LifeCare Chiropractic

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Drug Research

MAJOR PROBLEMS EXIST IN FDA APPROVAL PROCESS – (10-20-05)

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FDA Standards Good Enough for Government Work?

Unfortunately, many people here in the US have an image of the FDA as a governmental agency that is constantly on the vigil to protect an unsuspecting public from the pharmaceutical companies. Not quite so romantic.

This editorial does a nice job of outlining one of the major problems with the FDA approval process. It’s not that the FDA has lax standards, it’s just that their approval process does not have much application in the real world. Many times, in initial clinical trials of a pharmaceutical, the drug is compared to placebo in a patient that is at an extreme of a condition (the article illustrates this with Redux, which was tested in patients with severe obesity).

But in the real world, the drug reps convince physicians to prescribe for much milder conditions, thus skewing the risk benefit ratio.

Read entire article here

CONSUMER ADVERTS BANNED FOR PRESCRIPTION MEDICINES – (07-18-05)

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American Medical Association rejects proposal to ban consumer adverts for prescription medicines

Wow, now that one’s a big shocker.  If you pulled pharmaceutical funding out of the AMA and its journal, we’d see a rapid downward spiral.  Why should we ban direct to consumer advertising for drugs?

Hell, it works–study after study (not to mention the fact that the drug companies would not do it if it wasn’t effective) proves that.  Honestly, I would bet most practicing physicians do not like DTC advertising.  Pt’s many times come in thinking they need these drugs and physicians many times give in.

However, Jeff Trewhitt seems to disagree w/ me when he says, “The AMA has made exactly the right call.”  But, being thathe is a spokesman for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, I think he loses some credibility on what is a good call.

Read entire article here

REALITY OF DRUG COMPANIES REGARDING SAFETY AND SALES – (07-11-05)

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The Lessons of Vioxx — Drug Safety and Sales

I know we all have our ideas that the drug companies do an awful lot of pushing when it comes to drug sales.  But sometimes reviews like this come out that really paint the true grim picture of just how bad it is.  Illegal and many questionable tactics are common.  If this was any other industry their would be arrests and congressional hearings.  The sad part is that we are not dealing with Ford trying to lie about the highway MPG to the dealerships–this is about patients’ life, health and prosperity.  And the numbers reflect that this activity is killing more Americans than anything else on the planet.

Read entire article here

HUGE PRESCRIPTION DRUG INCREASES PRICE – (06-20-05)

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Steve Wilson Exposes Huge Prescription Drug Price Markups

While I usually stick to peer reviewed literature, I do occasionally stray and this one answered one question that has perplexed me for many years now.  How can we have competing drug stores on 3 corners of every 3rd intersection and they all thrive?  Now I guess we know how…huge profit margins!

Read entire article here

ARE YOU BEING A GUINEA PIG FOR DRUG RESEARCH? – (02-21-05)

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Assessment of medical school institutional review board policies regarding compensation of subjects for research-related injury

So your doctor refers you for a clinical study on a pharmaceutical drug (can you say “guinea pig??”).  Great, make sure you ask him if he’s getting paid–many get anywhere from $1K to $12K for finding eligible patients.  Next, read the fine print.

If you’re injured by the study, you most likely will be stuck with your own medical bills!!  In school sponsored research, if a pharmaceutical company is backing the study, 61% of the studies will pay for injury.  If there is no drug company sponsor–the number drops to a paltry 22%.  I think even the guinea pigs end up with free veterinary care…

Read entire article here

WHY SPEND ON DRUGS WHEN NATURAL COMPOUNDS CAN DO WONDERS? – (02-21-05)

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Phosphatidylinositol increases HDL-C levels in humans You need to know that the next strong push in the research for the pharmaceuticals is a drug that will inhibit lipoprotein lipase in the liver and thereby raise HDL levels. Still amazes me how much money a drug company will spend researching to find a patentable product when natural compounds exist that already work!!  Incidentally, exercise, niacin and soy are also know to increase HDL levels as well… Read entire article here

POLY-PORTFOLIO FOR SECONDARY PREVENTION – (03-06-05)

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A “poly-portfolio” for secondary prevention: A strategy to reduce subsequent events by up to 97% over five years

Ooops.  I stand corrected.  Mainstream medicine really is dumping the “one cause, one cure” model.  See–here they have combined multiple medications into a single pill to achieve a 97% CVD reduction.

However, this article does not note the some odd 10-20% of the patients that will have an adverse reaction to this polypill…

Read entire article here