tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-653895891370775262Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:00:59 +0000This blog is an ongoing discussion about the serious flaws in our current health care system and the need for reform.http://alison-bass.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Alison Bass)Blogger82125http/alison-basscomfeedburnercomhttp://feedburner.google.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-653895891370775262.post-299562449241543291Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:05:00 +00002009-11-09T07:55:57.438-08:00In the days since the Fort Hood shooting, I have wondered whether the gunman, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, was taking antidepressants in the weeks or months before he sprayed a medical clinic with bullets, killing 13 people. I hesitated to raise that question since there is at present no evidence Hasan was on SSRI antidepressants, which have been linked to violent and suicidal actions, as I've http://alison-bass.blogspot.com/2009/11/was-fort-hood-shooter-taking.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alison Bass)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-653895891370775262.post-4481268017520516418Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:00:00 +00002009-11-02T08:38:21.971-08:00Just in case you didn't read the Saturday papers, let me call your attention to this article in The Boston Globe about the chickens coming home to roost for Amgen, the California biotech that makes Aranesp, an anti-anemia drug for people with cancer and kidney disease. The Globe's Elizabeth Cooney reports on a study published online in the New England Journal of Medicine finding that Aranesp nothttp://alison-bass.blogspot.com/2009/11/amgen-and-aranesp-one-more-example-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alison Bass)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-653895891370775262.post-2385586894411198449Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:44:00 +00002009-10-26T09:59:30.901-07:00The recent murder suicide of an elderly couple in Newton, Massachusetts brought to mind a horrific story I heard while attending the ICSSP conference in Syracuse a few weeks ago. In 2006, David Crespi, a former banking executive with no criminal record or history of violence, killed his twin five-year-old daughters, stabbing them multiple times with a kitchen knife. He then called the police and http://alison-bass.blogspot.com/2009/10/is-there-link-between-antidepressants.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alison Bass)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-653895891370775262.post-5807042833224379986Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:40:00 +00002009-10-25T07:42:37.269-07:00At the NASW annual conference this past weekend, I happened to sit next to a scientist who studies ethical violations in scientific papers. Over lunch, Harold (Skip) Garner, a professor of biochemistry and internal medicine at the Unviersity of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, told me and the other folks at our table that research shows an increase in the incidence of data manipulation in http://alison-bass.blogspot.com/2009/10/why-scientific-fraud-is-on-rise.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alison Bass)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-653895891370775262.post-5364019189319618161Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:47:00 +00002009-10-12T09:12:44.340-07:00When my son was in kindergarten, he wrestled with his classmates and bit one of them, and his teacher (who was one or two years out of school) suggested that I get him tested for "neurological issues." I ran her suggestion past my son's pediatrician, and he said that my son's behavior was well within normal range for an active five-year-old. "He doesn't need to be tested," he said. My son is nowhttp://alison-bass.blogspot.com/2009/10/pushing-back-against-drugging-of-our.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alison Bass)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-653895891370775262.post-3653082584768189696Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:07:00 +00002009-10-06T07:48:11.094-07:00A week or so ago, I gave a talk to about 120 senior citizens at Brandeis University's Lifelong Learning Institute. The crowd was largely receptive to the topic -- how American consumers have been routinely misled about the safety and effectiveness of new drugs and treatments. They asked intelligent questions, and one retired psychiatrist even stood up to say how much he regretted having taken http://alison-bass.blogspot.com/2009/10/will-new-generation-of-doctors-be-more.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alison Bass)9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-653895891370775262.post-3042462289879427686Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:05:00 +00002009-09-29T06:35:20.685-07:00A festschrift is defined by Wikipedia as "a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during his or her lifetime," usually on the occasion of the honoree's retirement. Dictionary.com offers much the same definition for this term of German origin. So it comes as bit of a surprise to see that Brown University's School of Medicine is throwing a festschrift of sorts on http://alison-bass.blogspot.com/2009/09/birds-of-feather-at-brown-university.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alison Bass)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-653895891370775262.post-8976667844866904664Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:01:00 +00002009-09-28T09:53:43.750-07:00In response to the recent storm of publicity over the failure of many medical researchers to disclose the lucrative personal payments they get from the drug and medical device companies that also fund their research, many medical journals have developed written policies requiring disclosure of such conflicts of interest. That's the good news. The bad news is that many of these new policies lack http://alison-bass.blogspot.com/2009/09/why-medical-researchers-often-fail-to.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alison Bass)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-653895891370775262.post-8566852247956015927Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:22:00 +00002009-09-21T11:20:44.948-07:00Over the years, David Michaels, the George Washington epidemiologist who is President Obama's pick to head OSHA, has developed a reputation as a fair-minded proponent of using the best available science to protect workers and the environment. As Effect Measure points out, Michaels has made important scientific contributions in the area of popcorn workers lung and beryllium poisoning. He has also http://alison-bass.blogspot.com/2009/09/obamas-osha-pick-under-fire-from-right.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alison Bass)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-653895891370775262.post-2837040411108415378Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:10:00 +00002009-09-14T13:28:24.301-07:00I just received a wrenching email from a woman in North Carolina who was prescribed a SSRI antidepressant because she was having trouble eating due to a "horrible metallic taste" in her mouth. After her blood work came back negative, her doctor decided the problem must be "emotional" and prescribed the antidepressant. Now I'm not a doctor, but I know from personal experience that a metallic tastehttp://alison-bass.blogspot.com/2009/09/why-doctors-are-still-crazy-about.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alison Bass)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-653895891370775262.post-2541694398098353774Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:45:00 +00002009-09-08T08:30:10.510-07:00Forgive me for tooting my own horn but this is such a great honor I had to post the news: Side Effects has been named a winner of the 2009 NASW Science in Society Awards. Here's an excerpt from the official press release: The winners of the 2009 Science in Society Journalism Awards, sponsored by the National Association of Science Writers, are: Alison Bass for her book Side Effects: A Prosecutor,http://alison-bass.blogspot.com/2009/09/side-effects-wins-nasw-science-in.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alison Bass)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-653895891370775262.post-9206449012780504222Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:37:00 +00002009-09-04T14:13:11.948-07:00When I was writing Side Effects, I learned that the New York State Attorney General's office had sued Pfizer for the illegal off-label marketing of Bextra, its Cox-2 painkiller. (If you'll recall, Bextra, like Vioxx, was withdrawn from the market because of evidence that it increased the risk of heart failure in patients). Sources at the AG's office told me that other prosecutors were also going http://alison-bass.blogspot.com/2009/09/pfizers-23-billion-fine-is-only-tip-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alison Bass)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-653895891370775262.post-3746297575973259170Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:24:00 +00002009-08-31T09:28:22.990-07:00I can relate to Katherine Snow Smith, the mom in Florida who wrote in the St. Petersburg Times about how she lost it with her kids one time too many. But what I can't relate to is Smith's decision that she needs to take a potent psychoactive drug to calm herself down. Smith talks about how a friend of hers had gone on a "girls' weekend" with eight mothers she casually knew: "She later told me sixhttp://alison-bass.blogspot.com/2009/08/i-can-relate-to-katherine-snow-smith.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alison Bass)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-653895891370775262.post-577183263502603736Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:05:00 +00002009-08-26T11:39:15.566-07:00Madness Radio, the radio station affiliated with Freedom Center, a nonprofit advocacy group for people with mental illness, interviewed me about Side Effects, the story behind the deceptive marketing of Paxil, and the ongoing battle to clean up corruption in the medical profession and drug industry. A podcast of the 50-minute interview, which aired today, can be found here.http://alison-bass.blogspot.com/2009/08/radio-interview-story-behind-deceptive.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alison Bass)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-653895891370775262.post-1942633043836278679Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:55:00 +00002009-08-24T09:38:17.370-07:00Many mental health professionals remain concerned that the regulatory warnings put on antidepressants in this and other countries have had a deleterious effect, possibly leading to an increase in depression and suicides among young people. This concern has been stoked by recent journal articles written by researchers with ties to the drug industry, which I've blogged about here. Now comes a http://alison-bass.blogspot.com/2009/08/new-study-warnings-on-antidepressants.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alison Bass)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-653895891370775262.post-1075193836329882459Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:54:00 +00002009-08-21T13:45:22.128-07:00It's good to see The New York Times maintain a spotlight on the widespread practice of ghostwriting in drug research. In her article today, Natasha Singer focuses on Wyeth's use of a ghostwriting firm to prepare an estimated 60 articles favorable to its hormone drugs. Wyeth's use of ghostwriters to prepare favorable studies and then find doctors willing to put their names on them is, of course, http://alison-bass.blogspot.com/2009/08/ghostwriting-in-drug-research-back-in.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alison Bass)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-653895891370775262.post-8501498321256126461Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:21:00 +00002009-08-17T11:56:55.253-07:00It looks like the Obama administration may be backing off its insistence on a public health plan option in the health care reform bill wending its way through Congress. I'm sorry to hear that because I believe that the inclusion of a government-run plan (like Medicare) is the most effective way to both reduce health care costs and provide adequate insurance to many of the 47 million Americans http://alison-bass.blogspot.com/2009/08/nows-time-to-speak-up-about-meaningful.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alison Bass)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-653895891370775262.post-4226531365299221339Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:25:00 +00002009-08-13T09:52:06.686-07:00In recent weeks, researchers with ties to the drug industry have once again tried to drum up opposition to the FDA's black box warnings on antidepressants for children and young adults. The latest dart came in an Archives of General Psychiatry study in June trumpeting a "persistent decline" in the diagnoses of depression among children and adults in the years after the FDA warned that http://alison-bass.blogspot.com/2009/08/study-confirms-that-antidepressants.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alison Bass)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-653895891370775262.post-632907982697556192Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:07:00 +00002009-08-05T08:10:56.426-07:00At a conference I attended yesterday in Boston on Reinventing Journalism, the talk was all about how online social media tools are introducing new models of sharing information and helping journalists do their jobs better. The panelists made scant reference to the financial meltdown of the mainstream press and only one speaker mentioned in passing his concern that this crisis is impairing the http://alison-bass.blogspot.com/2009/08/is-financial-meltdown-of-media-becoming.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alison Bass)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-653895891370775262.post-2175852884536553326Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:59:00 +00002009-07-24T08:26:36.628-07:00Since Congress isn't going to pass a health care reform bill any time soon, this looks like a good time to take some vacation. I will resume blogging the week of August 3.http://alison-bass.blogspot.com/2009/07/congress-puts-off-action-on-health-care.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alison Bass)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-653895891370775262.post-5075534713186659431Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:10:00 +00002009-07-21T10:45:18.548-07:00In response to my blog on Frances Collins last week, a reader pointed out that the kind of data image manipulation that Collins belatedly discovered in his own lab is more common than many scientists would like to admit: as much as 25 percent of scientific papers submitted for publication contain such image manipulation. For example, in manuscripts accepted by the American Journal of Respiratory http://alison-bass.blogspot.com/2009/07/is-scientific-fraud-more-common-than.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alison Bass)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-653895891370775262.post-2765723878229592843Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:11:00 +00002009-07-13T12:18:55.848-07:00When the news broke last week that President Obama had selected Francis Collins to be the new director of the National Institutes of Health, I didn't immediately think of this noted geneticist in connection with a case study in ethics that a visiting scientist had discussed with my health and science journalism class this past spring. It wasn't until I read The New York Times article on Collins' http://alison-bass.blogspot.com/2009/07/has-francis-collins-obamas-pick-as-nih.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alison Bass)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-653895891370775262.post-1976565558511512770Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:41:00 +00002009-07-10T06:46:00.674-07:00Just yesterday, Senators Charles Grassley and Herbert Kohl announced that language requiring the public disclosure of payments to doctors from drug and medical device companies has been included in the draft bills for health care reform now being debated in the House and Senate. In case you haven't been convinced by the parade of doctors on the take (who in some cases were found to have skewed http://alison-bass.blogspot.com/2009/07/conflicts-galore-authors-of-big-statin.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alison Bass)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-653895891370775262.post-295795767573385167Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:09:00 +00002009-06-29T07:23:20.290-07:00With the Congressional debate over health care reaching a crescendo, I find myself particularly baffled by the behavior of two influential Senators. Why, I wonder, would Sen. Max Baucus, a Democrat from Montana, and Sen. Charles Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, oppose a public health insurance option that could compete with private insurers? Baucus, after all, has worked closely on health-care http://alison-bass.blogspot.com/2009/06/money-talks-key-senators-swayed-by.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alison Bass)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-653895891370775262.post-5538174356376860135Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:35:00 +00002009-06-21T14:22:46.524-07:00We're taking advantage of the end of school to do some traveling to Philadelphia and Washington to scout out colleges for our son. And speaking of the nation's capital, it was good to see that a robust majority of Americans support a government-run health insurance plan to compete with private insurers, according to the latest poll by The New York Times and CBS. Most Americans also think http://alison-bass.blogspot.com/2009/06/most-americans-support-government-run.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Alison Bass)6