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US medical students are exposed to big pharma marketing as early as their preclinical years. The extent of their exposure with industry is associated with positive attitudes about marketing. Students feel they are immune to bias. Many medical schools prohibit drug companies from marketing to students, but most do not. At the very least we need to have rules limiting...

When do you need a colonoscopy? An article in Annals of Internal Medicine in May of 2012 stated that there's insufficient evidence to recommend earlier or more frequent colonoscopies for people who have a first degree relative with a precancerous polyp unless the polyp is advanced. About 30-50% of people have polyps that are precancerous, but only 5-10% warrant...

The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is a government organization whose function is to develop guidelines for health screening tests. Guidelines for cervical cancer have been developed and make a lot of sense. Women 21-65 should have a routine Pap smear every three years unless they also had an HPV screen at the same time; in that case every 5 years...

MDs use what works for them rather than what is recommended by specialized boards. A review of mainstream and CAM approaches are considered.            

  According to an article published in the October 2012 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, most medical guidelines are based on opinion and weak data. They do not follow the standards set by the Institute of Medicine. In a study of 130 guidelines, fewer than half met even 10 of their 18 standards. Fewer than half stated whether conflicts of...

The American Academy of Neurology has issued new guidelines for effective treatment of painful diabetic neuropathy. It involves the use of multiple drugs that include anti-seizure medications, antidepressants, and narcotics. While it is sometimes necessary to use this toxic polypharmaceutical approach, there are newer highly effective, safe, and affordable options...

Direct to consumer ads are misleading and often outright lies. The only countries in the world allowing these ads are the US and New Zealand. The FDA is not doing a reasonable job in regulating what DTC ads can say. The goal of Big Pharma is to make money for their stockholders. Ads for "the purple pill" are exposed as outright deceptive. We need new...

A study out of the University of North Carolina Medical Center in August of 2014 studied more than 27,000 patients over the age of 65 and questioned the widsom of doing routine cancer screening tests, especially if they had a limited life expectancy. They looked at screening tests for prostate, breast, colon, and cervix in a study from 2000 through 2010 and compared...