Archive for 2004
Direct to Consumer Advertising.
Should we allow direct to consumer advertising of prescription medications?
Even though I have been an advocate of free markets in the business of health care, I have not thought that direct to consumer advertising (DTC) is such a good idea. In my opinion, DTC of prescription medical products is inherently problematic. It is way too [...]
Vioxx? The Myth.
The myth of Vioxx.
Last month drug maker Merck pulled it’s arthritis drug Vioxx from the market after a separate study showed that it increased the risk of heart attack or stoke (but did not increase the risk of death). Now the bullshit is starting to pile up so fast, we need wings to stay above [...]
The Vioxx Myth Part II.
The myth of Vioxx part II.
My previous post makes it appear as if I am defending Merck and the drug companies. I am not. Rather I detest the process in which countless “torters” feed off the sensationalism and publicity of a side effect of a new and extremely popular drug. As far as side effects [...]
The Good and the Bad of Medical Education.
Medical hazing or the only way to become a doctor?
Some things about medical education are clearly true, a priori. One can’t learn to become a physician via book smarts alone. Medicine is an art (based on science) and an art must be learned by experience (by interning). It should logically follow then that the more [...]
To err is to . . be tired.
Tired doctors-in-training make more mistakes
Learning to become a doctor has always been brutal. For decades medical training in this country followed a gulling schedule of 100+ hour work weeks with inadequate supervision despite the obvious risks to patient care and the total lack of evidence that training doctors in this manner is the best way [...]
Malpractice Suits in America; The Numbers.
Why is your medical malpractice insurance so expensive and only getting worse? - (Via PointofLaw). Doctor Richard E. Anderson, chairman and CEO of The Doctor’s Company (a physician owned medical malpractice insurer) recently wrote “Defending the Practice of Medicine” for the Archives of Internal Medicine. It’s a good read that brings to light the true [...]
Defensive Medicine.
Defensive medicine as the cost of an aggressive tort industry - John Edwards cited a Congressional Budget Office report that the medical malpractice tort industry adds less than 1% to the total cost of health care in this country. But every physician I know would scoff at such a low figure as it does not [...]
The economics of medical malpractice litigation.
Trial lawyers fight for truth and justice (yea, right) - Bard-Parker posted excerpts from an article in the Wall Street Journal (paid subscription required) about how state caps have affected the medical malpractice industry. State laws like the one in Texas do not limit economic awards for lost productivity and income or for medical expenses. [...]
Vioxx and the tort industry.
Vioxx and why the tort industry does not work - Drug maker Merck voluntary pulled the antiarthritic drug Vioxx from the market this week after a study found a higher risk of heart attack and stroke associated with its use. At that time I bemoaned the inevitable rash of lawsuits that will come out of [...]
The Vioxx disaster. Questions of liability.
Is Merck liable for the Vioxx-cardiovascular connection? - This week pharma company Merck announced that it was pulling it’s anti-arthritis drug Vioxx from the market after preliminary data from an on-going drug trial indicated that there was a small but statistically evident increase in the rates of cardiovascular events (strokes, heart attacks) in patients who [...]
Categories
Content
Most Emailed
- Are video games to blame for mass murder? - 1 emails
- Toxic Mold Hysteria. - 1 emails
- Undervalued MDs. - 1 emails
- Lawyers out of control in south Texas. - 1 emails
- On Passing Gas and Government Health Coverage. - 1 emails
