call this a “miracle”. In-fact “preserve the miracle” is the official slogan for Antibiotic Awareness Week. But it’s a word that carries some baggage, after all miracles don’t come with adverse consequences.
Antibiotics, like other medicines have side-effects. In the patient these can range from allergies and Stevens-Johnson syndro...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - January 20, 2016 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Jarrad Hall Tags: Immunology Infectious Disease Microbiology antibiotics Faustian bargain placebo resistance Source Type: blogs
Treating Cancer as Though It Were an Infectious Disease
Here researchers propose an interesting approach to destroying cancer stem cells via targeted antibiotics. Cancer stem cells have been shown to be the driving force behind many types of cancer: without their presence, tumors would halt their growth or wither. At this point cancer research as a whole is far too slow and expensive. Faster progress towards meaningful treatments will arise from identifying and focusing on common points of attack that are essentially the same in many different types of cancer. However all too many of today's expensive and time-consuming research programs are entirely specific to the genetics an...
Source: Fight Aging! - July 23, 2015 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
MKSAP: 25-year-old woman is evaluated for redness at mosquito bite
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.
A 25-year-old woman is evaluated for redness that developed over her right leg at the site of a mosquito bite. She is otherwise healthy and takes no medications.
On physical examination, temperature is 37.2 °C (99.0 °F), blood pressure is 120/70 mm Hg, pulse rate is 70/min, and respiration rate is 14/min. There is an erythematous 3 × 3-cm patch on the right thigh. The area is warm to the touch with no evidence of purulence, fluctuance, crepitus, or lymphadenopathy.
Which of the following is the most appropria...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - May 23, 2015 Category: Journals (General) Authors: mksap Tags: Conditions Infectious disease Source Type: blogs
