Drugs/Medical Archive

Utah Poisioning Death Rate Blows National Average Away

February 15th, 2010. By AbiK

Go figure. The Salt Lake Tribune reported today on Utah’s death rate from poisoning—and the figures were a bit startling. According to the Utah Department of Health, there are 21.3 deaths per 100,000 residents in Utah each year. That may not seem like too many until you compare it to the national average: 11 death per 100,000.

Why so high? Well, that’s the question I imagine a lot of folks in Utah are asking themselves right about now.

You’d think there might be a bit of insight from the Utah Poison Control Center—where exposures to hazardous substances are reported. According to the Poison Center, the most common culprits are analgesics, household cleaning products and cosmetics and personal care products. But doesn’t pretty much every household across America have a bottle or two of analgesics, some household cleaners and some personal care products?

The Poison Center also indicates that pesticides have become a more prevalent issue as well—and this particular Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: poisoning death, Utah
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Hey Jillian, if Diet Pills are all it Takes to Lose Weight…

February 15th, 2010. By LucyC

Yet another diet supplement lawsuit was filed last week—this time against Jillian Michaels, “America’s Toughest Trainer,” as the Jillianweightloss.com site proclaims. 

In fact, two nearly identical lawsuits have been filed by women who allege that Ms. Michaels is guilty of false advertising around her product, Jillian Michaels Maximum Strength Calorie Control^TM. According to the product advertising on the website—”its proprietary formula restricts your calorie intake automatically.” 

Jillian Michaels, FYI, is one of the trainers who appears on the hit reality TV program “The Biggest Loser.” The show takes clinically obese people and gets them back on the road to health and happiness through diet and exercise—the two most time-trusted ways to lose weight. And the two most painful. 

So, it looks like Ms. Michaels was tapped by ThinCare International LLC to endorse several diet products made and marketed by the Utah-based company. No surprise there, that’s just business as usual. 

According to the product website, you just take two pills “Two Capsules Before Main Meals And You Lose Weight…That’s It!” Really? So why don’t they use it on the Biggest Loser? It would certainly save a whole lot of pain and suffering, which is Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Biggest Loser, diet pills, Jillian Michaels, weight loss
Posted in Drugs/Medical | 10 Comments »

Yaz, Yasmin Russian Roulette?

February 8th, 2010. By LucyC

No matter how frequently or strongly Bayer Healthcare Corp declares their oral contraceptives Yaz and Yasmin to be safe and effective—as long as they’re used according to the product labeling—it’s not preventing women from filing lawsuits against the pharmaceutical giant.

I read a news report recently that stated some 50 women in Indianapolis have filed Yaz/Yasmin lawsuits alleging their use of the contraceptive resulted in their experiencing blood clots and pulmonary embolisms in their lungs and legs, and apparently several of the women required surgery to remove their gallbladders. How did that happen, you ask? Because Yas/Yasmin—among its lengthy list of ‘side effects’ which include pancreatitis, liver and kidney failure, rapid heartbeat and arrhythmias—can also cause gall bladder disease.

What I want to know is how you avoid these serious adverse events—let’s call a spade a spade—if you take the pill according to the product labeling? How does that work? Your doctor prescribes the contraceptive presumably in the knowledge that you are a suitable candidate to take it—meaning you don’t have one of the many conditions that would preclude you from taking it including a history of heart, liver or kidney disease, and you’re not a pack-a-day gal, but you still end up in the hospital having suffered a stroke or embolism. How could you have avoided that?

Also, and this may be a fine point, if the contraceptive is known to be associated with serious adverse events—just what exactly can you do to avoid developing them?

It sounds like a game of Russian Roulette to me. Maybe you’ll develop a blood clot—maybe you won’t—no way to tell really—but take a chance anyway. Worst case scenario, there are treatments, if you don’t die—right?

In a recent newspaper report, Kimberly A. Johnson developed numerous blood clots in both her lungs, which has resulted in her taking blood thinners, which are no picnic, for the last two years. She is a 37-old mother of two. The only sign she had that something was wrong, apparently, was a severe shortness of breath—which was worse at night. She told the Indystar.com in an interview that she felt like she was having a heart attack when she lay down at night. Kimberly had only been taking the contraceptive for three months. “I thought I was going to die,” she said in her interview. I’m betting if she knew how to avoid that situation she would have.

To add insult to injury Yas/Yasmin were marketed as providing health benefits. (If it sounds like snake oil…) In 2008, the FDA actually ordered Bayer to run ads correcting an earlier advertising campaign that claimed (a bit too far) that Yas/Yasmin provided health benefits. That cost them $20 million. Although the spate of Yas/Yasmin lawsuits will likely cost Bayer a good deal more, it will not be as much as it’s already cost women like Kimberly. 

Tags: Birth Control, Yasmin, Yaz
Posted in Drugs/Medical | 1 Comment »

If your Breast’s on Reglan, is your Baby on Reglan?

February 8th, 2010. By AbiK

There are women who breastfeed, and there are women who don’t. I’m not going into pro’s and con’s here (or a debate on breastfeeding 4 year olds, or public displays of breasts)—but suffice to say, if you’ve been pregnant, you have undoubtedly found yourself signed up for two things associated with the letter “L”: Lamaze and La Leche League training—otherwise known as breastfeeding 101. You may have your own opinions about both practices surrounding the joy of childbirth, but no matter. You will be highly “encouraged” to attend these classes.

Encouragement to be a “good mother” is always good; but unfortunately if you decline attendance—or worse—attend but voice some reservations or lack of desire to follow the script, you feel yourself being labelled…identified…duly noted…as the dissenter in class. Other moms-to-be will cast disparaging glances in your direction like you   JUST.   DON’T.   GET IT. And you begin to internalize the negative vibes and start to question yourself.

God bless Cindy Crawford and her at-home, no meds deliveries. I am not Cindy. And I knew that no amount of huff-huff-puff-puff timed breathing while tightly gripping a pillow was going to delude me into thinking I could breathe through the pain. Nurse!! Where’s that &#@%ing epidural I ordered up!?? 

Breastfeeding was a different story. So many studies done to back up its healthiness. The benefits of bonding. The primal back-to-nature, this-is-what-it’s-all-about thing. Reduced rates of viral infection. Smart babies. On and on. Throw some Baby Einstein in and we’ll be off the WISC IQ scoring charts! Ok, sign me up! Pump for $200? Sure—I’ll take one!

Then…uh-oh…baby’s here and…NA-DA.

All the planning gone to hell. Why? A little thing called “complications”. (Not epidural-related for you Lamaze lovers out there). And so begins the guilt. The what-ifs. The what-now’s? Is my baby already underweight??

La Leche will offer you a figurative shoulder to cry on, along with some resources and guidance. And some well-meaning websites will share with you your “options” to get that milk flowing. One option: Reglan. Reglan’s called a “prescription galactagogue”. Funny thing about Reglan though (and Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Breastfeeding, Lactation, Reglan, Tardive Dyskinesia
Posted in Drugs/Medical, Emerging Issues | 4 Comments »

The Research on Reglan

February 3rd, 2010. By janem

Sixteen years ago, the Health Research Group of Public Citizen published a report in its Worst Pills, Best Pills News regarding the heartburn drug Reglan and the link to tardive dyskinesia-often an incurable and irreversible disorder. But the FDA didn’t slap a black box warning on this treatment for heartburn until last February, 2009. Talk about closing the barn door after the horse has bolted…

When you consider how many people are prescribed Reglan–dispensed 6.5 million times in 2008–it’s mind-boggling that the FDA didn’t act sooner.

My friend suffers from tardive dyskinesia and it’s not a pretty sight. His eye is constantly twitching and he can barely control his jaw when he’s talking-like he’s grimacing all the time. Some people think he has Parkinson’s disease. Because of this disorder, he lost a job in retail and now works as a line cook in a chain restaurant-a job that doesn’t suit him.

My friend is 50. He doesn’t know how he got this disorder and neither does his doctor, but he does remember taking a med for heartburn years ago…

The FDA approved metoclopramide, the generic name, way back in June 1985. I wonder how many people have tardive dyskinesia and took Reglan years ago and haven’t connected the dots?

This is how Reglan works: it stimulates the muscles of the gastrointestinal tract including the muscles of the lower esophageal sphincter, stomach, and small intestine . That in turn stimulates more rapid emptying of the stomach as well as decreasing the reflux of stomach acid into the esophagus. Some patients, particularly those with diabetes, have nerve damage in the stomach and that causes delayed emptying of the stomach, resulting in heartburn and other symptoms.

I’d take heartburn over tardive dyskinesia any time. Or take another drug for heartburn!

Getting back to Public Citizen, I’m a big fan. When my doctor prescribes a new med, Worst Pills, Best Pills is my bible. You can subscribe to their website and get more current news than the FDA provides, or biased information from the drug companies.

And what about your doctor? Most of us trust our physicians to prescribe the right meds and think it unfathomable that we could be given a harmful drug. Yesterday I asked health expert Judy Norsigian of Our Bodies Ourselves to shed some light on the doctor dilemma with drugs.

She told me that many doctors don’t keep track of the latest findings and what happens with post-marketing surveillance. “Reports from the medical community usually become one of the key ways we find out about low level effects of any drugs, and not all the information from clinical trials, because there are not enough [people] involved in the trials to collect data,” Norsigian explained. ” And doctors are not always paying attention, so they aren’t even aware that there is a problem…”

All the more reason to do your own research, both online and by talking to your doctor and pharmacist about possible side effects. Another great source is the online Physicians’ Desk Reference. Just keep in mind that you can’t rely on the FDA (the “Foot Dragging Administration” as columnist Herb Denenberg calls it) to protect you.

Tags: Reglan, Reglan Side Effects, Tardive Dyskinesia
Posted in Drugs/Medical | No Comments »