We want to believe that more information will bring clarity, but we are experiencing just the opposite these days. Throughout all of this year, we’ve been deluged with data about a virus, but our overall level of understanding seems to have fallen precipitously, along with our ability to trust others,
Scott was 85 years old when he died. He was recently diagnosed with cancer and began treatment. His health rapidly declined and he was removed from life support and allowed to die, about 60 days after diagnosis. Many factors surrounded Scott’s death, but one has my attention: The fact that
The following column is my position today: “I am very careful, and hopefully humble in knowing that I don’t know everything about this disease,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, May 13, during a virtual U.S. Senate hearing. After more than 50 years in the health field, a pharmacy degree, and two
Aspirin is a common, non-prescription, drug. It was discovered in 1834 by a Swiss pharmacist. It gained popularity in the late 1890s in the form of acetylsalicylic acid. A chemist, Felix Hoffmann, at Bayer in Germany, used it to alleviate his father’s rheumatism. Beginning in 1899, Bayer distributed it to
Arthritis is commonly-treated by focusing on the symptoms: Inflamed and sore joints. When the pain relievers are stopped, the “disease” returns. Nothing in our modern medical arsenal is designed to remove the underlying causes of arthritis. Is this a problem? Yes. However, it isn’t just a problem for those with
Low-dose atropine (0.01%) is being prescribed to slow down the development of nearsightedness (myopia) in children of five to 15 years of age. Initial research papers about the treatment focused primarily on children of Asian heritage. It wasn’t long before children of other nationalities began using the mild drops with
You have the symptoms commonly associated with Multiple Sclerosis and your doctor has made the diagnosis. Maybe you’ve been told you have Relapsing-Remitting, Secondary-Progressive, Progressive-Relapsing, Fulminate, or even Benign MS. Regardless of the names, or initials added to your medical record, you now have an official medical diagnosis of Multiple
I worked in a retail pharmacy that offered regular health screenings; vision, hearing, skin cancer, and so on. During one of the events, a dermatologist was busy examining a long line of individuals who want her to look at their spots. I overheard many of the conversations and most of
Linda has had painful feet for more than a decade. A clear diagnosis eluded her doctors for years. Fortunately, she had an appointment with an older doctor who actually had practiced for most of his career in the northern parts of Europe. Rather than conducting a battery of tests, the
October 21 the headline read, “Four major drug firms reached a $260M settlement with two Ohio counties [for liability in the national opioid crisis].” Public companies bear a duty to maximize the company’s profits, referred to as their fiduciary responsibility. No CEO could get away with intentionally-reducing sales or lowering
Larry Frieders, owner and pharmacist of The Compounder Pharmacy in Aurora, received a welcome by congressman Bill Foster (D-IL, representative of the 14th District) to discuss pending regulations that will have an impact on patients all across the United States. Scheduled to be implemented December 1, Frieders explained how the
In 2012, we learned that a pharmacist was making drugs at his pharmacy and selling them all over the United States. He offered low prices and almost unlimited supplies of commercial products that were either very expensive or in short supply. The products were to be used as intravenous (into
Q: My compounded prescription always showed an expiration date of one year. The new one has for three months. Why is the pharmacist making my script last for a shorter time? I suspect the reason is for profit. If he charges me the same price for a script that is
Topical steroid creams long have been a standard treatment for skin rashes caused by infections, insect bites, and a wide array of contact irritants. They are considered relatively safe as prescription items, and some milder versions, hydrocortisone, for example, are available over-the-counter (OTC), without a prescription. Ironically, instead of relieving
There’s an enormous outbreak of African Swine Fever among Chinese hogs, and it’s disrupting global grain, meat, and financial markets in profound ways. China, which produces about half the world’s pork, has seen its biggest drop in the number of hogs over the past few months. The country’s productive herds
