2013 is gone, a collection of memories never to be dealt with again. Next week, the 113th Congress returns for its second session, ideally to enact legislation throughout 2014, some of which could help consumers if they were to become law. [More]
Pharma Medicine
Valve on Kids’ Medicine Bottles Could Prevent Overdose Deaths, But Costs Money To Install So Never Mind
By 12.30.13
Acetaminophen, best known under the brand name Tylenol, is an incredibly common medication for children. While it’s safe at the recommended dose, it can be fatally harmful when taken in excess and the overdose threshold is surprisingly low. [More]
CVS Has Everything For The Busy Time-Traveling Mother In Your Life
By 12.23.13
I vaguely remember that day planners are what people once used to organize their lives before they used smartphones for that kind of thing. Apparently, no one in Jim’s town has had any need for one since 2009, so no one has noticed that they still have planners in stock from 2009. [More]
“Organic” Chicken Is Different Than “Antibiotic-Free” And “Natural” Means Nothing
By 12.19.13 — Updated: 12.19.16
Once upon a time, not very long ago, you went to the grocery store — not a big box store, or a warehouse club or online — and bought “chicken.” Now the poultry section can be a confusing mish-mash of labels that may not mean what consumers think they mean, or may not mean anything at all. [More]
GSK Theoretically Not Going To Pay Off Docs Anymore
By 12.17.13
Giant drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline announced today that it intends to stop paying doctors to prescribe more of the company’s drugs, a move that could possibly entice other large pharma companies to do the same. [More]
Big Meat & Big Pharma Pleased As Punch With FDA’s Pointless New Antibiotic Guidelines
By 12.13.13
Yesterday, the FDA came out swinging (with a Wiffle ball bat) against the medically unnecessary use of antibiotics in animal feed (by politely asking the drug companies that make piles of cash off these drugs to please stop selling so many of them to farmers just to encourage tissue growth). To demonstrate just how weak this (in)action is, one need look no further than the enthusiastic response from the nation’s huge meat and drug companies. [More]
FDA Politely Asks Drug Companies To Voluntarily Stop Providing Antibiotics For Animal Feed
By 12.11.13
In the face of numerous reports indicating that the practice of using medically unnecessary antibiotics to bulk up farm animals is leading to millions of people getting sick each year from drug-resistant pathogens, the Food & Drug Administration drew a line in the sand today and put an end to the practi– oh wait, I meant that the FDA has politely asked drug companies to voluntarily phase out sales of these drugs to farmers. [More]
This Walgreens Math Is So Fuzzy, Maybe Someone’s Messing With Customers
By 11.27.13
Kenny noticed this bit of fuzzy math while shopping at Walgreens. We know that buying in bulk can save you money, but this looks like some kind of experiment designed to test customers’ powers of observation, or possibly their desire not to buy extra drugs they won’t need and waste them. [More]
Check Your Insurance Before Getting Flu Shot At Walgreens & Other Stores
By 11.26.13
Retail pharmacies are now responsible for around 1-in-5 flu shots given to Americans each year, and many of these stores advertise low-cost or no-cost shots for customers on certain health plans. But a survey of Walgreens locations in New York City and Los Angeles finds that nearly half of the flu shot recipients at these stores are getting bad information about whether their insurance policies cover the cost of the shot. [More]
Butterball Doesn’t Know Why Its Fresh Turkeys Aren’t Getting Big This Year
By 11.19.13
When you’re a big-name turkey titan like Butterball and use phrases like “plump and juicy” on your packaging, it’s problematic when your birds don’t grow to the heft you expect in time for Thanksgiving. That’s why the folks at Butterball are looking into this year’s flock of skinnier than usual turkeys. [More]
FDA Looking To Close Loophole That Slowed Safety Warnings On Generics
By 11.8.13
Imagine for a moment the tale of two friends, Jim and Joe. Jim takes Gleemonex, which makes it feel like it’s 72 degrees in your head all the time. Joe takes a generic form of the drug, which we’ll call walmonex. If the folks who make Gleemonex realize there’s a problem with the drug, they can immediately slap a warning on the product before getting FDA approval, but if the makers of the walmonex discover that same problem, they currently have to wait for the FDA and the brand-name drug makers to review the issue. This loophole is, quite obviously, a bad thing for consumers. So it’s good news that the FDA is now looking to close it. [More]
Johnson & Johnson To Pay $2.2 Billion To Settle Deceptive Marketing Claims
By 11.4.13
For nearly a decade, various state and federal agencies have been looking into Johnson & Johnson’s marketing of the drugs Risperdal, Invega, Natrecor, and others, claiming the company was putting consumers at risk by paying kickbacks to doctors and pharmacists to suggest these drugs to patients and for pushing unapproved uses for these medications. Today, the Justice Dept. announced that J&J will pay out more than $2.2 billion to settle these claims. [More]
50 Ducks Walked Into A CVS… There’s No Punchline, Just 50 Ducks In A CVS
By 10.28.13
Do ducks prepare for the winter by gathering supplies from nearby retail outlets? No, they don’t, so it’s not really clear why about fifty ducks reportedly wandered into a CVS drugstore in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and wouldn’t leave until an employee coaxed them out with popcorn. [More]
FDA Suggests Tightening Access To Painkillers Like Vicodin
By 10.25.13
Yesterday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended that the rules regarding drugs with hydrocodone, which is often in painkillers like vicodin, be a lot tighter. It suggests that the drug be reclassified along the level of other opioid painkillers like oxycodone and morphine. [More]
We Are In The Era Of “Nightmare” Bacteria And Nobody Seems To Care
By 10.22.13 — Updated: 7.17.14
On March 5, 2013, the Centers for Disease Control issued a press released titled “Lethal, Drug Resistant Bacteria Spreading in U.S. Healthcare Facilities.” The warning that followed was dire. Drug-resistant organisms called carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, were not only spreading more rapidly through U.S. hospitals, they were becoming more resistant to so-called “last-resort” antibiotics. “CRE are nightmare bacteria,” said CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden. How nightmarish? According to data from the CDC, 1 in 2 patients who contract a bloodstream CRE infection will die. That’s an ominous statistic, but it might not even be the scariest fact about CRE. [More]
Get A Flu Shot, Get A Giant Grocery Or Drug Coupon
By 10.11.13
Retail pharmacies really, really want customers to get their flu shots there this year. How badly? They’re offering giant coupons to customers who get their shots there, ranging from 10% at grocer Safeway to 20% at pharmacy chain CVS. [More]
Walgreens Wants To Discover Your “Secret Sauce,” Use It To Inspire Brand Loyalty
By 10.1.13
To Walgreens, every customer is like a unique snowflake. Except that instead of a snowflake, we’re all filled with different kinds of special sauce, and the company is working hard to find out what yours is. It’s managed to boost its profits by rewarding customers to stay healthy, somewhat of a contradiction for a drug store that sells items to the exact opposite kind of shopper. [More]
FDA Approves First Pre-Surgical Breast Cancer Drug
By 9.30.13
While many of the hundreds of thousands of people who are diagnosed each year with breast cancer go through radiation or chemotherapy before surgery, until now drugs aimed at treating breast cancer were not FDA-approved for use in the pre-surgery stage. [More]
