Archives for September 2012

This is the last in what was once the BarMittzva Romba series aimed at Bar(ack) & Mitt. These have now been renamed as a series of Dances - Dancing as fast as we can, Dance to the Music of Time, Dancing In The Dark, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies, & Shadow Dance. Between them they reprise the plot of Pharmageddon. In Malaysia, Dancing with Pythons is an art form. … [Read more...] about Dance With Python: Healthcare In Peril

This is the fifth in the Dance series tackling the crisis in healthcare. Previous parts were Dancing as fast as we can, Dance to the Music of Time, Dancing In The Dark and Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies. We have dug a deep hole. The regulatory hoops through which a company has to jump are now so minimal that it would be easy for us to get alcohol, nicotine, benzodiazepines or … [Read more...] about Shadow Dance: Is alcohol safer and more effective than SSRIs?

This is the fourth in the Dance series tackling the crisis in healthcare. Previous parts were Dancing as fast as we can, Dance to the Music of Time and Dancing In The Dark. In 1962, politicians attempting to put things right in the pharmaceutical sector accidentally created the perfect raw material for drug development, and the basis to transform this raw material into the … [Read more...] about Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies: How prescription-only keeps doctors healthy and wealthy but not wise

This is the third in the Dance series tackling the crisis in healthcare. Previous parts were Dancing as fast as we can and Dance to the Music of Time. A further step taken in 1962 made it possible to shape the raw material from clinical trials into the perfect product. This development hinged on the strategy chosen to reward pharmaceutical companies. In 1962, the options were … [Read more...] about Dancing In The Dark: How patents make drugs the perfect objects of desire

This is the second in the Dance series tackling the crisis in healthcare. Part one was Dancing as fast as we can. Every product is built from a raw material. The raw material puts constraints on a product developer. There may be difficulties fashioning the product from the material, or the material may be costly or scarce. There is the delicate matter of how the mark-up from … [Read more...] about Dance to the Music of Time: How clinical trials help pharma invent data

This is the first of 6 Dance posts that cover the role of pharmaceuticals in the current healthcare crisis. It is based on Pharmageddon. In succeeding posts the role of clinical trials, patents, and prescription only status will be covered. The first five posts have been renamed from BarMittzva Romba; this combination of Bar(ack) and Mitt seems to have been too clever for its … [Read more...] about Dancing as fast as we can: The crisis in healthcare