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Monthly Archives: August 2009

Doc Gurley Interview – Good Medicine, Bad Drugs…

August 30, 2009 – 12:11 pm

Check out the Doc Gurley interview over at D. P. Lyle’s website. For those who don’t (yet) know, here’s D. P. Lyle:
D. P. Lyle, MD is the Macavity Award winning and Edgar Award nominated author of the non-fiction books, Murder and Mayhem, Forensics For Dummies, Forensics and Fiction, and Howdunnit: Forensics: A Guide For [...]

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Roundup of H1N1/Swine Flu News

August 21, 2009 – 2:47 pm

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There has been lots of news about H1N1 this week – most of it very good. First off, vaccine trials are going well so far. Second, several groups have advised that drugs and vaccines against swine flu should be reserved for the most at-risk (children, young adults and the elderly) and are not [...]

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Another Way Sugar Is Bad For You – It Helps Tumors Grow

August 20, 2009 – 8:45 am

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We all know sugar is bad for our teeth. And for our diet in general if we eat to much. And controlling the intake of sugar is critical for Diabetes sufferers.
So it probably shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that researchers are finding yet another way that sugar is bad for you.
It [...]

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Hospitals and Debt Collectors – Two Extremes

August 18, 2009 – 4:47 am

Two articles (in a series of three articles) by Doc Gurley over at SFGate have now appeared. They are an expose into the world of hospitals and debt collection policies. Medical debt collection is a nasty underbelly of hospital practices in the U.S. – and, for those without government-sponsored healthcare (such as Medicare and Medicaid) [...]

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Most Of Us Don’t Get Enough

August 16, 2009 – 2:16 pm

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Sleep – that is.  Nowadays everyone is pushing their limits even though it is well known that it is important for health. The common wisdom is that eight hours a night is what you want. Studies galore support the notion that at least seven hours a night are the right amount. Certainly I [...]

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H1N1 Vaccine Tests Underway

August 14, 2009 – 2:45 pm

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There has been a lot of rumor and gossip about H1N1 vaccine’s that are going to be used without testing – but the rumors are just that. In fact human trials are just starting for vaccines with four different companies testing vaccines. The tests and approvals have been fast tracked in [...]

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FDA Finally Cleaning House?

August 12, 2009 – 9:41 pm

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The FDA is making news again – this time it’s a mixed blessing. The new head of the FDA is clearly getting serious about the promise to clean up the FDA.
One FDA Director just resigned and another is apparently under investigation. The first one, Daniel Schultz, previously head of the medical devices division, [...]

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TV causes high blood pressure in children?

August 8, 2009 – 3:04 pm

In a study showing that television may be even worse than anyone thought for your kids, researchers have discovered that television viewing is also linked to future high blood pressure in children, regardless of whether they were overweight or not. The results were published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. The study examined [...]

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Bad Beef An Opportunity For The ‘New’ FDA

August 6, 2009 – 6:20 pm

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Once again tainted beef is in the news. Beef Packers, Inc., of Fresno has recalled 826,000 ground beef products that are possibly tainted with salmonella. There have been cases of salmonella reported in 11 states with Colorado the worst affected with over 21 cases through June and July. The ground beef was produced [...]

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Wyeth Slime Tactics

August 5, 2009 – 4:54 pm

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It turns out that a bunch of recent articles in scientific and medical journals about the benefits of hormone replacement therapy for menopausal women were paid for and secretly promoted by Wyeth Labs.
Court records, according to the New York Times, show that a total of 26 papers were ghost written and [...]

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