Prescription For Change Blog

What Vytorin/Zetia Ads Don't Tell You

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:57:39 -0600

Last Sunday a panel of cardiologists told more than 5,000 people that high cholesterol patients shouldn�t take Vytorin and Zetia except as a last resort. Made by Merck and Schering-Plough, these widely prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs are taken by about four million Americans.

FDA Gets Moving on TV Drug Ad Study - Thanks to You

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:22:29 -0600

Can one person take on the monolithic FDA and get it to actually do something about drug safety? You bet � especially when that person is backed by 56,000 voices.

Welcome to Pharmageddon, Where Pills Make Us Sicker

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 18:24:51 -0600

Across the Atlantic, the folks over at Social Audit cooked up a neat idea: they invited people to submit a 350-word argument on �Pharmageddon� and heard from both patients and professionals.

Some Hospitals Provide Rxs for Error, Dissatisfaction

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:48:45 -0600

You may remember Dennis Quaid from The Parent Trap but nowadays he�s speaking out against medical errors...

Antidepressant meta-study sheds light, or dark, depending

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:06:01 -0600

A really long time ago, Aristotle said, �Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.�

Contaminants in pig intestines? Who knew!

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:32:47 -0600

Update on the heparin recall. Heparin is a blood thinner derived from pig intestines.

Have an opinion on off-label drug use information? Take this survey!

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 17:03:08 -0600

Survey about whether drug companies should hand out off-label drug studies to doctors.

Heparin recall ordered

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 09:25:46 -0600

Late yesterday, Baxter International ordered a full-scale recall on the blood thinner Heparin.

100 vs 1

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 09:26:35 -0600

I don�t know how many times I�ve seen the commercial where a beaver is talking to Abe Lincoln at a bus stop about some guy in a suit not being able to sleep. Or Dr. Jarvik (or his double?) rowing in a beautiful lake while telling us how Lipitor is the greatest thing since the last few blockbuster statins.

3 minutes of your time could save your life

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 17:16:58 -0600

I needed an antidote. Too many drug ads�smiling people glowing with the pleasure of their successful medical treatments. But of course, they are actors.

"The Medicated Child" sparks controversy

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 16:39:33 -0600

As a camp counselor for children with disabilities a couple years ago, I never stopped to consider that one of my bipolar campers may have been on eight different kinds of medication.

Drugmakers in hot water with NY Attorney General

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 10:23:08 -0600

A newly released study indicates that Vytorin, an expensive new cholesterol drug, is no more effective than an older drug Zocor. Although the drug makers got these results in April 2006, they failed to release them to doctors and the public--meanwhile earning $5 billion in revenue from sales of this drug last year. Sadly, we�re not shocked.

Buried data on antidepressants

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 16:42:07 -0600

The New England Journal of Medicine issued a report that said a third of FDA-registered studies on popular antidepressants went unpublished.

Drug company ads in your Inbox

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 14:40:38 -0600

If you ignore the plethora of drug ads on TV, you might want to check your email.

Free drug samples hardly help the poor

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 18:08:56 -0600

If you are poor, uninsured, non-English speaking, or an ethnic or racial minority, you are less likely to receive free drug samples, according to a first of its kind study by Harvard researchers at the Cambridge Health Alliance.