Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD

Women & the Opioid Epidemic

By Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD | Jan 26, 2018 | Comments Off on Women & the Opioid Epidemic

The number of Americans who die from drug overdoses has doubled since 1999, and drug overdoses are now thought to be the leading cause of death among Americans under 50.1

Rx for Change — Help Your Doctor Break the Sample Habit

By Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD | Dec 12, 2017 | Comments Off on Rx for Change — Help Your Doctor Break the Sample Habit

Does your doctor give you drug samples? It’s always nice to get something for free. But, medication samples aren’t like the free samples you get at the supermarket. If you accept a cube of cheese offered to you at a grocery store, you can decide to purchase more if you like it, and walk away if you don’t.

KEEPS on Keeping On

By Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD | Nov 6, 2015 | Comments Off on KEEPS on Keeping On

The myth that menopausal hormone therapy prevents heart attack and dementia should have died a swift death after the definitive results of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) a dozen years ago.  But the concept that hormones might prevent some disease —in some women, somewhere, sometime, somehow — just keeps rising from the grave.

Hold the Statins, Stat!

By Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD | Jan 6, 2014 | Comments Off on Hold the Statins, Stat!

New guidelines released in November 2013 by the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) advised preventing heart attacks by treating cardiovascular risk factors instead of high cholesterol. Seemed like a good idea at first.

Unsafe IBS Drugs Back on the Market

By Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD | Jul 26, 2007 | Comments Off on Unsafe IBS Drugs Back on the Market

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a vague term for a vague disorder. The diagnosis is one “of exclusion,” meaning that it’s what doctors are left with when tests fail to reveal another diagnosis. IBS is a syndrome rather than a disease because a disease causes abnormal changes in tissue whereas, with IBS, the intestine looks normal but patients don’t feel normal.

Over-the-Counter Sales of Medical Records

By Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD | May 26, 2007 | Comments Off on Over-the-Counter Sales of Medical Records

In all likelihood, every time you fill a prescription, information about you is sold to a company that then resells that information to pharmaceutical companies for promotional purposes.

Prescription for Change: Over-the-Counter Sales of Medical Records

By Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD | May 1, 2007 | Comments Off on Prescription for Change: Over-the-Counter Sales of Medical Records

In all likelihood, every time you fill a prescription, information about you is sold to a company that then resells that information to pharmaceutical companies for promotional purposes. Your name is removed from your medication history, which is supposed to make it all better. Industry may know all your intimate health details, but as long as they know you as number 0178 rather than by your name, it’s all legal.

“Light” Cigarettes Carry Heavy Risk

By Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD | Jul 1, 2006 | Comments Off on “Light” Cigarettes Carry Heavy Risk

Smokers consider so-called light cigarettes to be safer than regular cigarettes. But choosing “lights” isn’t a healthier choice at all.

Getting Burned: Radiation Exposure from CT Scans

By Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD | May 1, 2006 | Comments Off on Getting Burned: Radiation Exposure from CT Scans

Do you know that radiation exposure from one “CAT” scan can be equivalent to the dose received by some survivors of the Nagasaki atomic bombing? No? Chances are, neither does your doctor.

Rx for Change: Waiting Room Activism

By Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD | Dec 12, 2005 | Comments Off on Rx for Change: Waiting Room Activism

“Even the scale I was weighed on had the name of a drug on it – a weight loss drug,” said my friend, after visiting her doctor. If it’s any consolation, the ad wasn’t directed at her.