The Six Worst U.S. Health Disasters of the Last 50 Years
Up until the first half of the twentieth century, large-scale health disasters were mostly due to natural causes (earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, etc.) or infections (e.g., smallpox, influenza epidemics, cholera). But something peculiar happened as we entered the second half of the century: Health disasters due to natural causes became dwarfed by large-scale health disasters that are man-made.
Here’s a list of the Six Worst U.S. Health Disasters of the Last 50 Years, mostly man-made phenomena that have exacted huge tolls: widespread disease, premature death, poorly managed (though nonetheless highly profitable fo...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - December 2, 2017 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Undoctored Wheat Belly Lifestyle autoimmune gluten grain-free grains Inflammation low-carb Weight Loss Source Type: blogs
FDA Approves Sixth United States Biosimilar
Recently, the FDA announced that it approved Boehringer Ingelheim’s Cyltezo (adalimumab-adbm), the second biosimilar to AbbVie’s blockbuster Humira and sixth biosimilar in the United States. “Cyltezo is the first biosimilar from Boehringer Ingelheim to be approved by the FDA and marks an important step towards our goal of providing new and more affordable treatment options to healthcare providers and patients,” said Ivan Blanarik, Senior Vice President and Head of Therapeutic Area Biosimilars at Boehringer Ingelheim. “Chronic inflammatory diseases collectively affect 23.5 million people in the U.S., and Cyltezo h...
Source: Policy and Medicine - November 17, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
Did Big Pharma BUY Big Media?
Healthcare is at the top of the list of societal problems in the U.S.
Healthcare interactions are unsatisfying to most people, costs are out of control and cost every American nearly $10,000 per person per year while bleeding 17.5% of GDP, more than any other nation on earth for a system that ranks low or last in quality compared to other developed countries. For a problem as big as healthcare, big enough to cripple the entire economy in addition to bankrupting more and more Americans, you would think that media reporting would be filled with debate, criticisms, and in-depth coverage about the problems in healthcare.
But...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - May 2, 2017 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Undoctored abc bias big pharma cbs cnn drug industry fox gluten grains health healthcare illness media nbc pharmaceutical tv wheat Source Type: blogs
Value-Based Pricing For Pharmaceuticals In The Trump Administration
Everyone seems to agree: Drug prices are too damn high. Scandalous prices for new drugs and enormous price hikes on old drugs have focused public ire on the pharmaceutical industry. A bipartisan consensus has emerged that something must be done to tackle drug prices.
There’s less consensus, however, about what that something ought to be. Allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices is one popular possibility; outright price controls are also under discussion. But with Republicans in control of both Congress and the White House, neither appears to be on the policy agenda. But one market-friendly alternative, “value-based ...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - April 27, 2017 Category: Health Management Authors: Rachel Sachs, Nicholas Bagley and Darius Lakdawalla Tags: Costs and Spending Drugs and Medical Innovation Medicaid and CHIP Medicare Payment Policy Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services drug pricing outcome-based pricing valued-based pricing Source Type: blogs
2017 Biosimilar Update
We have taken an interest in the growing biosimilars market in the United States. Recently, we covered the Friends of Cancer Research event, “The Future of the U.S. Biosimilars Market: Development, Education, and Utilization,” a half-day forum that brought together clinicians, originator and biosimilar drug sponsors, advocates, regulators, and payers in an attempt to tackle uncertainty surrounding the future of the United States biosimilars market. With now several biosimilars approved in the United States, there is an ever-growing interest in their approvals and further development. But heading into a new year, uncert...
Source: Policy and Medicine - February 7, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
Tandem Price Increases: Legal or Price Fixing?
An article by reporters at Bloomberg recently highlighted the way United States prosecutors are beginning to crack down on generic drug companies, conducting a “sweeping criminal investigation into suspected price collusion,” which adds a new challenge to an industry that has been the focus of public outrage for quite some time now.
The antitrust investigation, which began roughly two years ago at the Department of Justice, now spans more than a dozen companies and two dozen drugs. The grand jury probe is examining whether some executives worked together to raise prices, and the first charges could potentially be made...
Source: Policy and Medicine - December 12, 2016 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
Memo To The President: The Pharmaceutical Monopoly Adjustment Act Of 2017
Since 1980, Congress has enacted many laws granting pharmaceutical manufacturers monopolies that no other industry enjoys. These extra monopolies were created with the expectation that monopoly profits would spur greater investment in research to find important new drugs. In fact, they have caused US consumers to pay higher prices for medicines for longer periods of time while making the pharmaceutical industry far more profitable than any other industry. I believe the next president and Congress should take several key steps, which I outline below, to roll back these costly, unnecessary monopolies.
The Current Landscape
C...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - September 13, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: Alfred Engelberg Tags: Costs and Spending Drugs and Medical Technology Health Policy Lab Bayh-Dole Act Big Pharma Gilead Hatch-Waxman Act johnson & johnson pfizer Source Type: blogs
MKSAP: 52-year-old man with rheumatoid arthritis
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.
A 52-year-old man is evaluated during a follow-up visit for a 2-year history of progressively symptomatic rheumatoid arthritis. He reports increased difficulty with his job due to persistent pain and swelling in the first proximal interphalangeal joints, second and third metacarpophalangeal joints, and bilateral wrists. He also has increased difficulty climbing stairs due to persistent pain and swelling in the right knee. Medications are methotrexate, 25 mg weekly; prednisone, 10 mg/d; naproxen; and folic acid.
...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - May 14, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: mksap Tags: Conditions Rheumatology 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
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
Once More with Feeling - Amgen Again Settles Allegations of Misbranding, But Why Bother?
DiscussionIn the case of Amgen, the large 2012 settlement for misbranding resulted in the only guilty plea made and the largest fine paid by the company. From my informal perusal of legal settlements made by drug, biotechnology and device companies, misbranding seems to be one of the more frequent allegations, and often the only one resulting in admissions of guilt. It may be that it is easier to prove misbranding than other charges, and companies may admit to misbranding in settlements because the charge is not well understood by the general public and hence may carry less of a stigma than other charges, for e...
Source: Health Care Renewal - August 20, 2015 Category: Health Management Tags: Amgen bribery deception kickbacks legal settlements marketing Source Type: blogs
Amgen Pays $71 Million to States For Off-Label Allegations In Violation of Consumer Protection Laws
Earlier this week, Amgen Inc. agreed to pay $71 million to 48 states to settle allegations that it violated state consumer protection laws by promoting its anemia drug Aranesp and plaque psoriasis drug Enbrel off-label. Amgen pleaded guilty in 2012 to a federal criminal charge related to similar off-label allegations related to Aranesp, paying $762 million, then the “single largest criminal and civil False Claims Act settlement involving a biotechnology company in U.S. history,” stated DOJ.
Aranesp is used to treat certain types of anemia by stimulating bone marrow to produce red blood cells. En...
Source: Policy and Medicine - August 20, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
Wheat Belly is an anti-inflammatory lifestyle
Laura has not only lost a substantial amount of weight from inflammatory visceral fat resulting in a dramatic reduction in waist size, but has also experienced a reduction in the issues associated with her autoimmune diseases:
“I have been on Wheat Belly for about 2 years. I have rheumatoid arthritis and lupus and have seen huge improvements and lowering of meds due to this wonderful plan. So far (and I still need to lose more) I have lost 80 lbs and am still losing. First pic is of me at our high school reunion in 2013 and the next one is today. I think you can see a bit of the difference. I am happy to be down, eve...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - July 28, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Wheat Belly Success Stories arthritis autoimmune gluten grains lupus rheumatoid Weight Loss Source Type: blogs
LITFL Review 190
Welcome to the 190th LITFL Review. Your regular and reliable source for the highest highlights, sneakiest sneak peeks and loudest shout-outs from the webbed world of emergency medicine and critical care. Each week the LITFL team casts the spotlight on the blogosphere’s best and brightest and deliver a bite-sized chuck of FOAM.
The Most Fair Dinkum Ripper Beauts of the Week
Ken and Chris over at The SGEM are trialling a new project: ‘Hot or Not’ They want to know what you think of five recently published articles. Looks like it could be an interesting addition to cutting down the Knowledge Translation window f...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - July 26, 2015 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Marjorie Lazoff, MD Tags: Education LITFL review Source Type: blogs
Autoimmunity: Drug Abuse
The Wheat Belly lifestyle that begins with elimination of the worst and most dominant of all grains in the diet, semidwarf wheat products, followed by elimination of its closely-related brethren in other grains, is a powerful start in reversing the 200-some diseases of autoimmunity.
We now know that the gliadin protein of wheat and related proteins in other grains initiate the increased intestinal permeability that begins the process, as highly inflammatory compounds, such as lipopolysaccharide from bacterial cell walls, are permitted entry into the body. We also know that gliadin itself gains entry into the bloodstream a...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - July 14, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Wheat Belly Lifestyle autoimmunity gluten grains Inflammation Source Type: blogs
