Avanir Pharmaceuticals manufactures Nuedexta, a prescription drug medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat a rare condition—pseudobulbar affect (PBA)—where sufferers experience uncontrollable laughing and crying. Yet, a recent CNN investigation has found that doctors in
In a critical victory for victims of Bair Hugger warming blanket infections, the trial judge presiding over thousands of hip and knee joint infection lawsuits ruled this week that the claims will continue against 3M over its Bair Hugger forced air warming blanket. Surgery patients…
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is actually one of the leading causes of death and disability in the United States. It is estimated that 1.7 million people sustain a TBI each year, and of that number, as many as 275,000 will be hospitalized and 52,000 will…
Dr. Julian Craig has practiced internal and pulmonary medicine for almost 30 years, he is a past president of the Medical Society of D.C. and he has overseen clinical care as the chief medical officer at United Medical Center (UMC) since 2015—a role that will…
Scientists have recently released data which shows that a drug-based therapy might actually restore breathing to individuals who are paralyzed from the neck down due to a spinal injury—until now, such patients often had to rely on a ventilator to help with breathing. How…
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 735,000 people suffer a heart attack each year in the U.S.—making heart disease the leading cause of death in America. Since the mid-1980s when the first coronary stent was successfully implanted, these tiny wire…
In 1999, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a report called To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System that brought to light the issue of hospital patients dying from medical errors; at the time is was guesstimated to be as great as 98,000…
There’s no denying that big pharma means big business—but the big question is, “who is the real benefactor?” While treating America’s ills seems like an altruistic endeavor on the surface, today’s pharmaceutical companies have gone beyond simply pioneering new treatments for age-old health problems
While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is charged with supervising a wide array of public health concerns that include blood transfusions, radiation-emitting devices, tobacco products and even cosmetics, many know the government agency for the regulation of prescription and over-the-counter dr
Strokes that occur at or near the time of birth are often overlooked as a significant contributing factor to cerebral palsy. Perinatal stroke is a known cause of long-term neurological impairment. These strokes are caused by a disruption in blood flow to a major cerebral…
Aggression and anger are common emotional and behavioral symptoms experienced by traumatic brain injury patients, making the rehabilitation process extremely difficult as relationships with rehabilitators, family and friends are strained—making readjustment to their normal lives even harder. Now, th
Mass tort cases continue to pile up for Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and their subsidiaries. So is the case with Risperdal, a treatment for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia that was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1993 and then became the…
