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Comments

• [1] Katie from Forest Hills June 30, 2008 - 12:02PM

  Yes, I was on Byetta for about two months and was so sick I couldn't function. Once I went off it, I returned to normal.

  
  
• [2] RC June 30, 2008 - 12:16PM

  I am reading Rougue Economics by Loretta Napoleoni where she talks about the incredible return on investment for making Fake drugs of all kinds. Apparently there are a many fake malaria pills as well as other kinds of generic medicines (which are harder to monitor than the brand name pharmas).

  Did Lenord's guest look into the illegal pharma or fake drug market at all.

  Napoleoni blames it on the drug companies keeping pharma prices artificially high, creating a black market for these fake drugs.

  
  
• [3] Hesch from Lower East Side - 39-year teacher June 30, 2008 - 12:25PM

  Have you heard? Life is complicated.

  We NEED to remember, MOST problems do not have just one cause, and [possibly therefore] do not have just one solution. Even more, solutions often have more than one part, just as problems do.

  So, I am an obese diabetic with arthritis and some spinal structure problems. Start then from a wound on my shin which had not healed 6 weeks later. Eventually, my endocrinologist was switching me from one blood pressure med to another, to reduce the side-effect edema. And should I put up with the frequent, urgent urination, partly attributable to the diuretics, to avoid more side-effects?

  The standard advice, related to SOME of the probable comments to appear here and on-air, that I exercise and eat well, run up against the mobility problems (I have not been able to work for 3 years because walking is so painful) and fixed income problems. NOTE: see first line, above.

  
  
• [4] guy vantresca from Manhattan June 30, 2008 - 12:26PM

  Just look at the raw statistics issued each year by the JAMA, and other prestigious medical journals, and you get the true story. Over 2 million people suffer adverse reactions to properly prescribed pharma drugs, and each year, over 105,000 die ! It took the Vietnam War 15 years to kill 58,000 Americans. Prescription drugs do that every 5-6 months. Google DEATH BY MEDICINE, authored by NYC area doctors, including Carolyn Dean MD, ND; Martin Feldman, MD; Debora Rasio, MD; Dorothy Smith, PhD; and Gary Null, Phd

  
  
• [5] anonyme! June 30, 2008 - 01:33PM

  not too long ago it was unethical an illegal (?) to advertise directly to "consumers". And consumer medicine is a new thing - my sister in residency used her judgement while moonlighting at an hmo and didn't prescribe anything for a viral infection - she was informed next day that no matter what she has to give a pill, this is consumer medicine! You have to be your own doctor now

  
  
• [6] adam c. from nyc June 30, 2008 - 01:36PM

  sarah varney at kqed did a great story on media & health care that hits on a few of these points.

  Thu, August 17, 2006 -- 8:00pm

  Health Dialogues: Health Care and the Media

  http://www.kqed.org/programs/radio/tcr/healthdialogues/?index=31&display=10&topic=HD

  
  
• [7] anonyme! June 30, 2008 - 01:36PM

  drug companies used to court doctors till they enslaved tehm

  
  
• [8] jen from NJ June 30, 2008 - 01:37PM

  Shouldn't we be more angry at doctors for accepting corporate money and compromising patient trust? Everyone loves to attack the pharma industry, but it takes two to tango. In fact, it's even more abhorrent that a doctor would agree to this practice. I expect corporate greed - I hold my medical practitioner to a higher standard.

  
  
• [9] trustme June 30, 2008 - 01:37PM

  Not sure what the problem is -- as long as your doctor is not a complete, immoral, illiterate and incompetent MORON you should be fine.

  
  
• [10] dsfa June 30, 2008 - 01:39PM

  Claritan's got my back. No joke -- much better quality of life. Thank you, TV.

  
  
• [11] Laura from UWS June 30, 2008 - 01:43PM

  Medical writer Rebecca Chalker told me...You can re-train your brain-bladder connection........Her advice is: when you feel you want to pee, just wait ten minutes.

  People who work on certain schedules (teachers, for example) get into the habit of peeing when they have the time, rather than the need and thus get into the habit of peeing more often than necessary. The brain adjusts accordingly.

  Her book:

  Overcoming Bladder Disorders: Compassionate, Authoritative, Medical and Self-Help Solutions for . . . . .

  by Rebecca Chalker, Kristine E Whitmore

  Obviously, some people do suffer from more serious bladder disorders needing more serious medical intervention.

  Thanks for a great segment. Please follow up with more common sense medical topics like this and with legislators who might help us get better laws on the subject.

  
  
• [12] Brian from Hoboken, NJ June 30, 2008 - 01:44PM

  So when the guest is 70 years old, peeing 15 times per day and getting up 5-6 times oer night to urinate (like my mother), will she shun the overactive bladder drugs? Thye make a difference in peoples' lives. And there are no memory side effects from this class of drugs.

  
  
• [13] Laura from UWS June 30, 2008 - 01:46PM

  P.S. Insurance premiums aren't the only obstacle to doctors earning enough $. Insurance companies and Medicare do not reimburse doctors at a fair price or in a timely manner, either.

  Another MAJOR factor is the cost of office space.

  
  
• [14] Tony from NJ June 30, 2008 - 01:46PM

  Full disclosure: I work in Pharma

  Yes we market aggressively, yes we make a profit, no we are not evil. And yes we do more good than harm.If the public took more responsibility for their health they'd need less medication.

  
  
• [15] Mike from MoOnroe, NY June 30, 2008 - 01:47PM

  Wouldn't physicians' professional liability insurance be a moderating factor in this being a simple quid pro quo, i.e., the physician is still responsible for prescribing the drug?

  
  
• [16] Mantea from Manhattan June 30, 2008 - 01:55PM

  Medical diseases created by pharmaceutical firms?

  Do your research and question these book scribes more closely! On the Restless Leg Syndrome --- Does no-one at WNYC remember the "Seinfeld" episode in which Mr. Costanza complains of his wife's "Jimmy arms" hitting him while they slept; the show concludes with "Jimmy legs".

  Then there is the instance of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas who had "restless legs" due to his penchant for mountain hiking. No pharmaceutical company made that up in a TV ad. Douglas died in 1980, aged 82.

  
  
• [17] scott from New Jersey June 30, 2008 - 01:55PM

  What I find is most interesting is how much advertising of drugs goes on during the 6 o'clock news. Someone is paying for this activity.

  
  
• [18] Bill from Dover, NJ June 30, 2008 - 01:56PM

  Our son, who is now 11, had been a big NASCAR fan---classic little boy loving cars & trucks. In pre-K as they were learning the alphabet, his turn for saying a word for letter landed on 'V'---"Viagra!" he announced proudly. "Oh!" said Miss M. But she wouldn't write it on the chalk board!! His buddy and fellow NASCAR enthusiast, Tyler, chimed in "Yes, Viagra is on the car that Mark Martin drives! It is a word!" "Ok than" said Ms. M. who then wrote it on the board. My father, a Board of Education member for over 40 years picked our son up from school that day and was the 'hit' for his grandson's word coup! So yes, pharm advertising hits early---quickly---and often. Just the other day our son was singing the latest Viagra song "Viva, Viagra!" not having any idea what where the jingle came from...

  
  
• [19] anonyme! June 30, 2008 - 01:59PM

  My Columbia (U) cardiologist knows damn well that lipitor is utterly inappropriate for me but he had the nerve to suggest it

  
  
• [20] Michael from Brooklyn June 30, 2008 - 02:01PM

  My favorite example of this was waiting an hour and a half to see a doctor because the entire office had ground to a halt while they ate the catered lunch from the drug rep...I left with five (!) prescriptions for some minor bowel irritation (they called it Irritable Bowel Syndrome)...I threw them away and stopped eating fried or spicy food for a while and it went away.

  
  
• [21] anonyme! June 30, 2008 - 02:02PM

  alot of doctors are up to their ears in debt before they even hang their shingles.

  There are no respected professionals anymore - the corporations have too much power.

  
  
• [22] Jennifer from NY June 30, 2008 - 02:04PM

  Re: generic meds

  I've got a number of friends who went on generic antidepressants. The generics didn't work as well. None of us are sure of why this is--are the formulas of generics altered slightly from the name brand? (This happened with the generic for Wellbutrin in every case.)

  I do have to say that I'm extremely grateful for Effexor XR. It literally saved my life. I tried tapering off and became suicidal within two weeks, though none of my triggers for depression were active (it was in fact one of the best times of my life--I'd just gotten engaged). Went back to the higher dosage and within a week was at my nondepressed state again. I've obviously got biochemical issues, and was diagnosed as such in the hospital. I've been on the meds for 11 years now. I call them my brain vitamins whenever I get frustrated with the fact I'll have to be on meds.

  But I've never used the meds as a substitute for therapy to get better. Both are needed, at least to a point. If you need the meds. Not everyone does.

  And I thank god for the medication that relieves migraines. I've gone from taking a med when I have a migraine to a preventative. I take Topamax, which at high doses has some pretty bad side effects. I haven't had to have it raised higher than 75 mg. yet though, so there's no memory loss. And considering I missed about 20 days of work last year due to migraines, something needed to be done.

  
  
• [23] Sam from NYC June 30, 2008 - 02:06PM

  Should also cover why the AMA is so aloof over their "professional" practitioners. One can look at the AMA is just another self-indulgent organization, not interested in whipping their members morally into shape. Or, perhaps the medical school are not putting out enough morally responsible graduates more like Marcus Welby.

  
  
• [24] EricF June 30, 2008 - 02:19PM

  lots of interesting, go stuff here AFAICT, especially on conflict of interest issues.

  question: how much follow-up study tends to be done patient on real patients after prescriptions?

  points for observations about potential for drugs to work against each other.

  however, sounds like author is conflating some distinguishable issues and over-generalizing a bit.

  for instance: RLS, periodic limb movement, etc, are real problems and can be quite serious when they cause prolonged sleep deprivation.

  however, it takes sleep studies to diagnose this serious a problem. it ain't just a metter of occational itchy, twitchy legs, it AFAIK it can't be diagnosed casually.

  the new drugs and the advertizing strike me as a mixed blessing. it's great to have drugs available that can be used on label and a choice of more than one drug. however, if this becomes a trendy diagnosis, the drugs may be over-prescribed, and when those casual applications are shown to have been unnecessary the entire problem may get trivialized.

  there's a difference between an invented disease and (sorry) knee-jerk diagnosis, over-prescription etc, even though the latter are also troubling.

  
  
• [25] EricF June 30, 2008 - 02:19PM

  re depression, etc:

  there are situations in which neurochemical and phycological problems arrise together and it may be hard to say which is cause and which is effect, or if there's a vicious cycle involved. drugs can be used to break the cycle, but may not be a replacement for other therapy. AFAICT many practictioners feel that drugs must be used in combination with talk therapy to be fully effective.

  one of the advantages of drugs can become a stealth disadvantage: expensive as they are, drugs are often cheaper than other forms of treatment and it can be tempting to use them as a cheap substitute rather than an addition.

  
  
• [26] superf88 June 30, 2008 - 09:19PM

  Tony/14

  I respect your position but disagree. Millions suffer from diseases such as asthma and gastro diseases that come directly from US govt. regulation that have been perverted by other corporations (such as truck/car/power plant pollution and food served in schools). Therefore it is right to be looking to the government for better protection against, as you imply, soulless, corporations, since that approach by govt. -- free market when it comes to regulation, taxpayer subsidies galore on the r&D side -- obviously is to be scrutinized and sometimes rejected by those of us with souls (and accompanying bodies).