One of the most prevalent causes of acute liver failure is drug induced liver injury (DILI) and it has emerged as one of the driving forces for the FDA to disapprove new drugs or withdraw existing drugs. In a post market review by the FDA, they indicated that reports of […]

They are called “nutritional supplements”, “health additives” and “body enhancers”. Whatever the name, make no mistake, these are engineered drugs. The Palm Beach Post had an editorial on Sunday related to an issue that Alyssa Diedwardo has written about a great deal. In fact, Alyssa talked in August of 2008, […]

Who protects consumers from negligently manufactured or dangerous drugs and medical devices? Is it the FDA? In part, yes and in part, no. The FDA, because of the way in which it was designed to operate, could be said to be analogous to the “fox guarding the hen house”. In […]

Levaquin (also known as levofloxacin) is a popular antibiotic that has been used for years for the treatment of upper respiratory infections, urinary tract infections, prostatitis, and bacterial infections.  It is part of a class of drugs known as fluoroquinolones, which were first marketed in the United States in 1997.  […]

Merck’s nightmare over Vioxx continues.  This is one that has cost the company dearly – on Wall Street, among physicians, in scientific circles, in the judicial system, and in the court of public opinion.  The latest blow came from the New England Journal of Medicine which published additional information regarding […]

A novel lawsuit is winding its way through the courts in St. Louis.  Thirty Missouri hospitals are pursuing claims against Altria (the parent company of Phillip Morris) and other tobacco manufacturers for the costs of medical care provided to patients with tobacco-induced diseases who were uninsured or unable to pay […]

A recent study published in Kidney International, the journal of the International Society of Nephrology, noted increasing concerns over the use of gadolinium-based contrast agents in patients with renal or liver disease.  In this article, researchers from the Oregon Health and Science University urged the use of ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron […]

A September of 2008 study published in the journal Radiology, sought to further identify those patients most at risk for the development of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) as a result of exposure to gadolinium-based contrast agents.  Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis is an incurable, devastating disease that manifests itself as significant skin […]

A very dear friend once told me to be careful what you write in a letter, because it could come back to haunt you in the future.  That advice was given to me in the early 1980’s by the CEO of a company in my hometown of Reading, Pennsylvania.  We […]

Patients who undergo shoulder, knee and ankle surgery often experience significant pain; particularly immediately post surgery. To try and manage that pain, physicians have often employed the use of pain pumps. These pumps inject pain killer into the body in a regulated fashion to minimize pain, while controlling the tendency […]