Feb 07, 12 04:31AM
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Medicine is the easy part of health care, says veteran public health journalist André Picard. It's just plumbing with more expensive tools. When people get sick or wounded or demented or disabled, we need to hold their hands, listen to them, comfort them, help them navigate the care journey, and help them remain members of their community. We must make patient-centered care a mission, not merely a public relations catchphrase. Here's more from Picard's list of 'Five Mantras of Health Care Reform'. Continue reading
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Sign in now“…our busy lives sometimes force us to eat the wrong things at the wrong time…” Things like Activia . . .
Absolutely brilliant post! So many of my prejudices justified. Your blog is wonderful, Carolyn. I’m almost inspired to go to the fridge and chuck out those lurking yogurt pots that may be slightly past their best before dates… on the other hand, perhaps scientists could test them to see whether aging yogurt contains properties that can really make me younger than springtime, or regular, or just irritatingly perky.
Kate
Oh, “younger than springtime” – that would be nice! Should we just slather some of that past-due yogurt directly on our faces? Thank you, Kate!
[...] of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Couldn’t sound better, could it? But he has also received a great deal of money from industry sources—like artificial infant formula manufacturers Mead Johnson and Nestle Ltd. His study on optimal [...]
[...] and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the bible of mental health clinicians, have ties to the drug industry. Likewise, a 2009 study showed that 18 out of 20 of the shrinks who wrote the American Psychiatric [...]
I just received a notice from the President of Virgil Films informing me that the DVD of Miss Representation will be closed captioned when it releases in April on NetFlix etc.
That was nice of him, I thought.
[...] have eliminated palm oil from their cookies, and are offering to help the Girl Scouts USA and Girl Guides Canada do the same. The English bakers also found, unsurprisingly, that replacing unhealthy palm oil with [...]
That WAS nice – thanks for letting us know!
This is absolutely crazy!! Poor consumer!! I always thought that generics weren’t as good as name brand. Do you want a pair of Levis? or a pair of Walmart brand jeans?
I really hate to see what these Big Pharma companies do to all the pain medications that chronic pain patients need to live some kind of a quality of life. I’m sure they really care about the patient. Yea right. They don’t care. They only want the BIG money that insurance companies provide. There’s too many pills out nowadays. Many will make you sicker than you were before taking them. A pill for this, a pill for what that one causes. On and on… disgusting isn’t it? Then you see a commercial ad saying how great a med is, then all the side effects including death right behind that. Look folks.. We can’t all live forever. So stop trying to keep us alive. The world is over populated now and we are on the road to running out of food. Give us a break…
Interesting piece. I agree with all except number 3. Much of what matters (quality of life issues) can not be counted and much of what can be measured and counted does not count or matters very little (eg whether cholesterol is up point something).
Hello Dr. Joe – I suspect Picard would agree with you especially in the day to day provision of health care in a medical practice. I took #3 to mean more systemic issues (like funding unnecessary screening tests, for example).
cheers,
C.
Thanks for the mantras!
[...] of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Couldn’t sound better, could it? But he has also received a great deal of money from industry sources—like artificial infant formula manufacturers Mead Johnson and Nestle Ltd. His study on optimal [...]
Is Dr. Richard Petrella of Hamot Hospital in Erie, PA also being investigated?
Don’t know.
And yet Yaz continues to be sold for birth control, after the misleading information was removed, of course. “Lifestyle” drug information was removed but the other dangers of Yaz weren’t changed. Sigh.
“Risk of blood clots higher for oral contraceptives with certain progestins” JAMA 2011
“Certain progestins” = drospirenone
I don’t get it either. Physicians continue to prescribe this drug despite over 10,000 pending lawsuits over injuries allegedly caused by the pills, including FDA reports on at least 50 deaths of those taking Yaz or Yasmin from 2004 to 2008. Do we have another Vioxx on our hands here?
I have been amazed by this unfolding story. Says something about profitability that the company does not withdraw the drug given the number of lawsuits. Vioxx does come to mind. And it is not as if there are not other oral contraceptives available.
Or (and I do have my tongue firmly in cheek) maybe blood clots are God’s way of “punishing” those evil souls who use birth control
Hi Dr. Joe – since there ARE other oral contraceptives out there, this case is indeed mystifying. As Dr. David Kessler wrote in his FDA submission: “Bayer repeatedly overstated the benefits of the pills and downplayed their risks, engaging in extensive, systematic off-label promotion of Yasmin and YAZ for PMS, in violation of FDA law and regulations, thereby unnecessarily exposing large numbers of women to risk of thromboembolic events.” And yet this advisory panel’s members (with financial ties to Bayer) conclude that there’s no problem here. A good example of “marketing-based medicine” at its finest.
Oh, sorry. I had to stop dancing while eating my yogurt just long enough to watch this brilliant little film. Now. Back to the yogurt and dancing around the kitchen . . .
Wow! I was just reading about this bizarre place – a customer had a heart attack here right in the middle of eating a TRIPLE BYPASS BURGER. Is it too politically incorrect to observe that any person who orders this food in this place is merely getting what he deserves?
Lauren. Are you mocking these ads!?!?
I’m so happy that you posted this ad!! I had saved it myself when I first saw it in 1993. It was lost in a move and I have been trying to get it back ever since. It’s such a powerful and beautiful piece!
Well, I got most of them thanks to my advanced age (grin). I love a game!
# 14 (guessed that it was a life insurance type company) but I don’t see the answer here.
Thanks for pointing out the typo, Cave! #14′s answer was inadvertently tucked up on line #13 – fixed now. Congrats on using your advanced age and wisdom to score well here.
I was diagnosed 7 years ago with a Gleason 9 (4 plus 5), which to date has not been treated at all. I’ve done the prerequisite scans, MRSI’s, Color Dopplers, PSA’s etc,,,,but no further biopsies(believe they can be very harmful to my health,,,,sepsis and all. And to date I am doing very well, but PSA is a bit high and of some concern.
Some 2 years ago I purchase my first copy of The Big Scare by Dr. Horan; subsequently purchased many more that I present to members of our local support groups. This book gave me confidence of my strategy to basically ignore this disease, first because I had long believed that treatment was of zero or almost zero value, and 2nd that even without treatment my chance of surviving this disease long enough to expire from some other disorder was close to 80 plus percent and I would rather enjoy an excellent QOL for my remaining years and not to be incontinent and impotent; additionally not wish to die from some treatment related morbidity such as surgery related or hormone related complication.
Now I find that the book The Big Scare is no longer available except at extremely high used pricing and too that the Kindle version (was available for a short time as such) was unavailable.
Did Dr. Horan step on a few too many toes, was he bought off or just what? Any ideas from anyone as to why this very important book is gone? The facts and statistics were outstanding in presenting information that was not available in any other book that I have read… and I’ve read them all, ranging from Dr. Sturm’s to Scholz’s, to Scardino and Walsh.
I’ve called Dr. Horan. He was extremely polite but non-responsive as to my query as to if there would be a re-print of the book.
Another point of interest was that most all books had numerous reviews on Amazon, but this book in 2 years only engendered 3 reviews. What is this all about?
Any comments or information would be welcome.
Hello Rozier – very odd. I found a number of used books available for sale online (Amazon, Abe Books) but the prices are crazy ($80-120 – for a used book!) Why don’t you consider submitting your own customer review on Amazon?
I hope Dr. Horan does consider releasing another edition.
Stay healthy!
regards,
C.
Why isn’t California disciplining their dangerous doctors? Same reason the Texas Medical Board isn’t disciplining theirs.
In Texas, doctors can injure or kill their patients without accountability ever since Governor Rick Perry signed the 2003 Tort Reform Act. Tort Reform strangled the 7th Amendment and allowed it to die a slow unceremonious death.
If you want to view the collateral damage left behind Tort Reform inflicted by negligent reckless doctors, Google: Cleveland Mark Mitchell Dec 12 1950 – April 26 2008 – Youtube.
If you want to view the face of Dr Javier Andrade who dropped the ball by failing to provide the basic standard of care to my husband in a Galveston, Texas emergency room and who died shortly thereafter, watch: Why did you drop the ball Dr Andrade?
He is free to practice medicine at a New York Bariatric Group because the Texas Medical Board failed to police after their own and allowed countless of doctors to injure or kill Texans without accountability.
Are we sacrificing fundamental constitutional liberties secured in the Bill of Rights to protect a few bad doctors like Dr Javier Andrade with Tort Reform? Yes we are.
Thank you for your time,
Cilla Mitchell
A Texas nurse and vet
Fun!
I have to give my “Takes a lickin’” Timex story: I put my watch in my jeans pocket and forgot it was there, washed the jeans, dried ‘em, took out the jeans, found the watch, and tick, tick, tick! Kept on tickin’! You can imagine how sorry I was when a year or so later, I LOST it! My loyal, true, blue Timex watch! But pretty good testimonial, eh?
Now THAT is a great Timex story, Bev! You should have been doing commercials for the product.
There are many issues with pharmaceuticals but at least they are trialled before going to market. Devices are subject to very little testing by comparison. Witness the problems with PIP implants and metal on metal hips
Thanks Dr. Joe – this report makes Big Pharma look positively angelic by comparison. For our readers’ benefit, here’s more info via Reuters on the PIP breast implants and metal hips.
I just discovered this site. I have been obsessed with this subject since I was a Crestor victim several years ago. After taking a low dose of this drug for several months, I developed a laundry list of symptoms. Having not been warned about side effects, I concluded that old age was quickly setting in. Eventually, I found some websites devoted to the negative side effects of statins and realized the truth, I was being poisoned.
I went off the medication and quickly recuperated. This experience left me quite frustrated and angry. The FDA and the medical profession do not take our very real complaints seriously. Both my old doctor and my new one stated that they would not report my complaints to the FDA because they were not “serious enough”.
Must a patient wind up in the hospital or dead before anyone pays attention? The real problems we experience from drugs are anecdotal, while Big Pharma statistics are the gold standard. The fact that the FDA now lists memory problems as a possible side effect of statin drugs is because of patient complaints. How many patients actually complain? Surely those they hear from are just the tip of the iceberg.
It is not outside the realm of possibility that dietary cholesterol may not be the great satan. Gluttony, lack of exercise and heredity all play a role. No one lives forever. Can Big Pharma extend our lives and better the quality?
Ultimately each one of us has to make our own decisions about our health. What do we eat, how much do we exercise, do we take drugs to lower our cholesterol or supposedly to strengthen our bones. We must educate ourselves and be armed with our own research to better decide when and if we want to add big pharma into the equation. I for one, take their biased conclusions, with a healthy dose of skepticism and a grain of salt.
Thank you for this most informative website.
Marjorie
Thanks for sharing your perspective, Marjorie. It’s a good reminder for patients to report their own significant drug side effects (here’s the FDA MedWatch reporting info). And unless you are already a heart patient at high risk for future cardiac events, there is considerable evidence that women at low risk for cardiovascular disease should not take statins merely for the purposes of managing (intermediate endpoint) cholesterol numbers.
This is SO TRUE! Thanks for this revealing look at what works in selling – and why. I’ll never look at paint colors the same way again. Love your blog.
[...] The Ethical Nag Posted in Landscaping | Tags: [...]
Thanks, Junie. This campaign has affected how I look at paint, too!
Times change but I suspect people may not
That gun ad is particularly frightening, isn’t it?
No kidding!!! Notice how reluctant the little girl looks about touching it. At least someone’s got some sense.
And the extreme level of sexism to the point of advertising with husbands spanking their wives is horrifying as well. I guess we have come a long way. Far worse stuff like this still happens, but at least it’s not advertised and the acceptable norm!
Yes, it’s an interesting evolution. And to think that some ad agency came up with that spanking ad – which was then embraced by their clients as the height of marketing wit!
Indeed, an interesting evolution. And to think that some ad agency came up with that spanking ad – which was then embraced by their clients as the height of marketing wit!
[...] The original article appears here [...]
Dr Petrella is involved in a lawsuit against Medicor Associates and Hamot Hospital, in Erie, PA :
http://www.goerie.com/article/20120122/NEWS02/301229939/Federal-suit-claims-Hamot-heart-doctors-defrauded-Medicare
All Americans have to do is vote Republican and the good old days will return. Then we can all celebrate by throwing prune parties and shunning women of ill repute. Blarg, as Bridget Jones would say. Great post though!
YES! Pass the prunes! Wooooo hoooooo…..!
Oh please – don’t get started on the vote. I have enough trouble sleeping already!