Mars Chocolate Company Advertises With Broccoli

The other day, over lunch, I was reading the Sept 2011 issue of the Atlantic and came upon this image on p. 37. According to the not-so-fine print, this full-page broccoli fix is sponsored by MARS chocolate, North America, website listed: www.marshealthyliving.com So we can find out about nutrition from the company that manufactures M&M’s, Snickers, Twix, MilkyWay […]

Posted in Communication, Homemaking, NutritionTagged , , , , Leave a Comment on Mars Chocolate Company Advertises With Broccoli

Big Melanoma News: FDA approves Vemurafenib (Zelboraf)

This morning the FDA announced approval of Zelboraf (vemurafenib) for treatment of some patients advanced melanoma. This is the second drug the agency has approved for this disease in recent months, after nearly two decades of a lack of new or effective therapies for melanoma. Zelboraf is a pill. This small-molecule drug is thought to […]

Posted in cancer treatment, Medical News, Oncology (cancer)Tagged , , , , , , , Leave a Comment on Big Melanoma News: FDA approves Vemurafenib (Zelboraf)

Notes on Kris Carr and Crazy Sexy Cancer

I’m half-tempted to put down yesterday’s new NYT Magazine feature on crazy sexy cancer goddess Kris Carr. Her blog was one of the first I found when I started ML, and it was the most popular link on my fledgling site until I pulled it, fearful of somehow sponsoring a too-alternative oncology perspective. But I […]

Posted in Communication, Essential Lessons, Magazine, Oncology (cancer), Public IllnessTagged , , , , , , , , 18 Comments on Notes on Kris Carr and Crazy Sexy Cancer

News on an Unusual Cancer Treatment by Heat in Surgery (Hipec)

There’s so much weird and exciting cancer news this week, it’s hard to keep up! Double-kudos to Andrew Pollack on his front-page and careful coverage in the New York Times of the hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (Hipec) technique that’s being used at some name-brand health care facilities to treat colon cancer. First, he spares no detail […]

Posted in cancer treatment, Communication, Medical News, Oncology (cancer)Tagged , , , , , , , , , 7 Comments on News on an Unusual Cancer Treatment by Heat in Surgery (Hipec)

Breast Cancer Avastin Update

This afternoon Ed Silverman of Pharmalot reports that Roche has proposed a compromise to the FDA over Avastin’s use in women with metastatic breast cancer. The drug would be approved for use only in combination with paclitaxel (Taxol), for which the data are strongest, and with special warnings. He writes: The deal includes revised labeling […]

Posted in Breast Cancer, cancer treatment, Medical News, Oncology (cancer), PolicyTagged , , , , , Leave a Comment on Breast Cancer Avastin Update

On Deaths in the New York City Triathlon, and Pushing Ourselves to Limits

Yesterday some 3900 people swam, biked and ran in New York City’s 11th annual triathlon in what might be a celebratory event of human strength and perseverance. According to this morning’s paper, a 40-year-old woman suffered a heart attack during the 1500 meter swim in the Hudson. She was hospitalized and said to be in […]

Posted in Fitness, Life in NYC, Medical NewsTagged , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments on On Deaths in the New York City Triathlon, and Pushing Ourselves to Limits

Implications of the Oncology Drug Shortage

Today’s New York Times features an op-ed by Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, on the oncology drug shortage. It’s a serious problem that’s had too-little attention in the press: Of the 34 generic cancer drugs on the market, as of this month, 14 were in short supply. They include drugs that are the mainstay of treatment regimens […]

Posted in cancer treatment, health care costs, health care delivery, Medical News, Oncology (cancer)Tagged , , , , Leave a Comment on Implications of the Oncology Drug Shortage

What is a Cybrarian?

ML learned a new word on Twitter last week: cybrarian: “a person whose job is to find, collect, and manage information that is available on the World Wide Web” My source is the on-line, ever-handy Merriam-Webster dictionary. (H/T to Dave deBronkart, who sent the term flying across cyberspace.) —– Related Posts:Twitter, The Notificator, and Old Social […]

Posted in Medical Education, Social Media, Tuesday TermTagged , , , , Leave a Comment on What is a Cybrarian?

NIH to Drop Requirement for Websites Disclosing Researchers’ Ties to Industry

Today’s word comes from Nature News that the NIH is dropping a proposed requirement for universities to disclose researchers’ financial ties to industry on websites. This is a loss for patients, who may not be aware of their doctors’ relationships with pharmaceutical companies and others who fund clinical trials, fellowships, conference junkets and other perks […]

Posted in Academic Medicine, clinical trials, Communication, Informed Consent, PolicyTagged , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment on NIH to Drop Requirement for Websites Disclosing Researchers’ Ties to Industry

Thoughts on the Death of Amy Winehouse

I feel compelled to write at least a short note on Amy Winehouse, a young woman who was found dead in her London apartment a few days ago. I don’t like to speak ill of the dead, but the truth is I was never a big fan of her music. I wasn’t fond of her […]

Posted in Medical News, Music, Psychiatry, Public IllnessTagged , , , , , Leave a Comment on Thoughts on the Death of Amy Winehouse

Mammography Update!

This week I’ve come across a few articles and varied blog posts on screening mammography. The impetus for rehashing the topic is a new set of guidelines issued by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. That group of women’s health providers now advises that most women get annual mammograms starting at age 40. Why […]

Posted in Breast Cancer, cancer screening, Medical News, Oncology (cancer), Women's HealthTagged , , , , , Leave a Comment on Mammography Update!

The Big C: Cathy Goes For Treatment

In this week’s episode, Boo!, Cathy wakes up in the morning eager and ready to start treatment on a clinical trial. The day doesn’t go well – the local treatment center doesn’t have needed information about her insurance, which can’t be tracked down on time, her 15 year old son gets in trouble at school, […]

Posted in cancer treatment, clinical trials, Communication, Oncology (cancer), TVTagged , , Leave a Comment on The Big C: Cathy Goes For Treatment

Med-Blog Grand Rounds Takes a Virtual Tour

Live, from New York, it’s med-blog Grand Rounds, volume 7, number 43! As I’m staying home for the summer, I’ve asked bloggers to share images of where they’re from, or where they go, so we could take a virtual tour together: We’ll start with a post from the Washington, DC-based Prepared Patient Forum, where Jessie […]

Posted in Blogs, Communication, Social MediaTagged , , , , , 13 Comments on Med-Blog Grand Rounds Takes a Virtual Tour

The Trouble With Placebos

The latest NEJM features a big story about a small trial, with only 39 patients in the end, on the potential for placebos to relieve patients’ experience of symptoms. This follows other recent reports on the subjective effectiveness of pseudo-pharmacology. My point for today is that placebos are problematic in health care with few exceptions. First, […]

Posted in Informed Consent, language, Medical Ethics, Medical News, Patient Autonomy, PseudoscienceTagged , , , , , , Leave a Comment on The Trouble With Placebos

Patients’ Words, Unfiltered, Medical Journalism and Evidence

Yesterday’s post was not really about Avastin, but about medical journalism and how patients’ voices are handled by the media. L. Husten, writing on a Forbes blog, cried that the press fawned, inappropriately, over patients’ words at the FDA hearing last week, and that led him to wonder why and if journalists should pay attention to […]

Posted in Breast Cancer, cancer treatment, Empowered Patient, health care costs, Medical News, Oncology (cancer), PolicyTagged , , , , , , , , 2 Comments on Patients’ Words, Unfiltered, Medical Journalism and Evidence

Vicious Verbiage Targets Cancer Patients’ Voices, at Cardiobrief

A journalist who covers medical matters of the heart grabbed my attention on the Fourth of July. In The Voice of the Patient: Time To Bring Out the Muzzle?, Larry Husten at Forbes’ Cardiobrief blog, insinuates that the women who spoke at the FDA’s Avastin hearings are simpletons. In his short strip, Husten skips the possibility […]

Posted in Breast Cancer, Communication, Empowered Patient, from the author, journalism, languageTagged , , , , , , , , , 6 Comments on Vicious Verbiage Targets Cancer Patients’ Voices, at Cardiobrief

No Room For Emotion or Exceptions to the Rule (on Avastin)

My cousin testified before the FDA oncology advisory board on Tuesday about her experience taking Avastin. This is a tragedy, to deny the only drug that is keeping a 51 year old woman alive. You have to wonder, are the advisory panel members so rational in all their behavior and choices? Are they always so […]

Posted in Breast Cancer, cancer survival, cancer treatment, clinical trials, from the author, health care costs, Medical News, Oncology (cancer), PolicyTagged , , , , , , , , , 12 Comments on No Room For Emotion or Exceptions to the Rule (on Avastin)

Cathy Wants a New Doctor and a Second Opinion

Last night the Big C returned, not surprisingly with an opening dream sequence. Laura Linney, portraying Cathy Jamison in the Showtime series, is running. The scene turns out to be a nightmare, and she awakens with a headache and her husband by her side. OK so far. Within a few minutes, Cathy’s young oncologist informs […]

Posted in cancer treatment, Oncology (cancer), Patient-Doctor Relationship, TVTagged , , , Leave a Comment on Cathy Wants a New Doctor and a Second Opinion

Gregg Allman Stars in Hepatitis C Awareness Campaign, with Merck

This weekend I learned that Gregg Allman, of the Allman Brothers, has hepatitis C. Not just that; he underwent a liver transplant last year for treatment of liver cancer. This information came my way via CNN, in a clip narrated by Dr. Sanjay Gupta. The cable TV crew filmed the old rocker in Macon, Georgia, […]

Posted in Communication, Hematology (blood), Infectious Disease, Medical News, Music, Public Health, Public Illness, TVTagged , , , , , , , , , , Leave a Comment on Gregg Allman Stars in Hepatitis C Awareness Campaign, with Merck

What’s Next on the Big C? (Hopefully a Second Opinion)

(Hopefully a second opinion) When I last wrote on The Big C, a Showtime series in which the actress Laura Linney portrays a woman in her forties with advanced melanoma, I considered some of the options she might choose when the series resumes next Monday night. At the end of Season 1, she elected to […]

Posted in cancer treatment, Communication, Empowered Patient, Oncology (cancer), TV, Women's HealthTagged , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment on What’s Next on the Big C? (Hopefully a Second Opinion)
newsletter software