Faculty Bibliography

Extraordinary Measures [Motion Picture] -- With potentially fatal illnesses, however, the prospect of one child getting better and one child languishing may be too grim for parents and doctors. [...] the use of a placebo would not be humane.\n

Scrubs [Television Program] -- If so, how long would a doctor have to wait after stopping a patient's heparin before performing an invasive test such as a bronchoscopy, in which a tissue biopsy may be taken? (A biopsy could cause excessive bleeding if the platelets don't clot properly.) Would a bronchoscopy be a routine test to evaluate breathing problems?

The authors of a London study published in the American Journal of Cardiology analyzed study data from 42,800 patients and determined that while a 7-oz fast food cheeseburger and a small milkshake increases the risk of developing heart disease by 23%, on the other hand taking most statin drugs decreases the risk by 29%. Lipitor is the world's top selling branded drug, with almost $13 billion per year in sales. The widely publicized 2008 JUPITER trial would seem to confirm this widespread use. This study gave a lot of credence to what doctors call 'primary prevention,' a justification for giving statin drugs to patients before they develop heart disease

Vaccine manufacturers are blamed for using outdated technologies, delay in shipments and contaminated batches. The reason they are so targeted is because the American public is nervous about disease, and nervous about anything they put into their bodies to protect against it. And while they are nervous, they may forget to stop criticizing long enough to sing the praises of a manufacturer when a groundbreaking new vaccine comes along. It is time for the world to applaud a drug company's effort. If a manufacturer could win a Nobel, this might be the time

Private Practice [Television Program] -- The few that are large cause potentially fatal problems in infancy -- leading to severe heart failure (requiring surgical closure) or an increase in pressure in the lungs' blood vessels (requiring lung transplant)

Mercy [Television Program] -- The reality Dr. William L. Risser, director of adolescent medicine at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, says he would consider hepatitis, pancreatitis or pelvic inflammatory disease as the most likely causes of such pain and vomiting in an 11-year-old

Avandia is in trouble. A key drug for diabetes, one of just two left on the market in its class, it is under increasing scrutiny by the FDA because of concern about its safety and risk for strokes, heart disease, and death. An ongoing prospective study comparing Avandia to Actos, a similar drug in the same class which hasn't been found to have the same risks, is expected to answer the safety question once and for all. Expect the controversy to be resolved soon -- either by restriction or removal

There is a lot of confusion about this year's flu vaccine, in part because last year's novel H1N1 mild flu pandemic broke the usual mold on flu. The flu season came very early last year, in keeping with pandemic strains, and it had a predilection for younger patients, also typical of new flu viruses. This year the US is anticipating a more typical flu season, with the novel H1N1 receding into the background. Though there appears to be an early surplus of vaccine, the author is reluctant to vaccinate early

[...] I receive $56 to care for him. Because he doesn't have secondary insurance, I sometimes write off the remaining 20%