- Jeremy Thurman | January 31, 2006 2:53 PM |
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MiscellaneousI recently read where Random House issued a statement about James Frey book which said "it doesn't matter whether a book sold as nonfiction is true." This is truly amazing coming from a publisher. So essentially they say that fiction, nonfiction, sci fi, etc are irrelevant when it comes to the selling of books. I can assure you a consumer who enjoys nonfiction that it irritates and actually...
- Staff Writer | January 31, 2006 1:39 PM |
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MiscellaneousThe Wall Street Journal ran an article yesterday entitled Publishers Say Fact Checking is Too Costly by Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg. Oprah Winfrey's criticism of publisher Random House and Nan Talese on her show has sparked a national debate on the responsibility of publishers to verify the vailidity of works of fiction which they represent and market as "true stories." The Wall Street Journal...
- Jeremy Thurman | January 30, 2006 2:37 PM |
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MiscellaneousThe NY Times is reporting that Novo Nordisk Paid Cash Rewards To Switch Patients to Novo Insulin. Of course Novo denies the accusations. However, former sales representatives who participated in the program said that Novo paid anchors as much as $25 for each prescription they helped switch to higher-priced insulin products. Isn't this a sad state of the pharmaceutical industry if its true.
- Jeremy Thurman | January 26, 2006 3:51 PM |
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FDA & Prescription DrugsThe long-term use of warfarin, a drug commonly prescribed to reduce the risk of blood clots, appears to increase the risk of fractures associated with osteoporosis, a bone-thinning condition that usually increased with age, according to a report. As the study authors note, warfarin prevents coagulation by blocking vitamin K, which is needed to activate certain clotting factors. Because vitamin K...
- Denise A. Rubin | January 26, 2006 2:26 PM |
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Medical MalpracticeA large-scale scheme in which body parts were removed from corpses and sold to hospitals is likely to touch off numerous lawsuits. Patients that received skin grafts and other surgeries are worried about contracting infectious diseases from the illegal practice. Funeral homes in the NY area are facing criminal investigations. At least one woman claims to have contracted syphilis from a bone...
- Denise A. Rubin | January 26, 2006 2:24 PM |
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FDA & Prescription DrugsLetters from the editor of the New England Journal of Medicine were introduced as evidence in a federal trial against painkiller Vioxx. The e-mail messages written to another scientist express concern with a study that may have left out crucial data on the harmful effects associated with the drug. The dispute is over VIGOR, a study which has been faulted by plaintiffs for failing to disclose...
- Denise A. Rubin | January 26, 2006 2:22 PM |
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Medical MalpracticeThe Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations issued a report that urges hospitals to highlight medications on patient charts in order to avoid medication reconciliation errors. The group estimates that mistakes involving drug mix-ups result in at least 7,000 deaths a year and that about 63 percent are due to communication errors. An alert sent by the organization advocating...
- Denise A. Rubin | January 26, 2006 2:18 PM |
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FDA & Prescription DrugsA report being published in The New England Journal of Medicine found that the heart surgery drug aprotinin, sold as Trasyol, poses unnecessary risks to patients and should be replaced by safer alternatives. Doctors found that the blood-clotting medication can cause kidney failure and increase the prevalence of heart attacks and strokes. Bayer disputes the finding, which will be reviewed by the...
- Denise A. Rubin | January 26, 2006 2:16 PM |
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FDA & Prescription DrugsA federal judge decided that top drug manufacturers must face a class-action lawsuit from consumers who claim they were overcharged for prescription medication. Johnson & Johnson, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., AstraZeneca Plc and GlaxoSmithKline Plc have all been named as defendants. Drug companies set prices based on the Average Wholesale Price formula, which is used to reimburse federal health...
- Staff Writer | January 23, 2006 8:53 PM |
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FDA & Prescription DrugsLast week, the FDA approved two new warnings on the labeling for two skin care drugs, Elidel and Protopic. Although a causal link between these two topical drugs and certain cancers has not yet been established, patients receiving these drugs have reported a higher incidence of cancers, namely skin cancer and lymphoma. Patients taking these drugs are encouraged to consult with their doctor to...
- Jeremy Thurman | January 20, 2006 3:18 PM |
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FDA & Prescription DrugsJohnson & Johnson, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., AstraZeneca PLC and GlaxoSmithKline PLC must face a class-action lawsuit from consumers who say they were harmed by the way the companies charged for their drugs, a judge said Thursday. Federal Judge Patti B. Saris in Boston said she will certify a nationwide class action for people who paid even a small portion of the cost of the companies'...
- Jeremy Thurman | January 18, 2006 2:32 PM |
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Nursing Home & Elder AbuseAccording to the best available estimates, between 1 and 2 million Americans age 65 or older have been injured, exploited, or otherwise mistreated by someone on whom they depended for care or protection. ( Elder Mistreatment: Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation in an Aging America. 2003. Washington, DC: National Research Council Panel to Review Risk and Prevalence of Elder Abuse and...
- Jeremy Thurman | January 13, 2006 3:47 PM |
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FDA & Prescription DrugsSerevent, a widely prescribed inhaled asthma treatment, may pose a special risk to african americans.Newly released details from a safety trial that was stopped early reveal that respiratory-related deaths or life-threatening events occurred four times as often among blacks who took Serevent than among blacks who did not take the drug.The findings, first reported to the U.S. Food and Drug...
- Denise A. Rubin | January 12, 2006 11:52 AM |
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Defective & Dangerous ProductsFDA recommends recent Hepatitis B tests be repeated for confirmation of results.Ortho VITROS Immunodiagnostic HBsAg Confirmatory Kit RecalledOrtho-Clinical Diagnostics and FDA notified healthcare professionals and clincal laboratory staff of a class 1 recall of the HBsAg Confirmatory Kit due to an unknown component in the diluting solution used to test blood and serum samples that may produce...
- Jeremy Thurman | January 12, 2006 11:30 AM |
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Automobile AccidentsIn Tennessee, a recent case Court of Appeals case showes how unpredictable juries can be.Kenny Vaughn and Barbara Vaughn) sued Notie L. Cunningham and John Doe concerning an automobile accident that occurred in Hamilton County. The case was tried before a jury and the Trial Court entered judgment on the jury's verdict. The jury found John Doe 100% at fault for the accident, but awarded...
- Jeremy Thurman | January 12, 2006 11:18 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeA study published by the conservative American Enterprise Institute ("AEI") in August 2005 shows that capping contigent fees isn't help accomplish tort reform. In fact they found just the opposite. The AEI study found that contingent fees: 1. Give wares and incentive to screen cases and weed out the "frivolous" ones2. Motivate lawyers to win3. Improve access to the Courts for low-income...
- Jeremy Thurman | January 11, 2006 10:57 AM |
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Head & Brain InjuriesCheerleading isn't just something done on the sidelines anymore, it's become a fiercely competitive sport. Also, I have three daughters and have come to realize its an expensive and potentially dangerous sport. The number of injuries that arise from cheerleading is growing tremendously. However, there is a serious problem with cheerleading not being recognized as a sport by many schools. As a...
- Jeremy Thurman | January 10, 2006 12:00 PM |
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Head & Brain InjuriesHead trauma can affect anyone at any age. Males who are between 15 and 24 years of age have been more vulnerable because of their high-risk lifestyles. Young children and individuals over 75 years of age are also more susceptible to head injury. Falls around the home are the leading cause of injury for infants, toddlers, and elderly people. The leading causes for adolescents and adults are...
- Jeremy Thurman | January 10, 2006 10:34 AM |
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Automobile AccidentsThe reason most sports utility vehicles are unstable on the road is their high center of gravity. Although the SUV is designed to be driven off road, little is provided to protect the occupant, i.e., roll bars, roll cages or other roof crush or occupant protection.Rollovers can be caused wholly or in part by tire failures, tire tread defects (detreading or delamination), poor stability design,...
- Jeremy Thurman | January 09, 2006 10:48 AM |
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FDA & Prescription DrugsA warning from U.S. regulators linking GlaxoSmithKline Plc's diabetes drug Avandia to rare cases of swelling in the back of the eye is unlikely to have a major impact on sales, analysts said on Friday.The Food and Drug Administration highlighted the problem in a notice late on Thursday after the drug maker said it had received "very rare" reports of the swelling, known as macular oedema, in...
- Jeremy Thurman | January 06, 2006 11:05 AM |
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FDA & Prescription DrugsTheFood and Drug Administration and manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline have stated that patients taking two widely used diabetes drugs have reported blurry vision and swelling of the legs and feet. Thursday. The company said it has received "very rare" reports of new or worsening diabetic macular edema in diabetic patients who have taken Avandia or Avandamet. The swelling of the portion of the retina...
- Jeremy Thurman | January 05, 2006 10:28 AM |
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FDA & Prescription DrugsORTHO EVRA birth control is a weekly birth control patch that was introduced into the market in November 2001. In 2004, ORTH EVRA accounted for more than 9.9 million prescriptions with sales topping a staggering $411 million. However, in November 2005, the FDA issued a black box warning label for the ORTHO EVRA birth control patch. Black box warnings are designed to highlight special problems,...
- Jeremy Thurman | January 04, 2006 2:15 PM |
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Medical MalpracticeDo you know what the term iatrogenic means? is defined as "induced in a patient by a physician's activity, manner, or therapy. Used especially to pertain to a complication of treatment." In the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), a Dr. Starfield has documented an estimation of how many iatrogenic caused deaths occur each year. His report shows that 106,000 deaths are the...
- Jeremy Thurman | January 04, 2006 10:25 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeWith a new wave of tort reform initiatives sweeping the country this year, I keep hearing about "Texas size" reforms. Of course, Texas is suppose to be the model for tort reform, however, it has done nothing more than abrogate the rights of injured persons. Here is an article I found that further illustrates that neither claims nor jury verdicts account for spike in malpractice insurance. The...
- Jeremy Thurman | January 03, 2006 11:52 AM |
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FDA & Prescription DrugsMedical journals are no more than "an extension of the marketing arm of pharmaceutical companies" because a large proportion of their revenue comes from drug advertisements and reprints of company funded trials, claims former BMJ editor, Richard Smith.Dr Smith, who is now chief executive of UnitedHealth Europe has argued that the medical journals sizable incomes from drug advertising is...
- Staff Writer | January 02, 2006 7:40 PM |
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Medical MalpracticeThe most recent edition of the textbook Child Neurology has just been published. Child Neurology is arguably the most authoritative textbook of pediatric neurology. The just published 7th edition debunks the myth, asserted repeatedly in the obstetrical literature, that most brachial plexus injuries occur in utero.The textbook states that "whatever scant evidence exists for a classical brachial...