Sometimes, one reads a statement so obvious that one needs to ask, “Why didn’t I think of that?” So it was that I read on the blog of Dr David Healy a most obvious observation about medications. “Drugs can have a hundred effects … but we only test for one”. In medical...
This reversal of a commonly used phrase is a plea. A plea against the bias that leans doctors towards diagnosing and treating, even when the scientific evidence may not support it. Sure, it is expected that a doctor will diagnose and treat you, but sometimes there is...
As the year draws to a close it is interesting how three of the key themes that I have written about this year have all raised their heads. And those are 1) The medicalization of life 2) Over diagnosis from screening tests 3) Pharmaceutical companies misbehaving...
What’s your blood count? Blood pressure? Bone density? PSA? If it is abnormal, odds are that you will want it to be normal. In doing so, you are making the same leap of faith that your doctor is making when he commences treatment: that treating the numbers will...
A US appeals court has overturned a conviction of a former drug rep for encouraging doctors to prescribe a drug “off label”. The court ruled this violated the First amendment rights and that the federal government had failed to show his comments were false. I am no...
Every prescription drug (or over-the-counter medication) in your bathroom cabinet is there because it’s been evaluated in research called a clinical trial. For a basic introduction to clinical trials, let’s turn to former editor-in-chief of the prestigious New England...
