The practice of doing promotional speaking for drug companies is not new, but it has come under fire in recent years. In this MedPage Today/Journal Sentinel special report, we examine the forces behind the recent increase in the use of non-academic physicians on the “dinner speaker” tour and the impact of this type of promotion.
ATLANTA (MedPage Today) — The buzz preceding Sunday’s opening of the annual American College of Cardiology meeting is that a bumper crop of late-breaking trials is likely to yield little that will change clinical practice, but results from the interventional arena may ignite excitement here.
For newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes, waiting until lifestyle measures fail before starting metformin may jeopardize the long-term efficacy of the drug, a large clinical database analysis showed.
Giving kids the new 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine may further decrease disease burden, researchers have found.
NEW ORLEANS (MedPage Today) — Older patients with a hip fracture are more likely to die when admitted to hospitals with lower nurse staffing levels, a retrospective study showed.
Breast cancer continues to rise in Iraq, and scientists have established the Iraqi National Cancer Research Program to better understand the underlying molecular and environmental causes in an effort to curb the incidence of cancer. “Breast cancer is the most common type of malignancy recorded in the cancer registries of almost all countries within the Eastern Mediterranean Region. In Iraq, the continuous rise in the incidence rate is associated with an obvious trend to affect premenopausal women,” said Nada A.S. Alwan, M.D., Ph.D…
The family dog may not only be a friendly companion but also a reflection of community health.
Researchers have developed a rapid, multiplexed genotyping method to identify the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that affect warfarin dose.
High humidity present in bathrooms and kitchens could be degrading the vitamins and health supplements stored in those rooms, even if the lids are on tight, a new study shows. Crystalline substances are prone to a process called deliquescence, in which humidity causes a water-soluble solid to dissolve. Keeping vitamins and supplements away from warm, humid environments can help ensure their effectiveness.
MIAMI BEACH (MedPage Today) — Methotrexate appears to pose only a small risk of serious infection with long-term use, according to results of a meta-analysis reported here.