FDA Advocacy

FDA Meeting – Lorcaserin

By Kate Ryan | May 10, 2012 | Comments Off on FDA Meeting – Lorcaserin

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Meeting on Lorcaserin

Can We Turn Back the War on Women?

By NWHN Staff | May 1, 2012 | Comments Off on Can We Turn Back the War on Women?

While the opposition has a game plan, it’s the wrong one. Pro-choice advocates can build power by increasing our ability to mobilize our majority base and collaborate with allies for social and economic justice.

Rx for Change: Sorry, We’re Out of Aspirin…

By Charlea T. Massion, MD, and Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD | May 1, 2012 | Comments Off on Rx for Change: Sorry, We’re Out of Aspirin…

What’s behind the shortage of common generic medications? The number of reported prescription drug shortages in the United States nearly tripled between 2005 and 2010. At the same time that new and expensive drugs are dominating the market, proven workhorse drugs with a long history of successful use — like the two your doctor tried to order for you  — are becoming harder to obtain.

DES: 40 Years of Research With More to Learn

By NWHN Staff | Mar 1, 2012 | Comments Off on DES: 40 Years of Research With More to Learn

A drug prescribed years ago is responsible for health problems today and individuals who were exposed have absolutely no memory of it.  How could they? They were exposed before they were born!

FDA Meeting – Qnexa Safety and Efficacy

By Kate Ryan | Feb 22, 2012 | Comments Off on FDA Meeting – Qnexa Safety and Efficacy

Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee Meeting

Avast Avastin!

By Charlea T. Massion, MD, and Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD | Sep 22, 2011 | Comments Off on Avast Avastin!

Why won’t ineffective treatments go away? The story of the use of Avastin for breast cancer treatment is a cautionary tale about how pharmaceutical companies dupe health care providers and consumers into accepting — even demanding — inferior drugs, and bully Federal agencies trying to protect the public.

FDA Meeting – Naltrexone/Bupropion (Contrave)

By Kate Ryan | Dec 7, 2010 | Comments Off on FDA Meeting – Naltrexone/Bupropion (Contrave)

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Gastroenterology Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee

Friends Don’t Let Friends Take Avandia

By Charlea T. Massion, MD, and Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD | Sep 22, 2010 | Comments Off on Friends Don’t Let Friends Take Avandia

In mid-July, a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee voted to keep the diabetes drug Avandia (rosiglitazone) on the market, while simultaneously acknowledging not only that the drug increases the risk of heart attacks, but also that there are many other, safer medications available — including Actos (pioglitazone), a close sibling of Avandia made by a competing manufacturer.

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.

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.