Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research

Columnist George Will in the January 29 issue of the Washington Post first noted that “The stimulus legislation creates a council for Comparative Effectiveness Research. This is about medicine but not about healing the economy. The CER would identify (this is language from the draft report on the legislation) medical ‘items, procedures, and interventions’ that […]

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Institute of Medicine Has Announced the Next Vit D Food and Nutrition Board. Guess Who is Left Out?

Vitamin D has been called the “buzz” vitamin of 2008. It’s early 2009 and current medical research demonstrating the benefits of optimal vitamin D supplementation is still coming in. Vitamin D has now been found to help diminish age-related mental decline, and vitamin D deficiency is linked to erythropoietic protoporphyria photosensitivity, a metabolic disorder characterized […]

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“It is Imperative that FDA Take Immediate Steps” to Fix the Broken Review System for Medical Devices

The figure is staggering, the implications sobering. Senator Charles Grassley has revealed that a prominent University of Wisconsin researcher and surgeon has received $19 million over five years from Medtronic, one of the country’s largest medical device manufacturers. Sen. Grassley is investigating potential conflicts of interest in medicine.

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Wall Street Journal Article on Alternative Medicine Provokes Angry Response

The January 9 issue of the Wall Street Journal published an article by Deepak Chopra, MD, Dean Ornish, MD, Andrew Weill, MD, and Rustum Roy, PhD.  “‘Alternative’ Medicine is Mainstream” made the case that an integrative, diet-and-lifestyle approach can curb our sky-high medical bills and cure our costly medical ills.

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The Economy Is Tanking. Is This Good News for Herbal and Natural Meds?

A recent report in the Wall Street Journal said that healthcare spending grew at its lowest rate in nearly a decade in 2007, yet it swallowed an ever bigger portion of our country’s gross national product, not to mention the budgets of American families. Because of a trend toward generic medications, prescription drug spending was […]

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