Medicine and Marketing

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June 2009
- FDA: Get Off Smell-Killing Zicam Nasal Spray, Now
  
  Wall Street Journal | Jun 16, 09 12:47 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Food and Drug Administration is calling on consumers to stop using Zicam nasal treatments because they can permanently kill the sense of smell, the Wall Street Journal reports. Zicam is an over-the-counter cold and allergy medication sold in several forms; customers should reject internasal products that contain zinc. The initiative comes after the agency received more than 130 reports of loss of smell. More »
May 2009
- Oprah May Be Bad for Your Health
  
  Salon | May 15, 09 11:23 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - What's good for Oprah's TV ratings might be pretty bad for your health, writes Dr. Rahul Parikh in Salon . In providing a soapbox for Suzanne Somers to tout hormone replacement therapy (which raises the risk of heart attacks and cancer) from and supporting Jenny McCarthy and her crusade against childhood vaccinations, Oprah "seems to have thrown therapeutic caution to the wind." More »
April 2009
- FDA Slaps Strictest Warning Label on Botox
  
  Bloomberg | Apr 30, 09 2:10 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Botox will now carry the Food and Drug Administration’s strictest warning for pharmaceuticals after the agency raised concerns over the risk of botulism last year, Bloomberg reports. The approval of a rival botulinum toxin for cosmetic purposes prompted the review. The toxin can cause muscle weakness and breathing difficulty, particularly in non-approved applications for muscle spasms. Botox-maker Allergan’s shares fell 3% on the news. More »
January 2009
- Drug Ads Losing Power, Study Says
  
  MSNBC | Jan 13, 09 4:30 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Maybe it's the extensive warnings at the end of drug commercials, but few Americans request prescription drugs by name, a new study shows. In Colorado, only 3.5% of patients—half the number of 2003—requested specific medicine from doctors. This is despite more than $5 billion pharmaceuticals pay to market drugs such as Viagra and Lunesta directly to consumers each year, MSNBC reports. More »
- Legal or Not, Bottled Smarts Are Here to Stay
  
  Time | Jan 7, 09 6:52 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - The case is stacking up in favor of "smart pills," memory- and alertness-boosting prescription drugs already used by fighter pilots, corporate execs, and students for a cognitive edge, writes Maia Szalavitz in Time . Proponents say legalization debates are moot at this point—"the genie is already out of the bottle," says one neuroscientist—and attention should shift instead to addressing opponents' main concerns: health risks, accessibility, and cost. More »
December 2008
- Jet Lag Pill Can Reboot Biological Clock
  
  BBC | Dec 2, 08 3:21 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - A new drug could allow travelers to fly past jet lag without the lingering drowsiness of addictive sedatives, the BBC reports. The drug resets natural sleep rhythms by adjusting the body’s sleep hormone, melatonin, allowing sleep to come sooner and last longer. If approved, Tasimelteon could provide welcome relief to airline crews, frequent fliers, and graveyard-shift workers. More »
November 2008
- Medicaid Spends Millions on Drugs FDA Never Approved
  
  Associated Press | Nov 23, 08 8:02 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Taxpayer dollars still pay for unapproved prescription drugs that have sold for decades and are linked to dozens of deaths, the AP reports. In the past 5 years, at least $200 million has been paid for drugs like cold and pain medications that were never approved by the FDA, yet are covered by Medicaid. The problem dates back to 1962, when a bill "grandfathered" drugs already on the market, allowing them to exist without FDA approval. More »
- Move Over, Apples: It's a Mandarin a Day Now
  
  Sacramento Bee | Nov 20, 08 11:44 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Satsuma mandarin oranges from northern California’s Placer County aren’t in the medicine aisle, but the citrus packs a potent dose of a natural antihistamine that can relieve cold and allergy symptoms, the Sacramento Bee reports. A study found that a glassful of the fruit’s juice has six times as much synephrine as orange juice, and just as much as a decongestant pill. More »
October 2008
- Half of US Docs Prescribe Placebos
  
  Chicago Tribune | Oct 24, 08 5:45 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Half of US doctors admit prescribing drugs to patients just for the placebo effect—to make them think they are taking something beneficial, reports the Chicago Tribune. As many as 56% prescribed antibiotics, painkillers, vitamins, and sedatives in cases where they didn't expect them to have any benefit physically, but thought the pills might have a positive psychological impact, according to a survey. "Frankly, I was astonished," said a bioethics expert. More »
August 2008
- The Win-Win Economics of Medical Tourism
  
  Economist | Aug 15, 08 2:28 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The spread of “medical tourism”—uninsured and underinsured patients seeking cheap health care in Southeast Asia or Latin America—has fueled fears that developing nations will divert resources from state health systems caring for their own citizens. But, the Economist argues, “if governments make the best of the boom, then medical tourism should improve the health of rich and poor alike.” More »
- New Databases Share Test Results, Prescriptions
  
  Washington Post | Aug 4, 08 1:57 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The prescriptions and medical test results of more than 200 million Americans are being assembled into commercial databases, the Washington Post reports, which then sell health "credit reports" to insurance companies trying to evaluate whether to accept an individual for coverage. The companies not only disclose drug and test information, they provide a "pharmacy risk score," based on people in a particular age group who have taken the same prescriptions. More »
July 2008
- For Skin Doctors, Cosmetics Trumps Medicine
  
  New York Times | Jul 28, 08 9:13 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - These days, dermatologists offer luxurious treatment rooms and personalized services for high-paying cosmetic clients seeking a Botox injection. But for those suffering medical conditions, the experience can be far less personal—increasingly, skin doctors are hiring assistants and nurse practitioners to handle everything from psoriasis to skin cancer. The New York Times looks at how vanity procedures are transforming dermatology and pushing serious skin care aside. More »
- More Kids Take Grown-up Drugs in Obesity Fight
  
  New York Times | Jul 26, 08 12:33 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Doctors are prescribing drugs to more and more children to treat conditions related to obesity, the New York Times reports. Data released by pharmacy plans show that medication for Type 2 diabetes has seen the biggest increase—151% from 2001 to last year. And this month, a pediatricians group recommended cholesterol-lowering drugs for kids as young as 8. More »
- Parkinson's Drugs Trigger Compulsive Behavior
  
  Chicago Tribune | Jul 14, 08 1:14 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Drugs for Parkinson's disease can be enormously beneficial, relieving patients' tremors and rigid muscles. But some patients are now complaining of an unusual side effect—extreme compulsive behavior. One woman began taking Mirapex to combat symptoms and suddenly found herself with a $200-a-day scratch-off lottery ticket habit, reports the Chicago Tribune . More »
- America: Land of Doggy Doping
  
  New York Times | Jul 10, 08 7:07 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Americans spent $49 billion on their pets last year, with an ever-growing percentage paying for treatment of behavioral issues with tailor-made psychotropics, reports James Vlahos in the New York Times Magazine . Frustrated owners are feeding dogs drugs like Reconcile—beef-flavored Prozac—-for "mental illnesses that eerily resemble human ones," from separation anxiety to compusive disorder. There are even doggy diet pills. More »
June 2008
- Lake Fights Back on Home Childbirth
  
  Associated Press | Jun 18, 08 11:50 AM CDT
  
  (AP) - Ricki Lake is firing back at a recent American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists statement that reprimanded her for promoting at-home childbirth, saying that a hospital was the "safest setting" for having a baby. In The Business of Being Born , the former talk-show host documents the delivery of her second son in the bathtub of her Manhattan apartment. More »
May 2008
- Study: Drug Ads Misleading. No, Really.
  
  Time | May 18, 08 12:18 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Drug ads are multiplying on TV, and manufacturers are starting to advertise medical equipment used in invasive procedures, so now might be a good time to wonder what the spots are telling us. Not as much as they should, Time reports. An independent researcher has found drug companies are using distractions, fast-talking, and tricks gleaned from neuroscience to downplay negative side-effects. More »
May 2007
- OxyContin Maker Pleads Guilty
  
  Associated Press | May 10, 07 12:01 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The company that makes OxyContin pleaded guilty today to misleading the public about the effects of the potent painkiller. Purdue Pharma and three executives will pay $634.5 million in civil and criminal fines. Federal prosecutors accused the firm of "misbranding" the drug, marketing it as a less addictive alternative to traditional pain meds although no evidence supported the claim. More »
- Use of Antipsychotics For Kids Soars
  
  New York Times | May 10, 07 10:23 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Times tackles the growing use of antipsychotic drugs in children, contentious because the drugs are risky and have no approved use for minors. But the trend is also questionable because it coincides with increasing payments to psychiatrists by the companies that market the drugs. In Minnesota, these payments rose sixfold from 2000 to 2005. More »
- Doctors Paid Millions To Use Anemia Drugs
  
  New York Times | May 9, 07 8:34 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Doctors are paid millions of dollars by drug companies to give their patients anemia medicine which regulators now say may be dangerous. Spurred by competiton between several similar drugs, companies reward doctors with rebates, which allow them to make a significant profit, the New York Times reports. More »