Making medicines safer for all of us
Adverse drug events are now the fourth leading cause of death in hospitals.
It’s a reasonable bet they are an even greater cause of death in non-hospital settings where there is no one to monitor things going wrong and no one to intervene to save a life. In mental health, for instance, drug-induced problems are the leading cause of death — and these deaths happen in community rather than hospital settings.
There is also another drug crisis — we are failing to discover new drugs. [Read more…]
From the blog…
Probity Blockers and Trans Medicine
Never before in human history have so many had to entrust their lives and wellbeing to so few and been so betrayed. Inspired by Winston Churchill The further a society drifts from the truth the more it will hate those who speak it Inspired by Winston Smith Probity Blockers, a term originally coined by Dee…
Aunts, Ants and Regulators
Thanks for this post goes to Annie Bevan who for over a decade has made some amazing contributions to DH and RxISK. None more so than finding a document sitting in front of all of us for two decades that should make regulators blush, squirm and wish the ground would open and swallow them. Thomas…
Medical Assistance in Dying
After 6 deaths, 6 years ago, on November 17, two days ago, the New Zealand Herald featured an article reporting on an inquest into these deaths. The original with photos of the 6 children is linked. The text is below the link. The action in this post happens right at the bottom of the NZH…
Clearing the Deck Post-Prozac
Prozac (fluoxetine) went off patent in August 2021. In July 2000, FDA approved Sarafem (fluoxetine) for use in Pre-Menstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD). In June 2010, Lilly stopped marketing Sarafem. In August 2023, Lilly informed FDA they wished to Withdraw Sarafem and its PMDD indication. It is not exactly clear what withdrawing its PMDD indication means. Presumably…
The Prozac Era. What Next?
In 1963, Hoffman la Roche launched Valium, the brand name for diazepam, a benzodiazepine. It followed hot on the heels of Librium – chlordiazepoxide – another benzodiazepine. This was like one company producing 2 SSRIs and able to get them to numbers 1 and 2 in the charts. Arthur Sackler of Purdue and Oxycontin fame…