Healthwise Today

Vaccine-Autism Link Again Called A Fraud

bjmdjd — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 02:34:47 +0000

Thursday’s online version of the British Medical Journal has published an article by British journalist Brian Deer which once again refutes the connection between a vaccine and autism. The original study by Andrew Wakefield and his colleagues published in 1998 was later refuted by 10 of its 13 authors and retracted in the Lancet which originally published the article.

Even though Wakefield claimed that the 12 children evaluated in the original study were all normal until they received the MMR vaccine, further analysis revealed that at least 5 of the 12 had already been diagnosed with developmental problems. In interviewing the children’s parents and reviewing medical records it was found that all of the cases were somehow misrepresented. An accompanying editorial called the entire original study a “fraud.”

Wakefield was stripped of his medical license in Britain and has now moved to the United States where he has authored a book once again touting the vaccine-autism connection. This is where celebrity Jenny McCarthy gets the ammunition for her diatribes against vaccines. I fault Oprah and others for giving her a platform to spread information that has been disproved by other medical studies. There has been a large resurgence of measles in the United Kingdom where the original study first gained popularity.

Keep all of this information in mind the next time you hear one of the conspiracy theorists claiming that vaccines cause autism. bjmdjd

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The Medicare Onslaught Has Begun!

bjmdjd — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 01:32:23 +0000

The first baby boomer became eligible for Medicare this past Saturday. If you thought the system was already in financial trouble just wait. Now a baby boomer will qualify for Medicare every 8 seconds! By the year 2030 the Medicare ranks will swell from 47 million today to 80 million.

Another problem is that the baby boomers are healthier as a whole than earlier retirees and thus will be in the system longer and require more money as they age. Trying to keep pace with the sheer numbers and the expensive advances in medical care that further prolongs life will greatly strain the system.

There will be more pressure for the government to reduce Medicare benefits but groups like the AARP and the very vocal baby boomers won’t stand for that and will put up quite a fight. Whomever suggests reducing benefits or making Medicare recipients pay more will be committing political suicide.

No doubt it will be fascinating to watch. bjmdjd

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Delay On The Approval Of New Antiplatelet Drug

bjmdjd — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 07:59:00 +0000

The approval of a new antiplatelet drug which will eventually become a competitor with clopidogrel (Plavix) has been delayed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The new drug, ticagrelor, was recently approved in Europe. The drug has received quite a bit of coverage in the lay press here in the U.S.

The FDA has asked for further evaluation of the PLATO trial which is a study conducted on 18,000 patients in 43 countries around the world to evaluate the new drug. In the 1,814 patients studied in the U.S. and Canada the outcome was worse in the patients taking ticagrelor as compared to clopidogrel (Plavix).

A spokesperson for drug company AstraZeneca says that the company remains confident that the drug will be approved. bjmdjd

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Rolaids Recall

bjmdjd — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 23:21:02 +0000

I’m sorry I have been away for a few weeks but we buried my dear sweet mother this past Saturday. We had to be with her 24 hours a day since July due to her progressively worsening dementia. I certainly have a new admiration for caregivers. We are proud of the fact that we had the means and fortitude to allow her to die in her own den at home.

McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a division of Johnson & Johnson, has voluntarily recalled some Rolaids products in the U.S. and Canada due to possible product contamination.

The affected products in the U.S. include certain lots of Rolaids Extra Strength Softchews, Rolaids Extra Strength plus Gas Softchews, and Rolaids Multi-Symptom plus Anti-Gas Softchews. They also are recalling all lots of Rolaids Ultra Strength SoftChews and Rolaids Ultra Strength SoftChews plus Gas Relief distributed in Canada.

McNeil states that their investigation into the contamination occurred at a third party manufacturer. bjmdjd

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Aspirin and Plavix Together May Equal Bleeding

bjmdjd — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 07:15:13 +0000

I can remember not too many years ago cardiac patients usually took aspirin as a preventative medication (anti platelet med) and if you were at a high risk for problems (and you could afford it) you took clopidogrel (Plavix). Both excellent and fairly safe drugs if used as recommended. Not long ago it became fashionable to give patients both drugs for added protection. Is that a good idea?

This week a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine states that the risk of bleeding in these patients taking both medications is substantial and should be treated as such. Even though this approach is still safer than warfarin which is also prescribed for several cardiac problems, the risk needs to be recognized.

In this study there were 7,764 emergency room visits among the dual treated patient group and most of those were for bleeding though usually minor. There were 40,924 warfarin treated patients for bleeding which were recorded for context. Once again most of this bleeding was also minor. The bleeding risk with warfarin is rarely ignored while the risk for dual anti platelet therapy is often down played or not recognized.

While the bleeding may not usually be serious in these patients on both aspirin and clopidogrel (Plavix), the risk is real and should be taken seriously by doctors and patients alike. The authors of the study also suggest that patients should be made aware of the risk of bleeding but stress that the risk is not a reason to abandon the therapy.

If you or a loved one is on both aspirin and clopidogrel (Plavix) you may want to discuss what you might expect with your prescriber. bjmdjd

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Health Insurers May Have To Return Premiums

bjmdjd — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 06:35:03 +0000

A federal regulation was issued November 22nd which may require some health insurance companies to return part of their premiums to some of their insureds. At the end of this year the Health and Human Services (HHS) dept. will review the insurance companies medical loss data. Those companies that are spending less than 80% – 85% of their premium dollar on direct medical care will be required to issue refunds to consumers.

This medical loss ratio rule was developed by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and submitted to the HHS in response to the Affordable Care Act. Also starting in 2011 insurance companies will have to make public how they spend their premium dollars.

I wouldn’t start spending those refund checks yet. The first ones will not be issued until sometime in 2012! They could be significant though. According to the HHS, insurers in some areas are spending as little as 60% of their premium dollars on direct care. bjmdjd

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Propoxyphene Bites The Dust!

bjmdjd — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 01:12:27 +0000

It appears that one of my favorite opioid pain medications will no longer be available in the United States. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked that propoxyphene (brand names Darvon and Darvocet) be withdrawn from the U.S. Market. All generic formulations will also be withdrawn.

Some new data that has come to light shows that patients using propoxyphene are at an increased risk of cardiac rhythm abnormalities that can be serious and even fatal. This is true even at the recommended doses. Withdrawal of the drug is already underway in Europe.

Long term users of the drug are not being asked to abruptly stop their medication but to call or visit their healthcare provider to discuss a change in their treatment plan. bjmdjd

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Get That Meningitis Shot!

bjmdjd — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 02:13:40 +0000

An advisory committee of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that the vaccine given to prevent meningitis be given as a booster to 11 and 12 year olds. The previous recommendation was to give it before a young person went to college to help prevent the disease in settings like dorm rooms where transmission rates are high. The new recommendation is because the protection offered by the dose given to an infant is no longer believed to last as long as it was once thought.

A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine reports that the incidence of pneumococcal meningitis has decreased since the vaccine was introduced in 2000. It is expected that the CDC will accept the recommendation of the advisory committee. bjmdjd

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The Lower The LDL The Better

bjmdjd — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 01:45:33 +0000

The results of two new meta analyses has revealed that the lower a person’s LDL (bad cholesterol) the better. There is benefit shown without risk all the way down to an LDL of 50 mg/dL. The results were published in the Lancet this week.

While the results were based on patients with a high risk of cardiovascular disease it is felt that they hold true for people at any elevated risk level. Instead of using simvastatin 80 mg to shoot for these low levels it is felt that high doses of the newer statins like Lipitor or Crestor or a combination of simvastatin 40 mg with pravastatin 40 mg is better to lower the risk of myopathy.

Data from 170,000 patients was analyzed. bjmdjd

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Does Your Lipitor Stink?

bjmdjd — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 02:35:01 +0000

Now that’s certainly not a title I would have ever expected to write! But evidently it is a problem. I apologize for being a couple of days late writing about this but I have been tied up in a family health crisis and that had to come first.

For the third time this year the maker of the popular cholesterol lowering medication is recalling some of the product due to an unpleasant odor. This will make about 400,000 bottles of the drug that has been recalled. Supposedly the risk of serious illness is remote and the smell has been traced to a chemical used to treat the wooden pallets on which the bottles are stored and shipped in Puerto Rico. Some patients have reported some GI symptoms after using the affected product.

The company announced that there may be more recalls but if any patient encounters some of this moldy smelling Lipitor they can have it replaced at no charge at their pharmacy. bjmdjd

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