How PBMs are Hurting Your Local Pharmacy
Across the country, local pharmacies are boarding up.
Another Scary Reminder of the Superbug Crisis
More than 80 Americans across 18 states have been struck with a serious bacterial infection thanks to contaminated eye drops. Several have suffered permanent vision loss. Four have died.
Superbugs Need Their Own Moonshot Initiative
As two physicians who have devoted our lives to studying cancer, we're thrilled with President Biden's "Cancer Moonshot" initiative to halve the disease's death rate within 25 years. But it won't achieve that goal unless we act on a lesser-known health crisis.
Are "Patent Thickets" to Blame for High Drug Prices?
Americans overwhelmingly believe that prescription drugs cost too much. But they're divided about the source of the problem -- and the potential solutions.
Doctors Trained Abroad will Save Rural Health Care
Health care is growing hard to come by in rural America.
A Cornerstone of Modern Medicine on the Brink of Collapse
Roughly a century after the first antibiotics revolutionized medicine, the development pipeline for these critical drugs is on the brink of collapse.
Save Communities of Color by Getting Vaccinated
Black and Brown Americans are dying of Covid-19 at roughly three times the rate of their white peers.
Don't Neglect Long-Haul Covid in the Panic Over Delta
"Long Covid" is one of many scary phrases that have barged into our vocabulary since the pandemic upended global life.
Harvard Green Light Could Be Next Breakthrough Tool to Fight Migraine
For the millions of people who suffer from migraine or other types of serious headaches, a new drug-free, non-invasive tool is in store that can help alleviate pain.
Doctors' Critical Role in Making the Diabetes Heart Connection
One in 10 Americans lives with type 2 diabetes. Among many communities, diabetes is downplayed as "having a little sugar" and, with long family histories with the disease, dismissed as an inevitability.
Can "Adaptogens" Help Relieve the Stresses of the COVID Pandemic?
The world has been in a state of extreme stress for nearly two years now since the breakout of the COVID pandemic. Sadly, there appears to be no end in sight. We may not be able to do anything about the cause but, perhaps, there is a way to deal with the effects by adapting to the stressors, not in a psychological way; rather by ingesting aptly named herbal medicines called adaptogens. Of course, before you begin self-medicating, whether the drug is a natural medication or a chemical-based medicine, it's important that you consult your healthcare provider.
COVID-19 Showed We Need a More Diverse Doctor Workforce
Deaths related to COVID-19 were more than twice as high among Black, Latino, and Native American people as among whites in 2020, according to new research out from the National Cancer Institute.
Mark Cuban Shows How the Free Market Helps Patients
Billionaire investor Mark Cuban is known for his razzle-dazzle. Not only has he backed a long string of tech, media, and cryptocurrency companies, he also owns the Dallas Mavericks basketball team and is a TV star on "Shark Tank."
PrEP for the End of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic
The end of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States could soon be in sight.
Activists Should Stop Monkeying Around with Lifesaving Research
Alzheimer's research is a matter of life and death. But it also involves a lot of monkey business -- literally.
Yes, I Am My Brother's Keeper—And So Much More
For the first time in our lives, we have experienced a universal international event, known as Covid-19. The World Series doesn't come close to being a global event. The World Cup and the Olympics are much more global, but even these events bypass certain parts of the globe (and many around us have no interest in these sporting events). All of us, however, have been impacted by Covid-19. We have all, at times, been wearing masks, monitoring our social distancing, and discussing the pros and cons of various treatments and vaccines.
International Medical Graduates Ease the U. S. Doctor Shortage
Thousands of young doctors recently learned where they'll be spending the next few years of their lives in residency.
Prostate Drug Price Controls Come at Too High a Cost
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra is facing mounting pressure to unilaterally lower the price of high-cost medications. A group of nonprofits just petitioned him to cut the cost of six medications, including Xtandi, a popular prostate cancer medicine manufactured by Astellas, a Japanese drug company.
Superbugs Are Getting Stronger. Our Defenses Are Getting Weaker
Drug-resistant infections pose a growing threat to public health. We're not prepared to meet it.
Over The Counter Pain Medication: How To Choose The Right Drugs
With the recent front-page news about the possible hazards of pain medications, you may be taking a look at your over-the-counter (or OTC) pain medications with a wary eye. While all drugs, including those you don't need a prescription for, can be dangerous, some basic knowledge can help you avoid the pitfalls for the pain relief you need.
Hidden ER Costs Undermine Health Markets
Imagine you're traveling in a different state when, suddenly, you begin to feel severe abdominal pain. Being unfamiliar with the area and wanting to avoid hefty out-of-network bills, you call your insurance company to find an in-network hospital.
Benign Tumors Of The Cervix
Endocervical polypsEndocervical polyps are the most common benign neoplasms of the cervix. Please note that the word neoplasm refers to a cancerous growth.
Top Five FAQs About Nail Fungus
What is nail fungus?Nail fungus, also known as Onychomycosis, is an organism which digests the keratin found in your fingernails and toenails. The fingernail and toenail are naturally built to be strong barriers, and resistant to fungi and other infections.
Medical Tourism Opportunities in India
More and more people have started travelling to India for Medical Treatment and during the past year alone, over 150000 people travelled to India for their medical requirements. Medical Tourism is finally coming of age.
The Truth about C Reactive Protein and Cholesterol Lowering Drugs
You might disagree, but hear me out on this..
A Compelling Look at Pain Relief
If your back aches when you're loading groceries in the car or your hands cramp up with arthritis when you sit down at the computer, you're not alone. Although the nature, cause, and complaints vary, over one-half of Americans experience chronic or recurrent pain, a recent survey conducted by the Stanford University Medical Center found.
Toenail Fungus: Treatment and Prevention
A thick, yellowish nail with splotchy white areas is a classic presentation for a fungal toenail. In the early stages the toenail is only slightly discolored, or slightly thickened.
Traditional Treatments for Back Pain... Which Ones Work and Which Ones Don't?
When Dorothy followed the yellow brick road, she was told to do so by those who wanted her to get where she wanted go. Well as humans when we blindly follow recommendations even by individuals who have good intentions, it may not always be your best option.
Bee Propolis: Synergisitc Health Care for the 21st Centruy
For well over a century modern science has progressed at a startling rate. With this increase in knowledge has come medicinal and healthcare benefits that have seen ages peak and diseases eradicated.
Mind Altering
"It's a chemical imbalance." I've heard those words so many times in the last decade, it's becoming routine for Doctors to blame everything on it.
Kids and Medication Part I
We have all talked a lot about the problems in our educational system, about latchkey kids, about teacher turnover (50 percent of teachers quitted within the first five years on the job), psychologists over prescribing medications such as Prozac and Ritalin with our friends and families. We can all foresee a terrible problem in the future because we are feeding these drugs to kids under the age of six, their brains have not been fully formed yet and these drugs and their predecessors and competing drugs all have adverse side effects.
Serevent Side Effects Put Serevent in Top 5 Most Dangerous Drugs
Serevent is an asthma inhalation medication, a bronchodilator, that relaxes the muscles in airways. It is preventative and not effective when taken during an asthma attack.
The Power of Ice
Using ice to treat injuries is one of the oldest methods of pain control. Proven to be safe and effective at reducing swelling, relieving pain and decreasing muscle spasms, ice therapy is an easy self-care technique that anyone can administer.
What Not to Tell Your Doctor?
For many years since medicine has been established as anethical profession and gained widespread credence peoplehave believed that they could and should tell their doctoreverything even remotely pertinent to their health and thatit was held in the strictest confidence. Furthermore, howcan the physician make accurate judgments when important orsignificant information is missing? This system worked verywell until relatively recently but there now exists a breachof this confidence that people should know about and thisbreach has developed from the advent of third partyinvestigations into people's backgrounds.
Bextra and Vioxx Withdrawal Spawn Advertising Pause from Bristol Myers
Pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb has announced that they will suspend direct-to-consumer advertising for their prescription drug products for a year. This comes in the wake of the well-publicized withdrawals of Merck's Vioxx and Pfizer's Bextra, two non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that were voluntarily withdrawn from the market recently.
Protopic Cancer Risk Lawyer
The FDA issued a warning in July of 2005 on two skin creams, Elidel (pimecrolimus) and Protopic (tacrolimus) to all ages. Recent animal studies have found that Protopic causes lymphomas and skin cancers in an unknown percentage of users.
Melatonin, Sleep Enhancement, and ADHD
OverviewMelatonin is a natural hormone, which is produced and secreted by the pineal gland. Melatonin plays an important role in the regulation of many hormones in the body.
Bulk Forming Drugstore Laxatives
There are five basic types of drugstore laxatives you should be aware of. Some of these laxatives can be dangerous to use.
Sinusitis: Sinus Infection Deals a Corporate KO
Sinusitis and Sinus Infection Starts with a Little SniffleYes, I hear it too. A simple sniffle in a distant cubical.
Cetyl Myristoleate for Arthrtis: Science or Speculation
There are a lot of fabulous stories about Cetyl Myristoleate (also known as CMO or CM) floating across the Internet. Mine is one of them.