French Regulators Pull Bayer Acne Drug Over Deaths
Two days after launching an investigation into four deaths linked to the Diane-35 acne medicine sold by Bayer, which is also prescribed as a contraceptive, French authorities have halted the sale of the drug. More than 300,000 women are using the drug for contraception, according to the National Agency for the Safety of Drugs and Health Products.
The deaths were attributed to venous thrombosis, a risk that has been noted with the drug and an issue that prompted French authorities to ask the European Medicines Agency to change prescribing guidelines for third- and fourth-generation oral contraceptives after the drugs were f...
Source: Pharmalot - January 30, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Acne Bayer Contraceptives Diane-35 Mediator Servier Source Type: blogs
When to consider cardioembolic stroke?
Following features may help in thinking of a cardioembolic etiology for stroke:
Sudden onset to maximal neurological deficit
Decreased level of consciousness at onset
Wernicke’s aphasia or global aphasia without hemiparesis
A Valsalva manoeuvre at the time of onset of stroke (can facilitate right to left shunt across a patent foramen ovale and consequently paradoxical emboli originating in the right side of the circulation and terminating the left side of the circulation)
Co-occurrence of cerebral and systemic emboli
[Arboix A et al. Acute cardioembolic cerebral infarction: answers to clinical questions. Curr Cardiol...
Source: Cardiophile MD - January 30, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Prof. (Dr.) Johnson Francis MD, DM, FACC, FRCP Edin Tags: General Source Type: blogs
4 fixes that will boost your bottom line
by Kenneth H. Cohn
Happy New Year. Sometimes, the fuss in Washington causes temporary amnesia that healthcare, like politics, has a local focus. So this post contains the first four tips on ways to engage physicians where you work to improve clinical and financial outcomes and create a more satisfying practice environment:
1. Convene a panel of your top physicians to look at how improved collaboration can reduce expenses.
A surgeon once confessed to me, "I may ignore others' opinions, but I definitely listen to physicians who refer patients to me or to whom I refer patients for preoperative clearance and postoperative m...
Source: hospital impact - January 17, 2013 Category: Health Managers Authors: Wendy Johnson Source Type: blogs
Top medicine articles for December 2012-January 2013
Here are my suggestions for some of the top articles in medicine for December 2012-January 2013:
Among former Olympic athletes, engagement in disciplines with high intensity exercise did not bring a survival benefit http://buff.ly/UmY9Ur
Non-benzodiazepine hypnotics (Z drugs - eszopiclone, zaleplon, zolpidem) are effective for treatment of adult insomnia http://buff.ly/UZC1g9
Bringing surgical history to life | BMJ http://buff.ly/UZCeQC -- Things change fast in surgery. Within a single generation, ways of operating that had been stable for decades have been overturned. New drugs have revolutionized what were o...
Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - January 11, 2013 Category: Professors and Educators Tags: Health News of the Day Source Type: blogs
Mediator - 500 deaths
France shaken by fresh scandal over weight-loss drug linked to deaths
Mediator, which was prescribed as an appetite suppressant and is believed to have killed at least 500 people.
A weight-loss drug believed to have killed hundreds of people in France's biggest pharmaceutical scandal has sparked fresh controversy as victims complain of delays in state compensation and a leading drug-company boss has been placed under formal investigation for manslaughter.
The amphetamine derivative Mediator was marketed to overweight diabetics but often prescribed to healthy women as an appetite suppressant when they wanted to lose a f...
Source: PharmaGossip - January 6, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
ObamaTax(es) for all!
Courtesy of Grace-Marie Turner (Galen Institute president and Forbes contributor):■ "[T]he Medical Device Tax that hits entrepreneurial firms making equipment such as heart valves and hip replacement parts."As regular readers already know, corporations don't pay taxes, their customers (that would be you) do.■ "A new Medicare Tax ... a big hit especially for the self-employed."That would also be job creators (who now won't be so inclined).■ "The new Flexible Spending Account Tax limits the amount of money that workers can set aside tax-free for medical costs."This is a double-whammy (at least): just as the ObamaTax it...
Source: InsureBlog - January 2, 2013 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
Michael Jackson: What Will an Autopsy Look For?
When any person dies suddenly or unexpectedly it becomes the responsibility of the medical examiner to determine the cause of death. Such is the case in the tragic death of Michael Jackson at the all too young age of 50. When I worked as a medical examiner in Washington, D.C., in the early 1980s, our policy was to automatically do a full autopsy investigation on anyone 50 or under regardless of their medical history. Over 50 and we might waive the autopsy if there were a clear medical history of illness or disease and there were absolutely no suspicious circumstances, as investigated by the homicide unit of the D.C. police...
Source: Dr. Z's Medical Report - June 26, 2009 Category: Physicians With Health Advice Authors: Ed Zimney, MD Tags: Healthy Living 50 accidental age alcohol autopsy blog cause of death celebrity community died Dr Z Dr. Z's medical report drugs Ed Zimney Everyday Health exam forensic gross Heart homicide injuries investigation Source Type: blogs
