Having worked as a copywriter and creative director at some of the world’s top ad agencies, including McCann Erickson (now McCann Worldgroup), I am vehemently critical of new advertising. Why? I know the tricks and how they manipulate well —…
Category: Meds
GMP vs. non-GMP: the hidden truth about your supplements
Suppose you are looking for multivitamin supplements. You pick up two containers of multivitamins and wonder which one you should get. At first glance, they have similar labels, but then you notice that one has a comment indicating that the supplement …
Doctors beware: the hidden legal risks of following CME guidelines
I have a problem with some of the continuing medical education courses offered by large health care institutions, even those like Harvard and Mayo, which have outstanding reputations for evidence-based medicine. That’s because what they teach, al…
Doctors under fire: Is the DEA turning them into drug dealers?
In the state of New York (you already know it’s going to be bad), a doctor and a pharmacist were arrested in a sting operation conducted by a joint task force of the DEA, FBI, IRS, and probably CIA and CBS, though I have no proof of the latter tw…
Why isn’t medical advertising regulated like other advertising?
As long as you live, you will never hear an article from news media contending that “America Runs On Duncan.” Why? Because the line is a marketing allegation created by the advertising company and designed to sell product. Yet news media re…
The long strange trip of psychedelic drugs
In the mid-1960s, the Grateful Dead were the house band for Ken Kesey’s Acid Tests, parties in which people were “tripping out” on LSD, parties that helped bring psychedelics into the counterculture. Psychedelic drugs have been the fo…
Clinicians should not overlook the benefits of botanicals and dietary supplements
A patient recently came to my office seeking antibiotics for her viral URI symptoms. After a shared decision-making discussion on using Echinacea (an immunostimulant with antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial effects) instead, we were able to…
Clinicians should not overlook the benefits of botanicals and dietary supplements
A patient recently came to my office seeking antibiotics for her viral URI symptoms. After a shared decision-making discussion on using Echinacea (an immunostimulant with antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial effects) instead, we were able to…
A game-changer in methamphetamine treatment
The standard treatment for methamphetamine poisoning is “sedate and wait.” There is no antidote to methamphetamine; instead, we typically aim to cover up the unwanted symptoms. We prescribe our favorite sedative, Ketamine or a B52 cocktail …
A true win for the DEA and society at large
In most physician prosecutions for treating pain or addiction, there is never any actual evidence of criminal intent. Just the nebulous argument that a doctor “ignored the risk of overdose,” “ignored the risk of addiction,” or p…
