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…
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…
American Veterans Can Save Healthcare
FRIENDLY FIRE Michigan Veterans Harm Reduction Summit David Healy Thanks to Derek Blumke for asking me here today. It’s a great pity not to be there in person. There is a fabulous group of speakers. Most of us sense that US Vets, more than any other group in society, may be able to move things…
Truth is Stranger than Fiction
GK Chesterton and then later Mark Twain said that Truth is Stranger than Fiction – it has to be because Fiction has to make Sense. But Fairy Tales are also Stranger than Fiction. Most of what we call Fairy Tales began life as Moral Tales – where the story might be incredible but the Truth…