Newspaper Columns, Editorial
312 Articles on 11 Pages:
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May 12, 2008: Pricey Prescriptions No Longer Political Hot Potato
The high cost of prescription medicines used to be a hot-button campaign issue. Electioneering politicians would empathize loudly with senior citizens who had to choose between buying groceries and paying for pills. You won’t hear about prescription drug prices during...
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May 5, 2008: Questions Remain Despite FDA Report
For years, the FDA has reassured everyone who prescribes, dispenses or pays for prescription medicine that generic drugs are absolutely equivalent to brand-name drugs. Because brand name medications are so expensive, most people embrace the opportunity to save money. If...
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April 28, 2008: Is Low Cholesterol Bad for the Brain?
What may be good for the heart could be bad for the brain. Lowering cholesterol, especially bad LDL cholesterol, appears to reduce the risk of heart attacks. But new studies suggest that very low cholesterol might pose unexpected problems for...
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April 21, 2008: Medical System Stresses Doctor-Patient Relationship
Doctors go into medicine because they want to help people. They put in extraordinarily long hours during their training that no other profession is expected to endure.Caring and compassionate physicians are challenged these days by a medical system that is...
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April 14, 2008: Popular Drugs Are Linked to Suicide
What should the FDA do when a drug might make someone depressed or even suicidal? The agency has wrestled with this dilemma for decades.When reports surfaced in the 1990s that the antidepressant Prozac might trigger “intense, violent suicidal preoccupation,” the...
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April 7, 2008: FDA On The Hot Seat Over Heparin Horror
Americans have been repeatedly told that we have the safest medicines in the world. That’s because the FDA has the reputation for policing our drug supply conscientiously. The recent scandal over the anticoagulant heparin, however, has many people wondering just...
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March 31, 2008: Soap Remedy Stirs Controversy
Some home remedies seem logical. Soaking fungus-infected toes in a footbath containing dilute vinegar and old-fashioned amber Listerine makes some sense. After all, fungus hates acid and the herbal oils and alcohol in Listerine may also have anti-fungal activity.Using soap...
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March 25, 2008: Is Your Medicine Safe And Effective?
Most physicians and pharmacists have a secret they don’t share with patients. The FDA is in on it and so are drug companies. One out of five of the prescriptions written in this country are for unapproved uses. Some put...
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March 17, 2008: How Effective Are Antidepressants?
In 1953 the Dean of Harvard Medical School, George Packer Berry, MD, told the students, “half of what is taught in medical school is wrong. The problem is that we don’t know which half.” Since that time, his admonition has...
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March 10, 2008: Questions About Quality Of Foreign-Made Drugs
There was a time when most of the medicines we purchased in our neighborhood drug stores were made in America. These days, though, medicines come from all over the globe. Despite the high cost of prescription drugs, generic manufacturers compete...
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March 3, 2008: Beware Celebrities Pitching Prescriptions
Americans are awed by celebrities. That’s why drug companies love to have people like Sally Field selling the osteoporosis drug Boniva. Dorothy Hamill was another famous personality enlisted to advertise drugs. The Olympic ice skating champion promoted the ill-fated arthritis...
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February 25, 2008: Drug Companies Play The Numbers Game
Taking medicine is often a gamble. You are betting that the benefits will outweigh the risks. But do you realize a payoff is far from certain? Drug companies rarely have to prove that their pills actually produce the desired outcome....
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February 18, 2008: Beware Of Drug Name Mix-Ups
What’s in a name? According to William Shakespeare, not much: “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” In this famous line, Juliet complains that it is Romeo’s name that keeps them apart because...
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February 11, 2008: Attention Deficit Disorder Poses Dilemma
Parents are caught in a double bind when a child is diagnosed with ADD or ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). On the one hand, they want to help their child focus and do well in school. Treating the condition can...
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February 4, 2008: Study Creates Cholesterol Confusion
It all seemed so simple. If you just lowered your cholesterol you could reduce your risk of a heart attack or stroke. Drug companies have done their best to keep you focused on medications that bring cholesterol levels down. Turn...
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January 28, 2008: Prescription Drug Habit Hard To Kick
Savvy patients have learned that it is essential to ask physicians and pharmacists about side effects before they take any medicine. Drugs can cause reactions that range from mild discomfort to life-threatening complications. Even a thoughtful consumer may forget another...
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January 21, 2008: Don't Be A Good Patient
Doctors like “good” patients. They even have a technical term for these people. Physicians call them compliant. Bad patients are non-compliant. A compliant patient follows doctor’s orders. In most cases that means taking the pills that are prescribed without too...
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January 14, 2008: Is Death An Acceptable Drug Side Effect?
Would you take a medicine that listed death as a possible side effect? Lots of people do. If you read drug ads in popular magazines, you might end up wondering who would ever beg a doctor for a prescription. Abilify...
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January 7, 2008: This Is The Season For Dry Skin And Dandruff
Winter is hard on skin and scalp. With its low humidity, heated air pulls moisture out of the skin. This time of year millions of people suffer from dry skin, chapped lips and dandruff. Frequent hand washing also dries skin...
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December 31, 2007: Big Pharma Fails To Deliver
The pharmaceutical industry is breaking its promise to the American public. People in the United States pay far more for prescription drugs than people anywhere else in the world. Drug companies vowed to use the proceeds from pricey prescription drugs...
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December 24, 2007: Cold Remedy Ads Fool Parents
Parents ought to be outraged. They have been betrayed by drug companies as well as the Food and Drug Administration. For decades the FDA has allowed hundreds of cough and cold remedies to be sold for treating kids with sniffles...
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December 17, 2007: Cracked Fingertips Add To Winter's Misery
Compared to most health problems, cracked fingertips seem trivial. But anyone who has ever struggled with sore painful fingers will tell you they can turn normal daily activities into agony. A reader confided: “It is very frustrating and sometimes depressing...
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December 10, 2007: Stop-Smoking Drug Linked To Suicidal Thoughts
We first heard about the stop-smoking drug Chantix earlier this year. A physician called our syndicated radio show in February to tell us that this pill was working miracles for his patients. He was extremely enthusiastic. Anything that can help...
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December 3, 2007: Quinine Ban Spotlights Remedies For Leg Cramps
Leg cramps hurt like hell. They can wake you up out of a sound sleep and make you scream in agony. The pain can bring tears to the most stoic individual. What causes such cramps remains mysterious. And doctors have...
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November 25, 2007: Cold Remedies Pose a Dilemma for Parents
When a child has a drippy nose or a nasty cough, parents are caught in a bind. They want to do something to ease cold symptoms, but pediatricians and now the FDA warn against giving kids cold medicines.Research shows the...
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November 19, 2007: Cheap Drugs May Be No Bargain
“Made in America” used to be both a sign of quality and a source of pride. But Americans care much more about saving money. That’s why so many of our consumer products—from clothes to electronics to toys—are coming from China...
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November 12, 2007: Inhaled Insulin Becomes Billion Dollar Blunder
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer recently announced it will stop selling Exubera, a relatively new inhaled insulin product. The tab for this marketing mistake is $2.8 billion, one of the biggest boondoggles in the history of the industry. Exubera is not being...
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November 5, 2007: Contradictory Conclusions On Flu Shots
If you’ve been reading headlines this fall you are likely confused about flu shots. Several weeks ago you were told: “Proof Lacking for Flu Vaccine,” or “Flu Vaccine Mortality Benefits For Elderly Vastly Overstated.” One week later headlines proclaimed: “Flu...
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October 29, 2007: Analysis Raises Generic Drug Question
For decades the FDA has been telling everyone—physicians, pharmacists and patients—that generic drugs are just as good as their brand name counterparts. According to the feds there’s no need to worry about quality control just because a generic medicine costs...
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October 22, 2007: FDA Considers Easier Drug Access
Once upon a time you could buy just about anything at the neighborhood drug store. “Doc,” as the pharmacist was called a century ago, could dispense medications like marijuana or opium. The neighborhood pharmacist was frequently consulted about a range...
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