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According to a recent news feature from the New York Times, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now conducting an investigation into whether a blood testing device used during clinical trials, which we now know to be defective, led to an approval of Xarelto that never should have happened.

orangepillsXarelto is a member of new class of drugs known as new oral anticoagulants (NOACs), which are being prescribed to treat patients with a serious medical condition known as atrial fibrillation. A person with this disease has an irregular heartbeat not caused by a valve defect that can cause large blood clots to form deep in a patient’s veins. The clots can break free in a condition known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and travel through the patient’s circulatory system, where they can rupture in the lungs in what is known as a pulmonary embolism (PE), or they can block the flow of blood to the brain causing a stroke.  Continue reading

According to a recent news article from CBS, Ford Motor Company is recalling approximately 391,000 Ford Ranger pickups manufactured between the years 2004 and 2006 after man died as a result on an airbag explosion.

dashboard-air-grill-1192876-225x300The recall was announced a few days after officials in South Carolina announced that a 52-year-old man from Kershaw was killed as result one of these defective airbags. Authorities say he was driving his Ford Ranger when he crashed into a cow that was in the road. After hitting the cow, he spun into a fence. His airbag deployed at some point during this accident, either when he hit the cow or the fence. Continue reading

According to recent news from the Legal Reader, Johnson & Johnson, a major pharmaceuticals firm and medical device manufacturer, has agreed to settle as many as 3,000 of the products liability lawsuits it is now facing related to its transvaginal mesh implant device.

to-sign-a-contract-2-1221951-mThe reported amount of the settlement is $120 million, and it involves claims that its transvaginal mesh products caused pelvic erosion, extreme pain and discomfort, and internal organ damage as a result of manufacturing and design defects, as well as failure to adequately warn potential victims. While many lawsuits are still ongoing, somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 of the claims will be dismissed as part of this settlement. Continue reading

There is a good chance that the millions of people watching this year’s Super Bowl will see a commercial for Xarelto. Xarelto, with a generic name rivaroxaban, is making hundreds of millions of dollars for Beyer and Janssen (a wholly owned Johnson & Johnson subsidiary), and these companies will take any chance they can get to increased sales.

untitled-1238929-mXarelto is a often called a blood thinning medication like Warfarin (Coumadin), which is its biggest competitor, but it is actually an anticoagulant. Xarelto serves the same purpose as a blood thinner, but workers differently. A blood thinner, as the name implies, thins a patient’s blood, and this makes it more difficult for blood clots to form. There is nothing wrong with clotting when we are talking about a cut that is bleeding. The human body produces platelets to form clots to stop bleeding when a laceration occurs. Continue reading

There has been a great deal of debate about whether there is any medical benefit to taking testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). It should first be noted, we are talking about men who do not suffer from hypogonadism. Hypogonadism is a rare medical condition characterized by an extremely low testosterone level, especially during a time when the patient is still developing.

money-trading-1-1415239-mThis condition is the reason testosterone therapy was created, and it is currently the only condition for which the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved TRT in the 1970s, and this has not changed. This is not to say that the many so-called T clinics around the country are prescribing testosterone replacement therapy illegally, but they are administering for an off-label use. Continue reading

According to a recent news feature from Fierce Pharma, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) has reported huge profits over the past fiscal quarter. Their immuno-oncology division had released a drug known as Opodivo that earned $475 million in last quarter alone, but much of the company’s success also comes from a drug known as Eliquis, which raked in $602 million over the same time period.

pillsEliquis is a member of a class of drugs known as new oral anticoagulants (NOACs) that also includes Xarelto, Pradaxa and Savaysa. These drugs are used to treat various health conditions, such as deep vein thrombosis (DVTs), which is when a clot forms in the legs and then breaks free and does tremendous damage to the patient’s body. If the clot enters the lungs, or forms in lungs to begin with, it can rupture the lung itself, resulting in patient’s lungs filling with blood. This often-fatal condition is know a pulmonary embolism (PE) and is another condition Eliquis has been approved to treat. Continue reading

In the past few decades, there have been a lot of advances in surgery, and many of these advances have been the result of new technology available to assist surgeons. One major advancement that occurred in the 1990s was when doctors could use arthroscopy to perform joint surgery by making small holes with a drill instead of large open incisions used in traditional surgery.

hip implantA decade later, laparoscopes were commonly being used to allow doctors to perform surgery on a patient’s abdominal cavity without making a large cut. A laparoscopic gall bladder procedure greatly reduces the recovery time and risks associated with the procedure as compared to the older methods. Continue reading

A recent news feature form WBAL TV looks at a total hip replacement procedure as a treatment for arthritis. The article focuses on a common belief held by prospective patients that having hip pain is just a normal sign of getting older and something you with which you have to live.

untitled-1019029-mHowever, orthopedic surgeons are saying they are variety of procedures available these days, and you should not have to simply resolve yourself to living with the pain for the rest of your life. It should also be noted that many who are more active and like to run are experiencing hip pain and arthritis at a much earlier age than they were in years past, due to the increased activity. Continue reading

According to a recent news article from Cincinnati.com, a listeria outbreak, which has allegedly resulted in at least one death, has led to the complete shutdown of a Dole packaging facility in Springfield, Ohio that shipped the potentially contaminated salad mix to 23 states.

e-coli-1041951-mThe United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has said the salads have been confirmed as the cause of one death in the state of Michigan and the hospitalization of a dozen others across the United States. The cases of hospitalization have occurred in several states, including the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. One of the listeria victims was as young as three years old and one was as old as 83. Continue reading

As you are probably aware, testosterone replacement therapy has become very popular over the last ten years. While the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved testosterone replacement hormone in the 1970s, there were very few people taking the drug. The reason for this is because testosterone replacement therapy was only approved to treat a very rare medical condition known as hypogonadism.

test-tubes-1-1416029-mHypogonadism is a rare disease that involves male children and adult men with extremely low testosterone levels – to the point where it is causing a serious medical condition. This was a very rare disease in the 1970s, and it is still a rare disease in 2016. However, while the number of patients with a need for testosterone replacement therapy has not gone up, the number of men taking the drug has gone up over 400 percent to the point where hundreds of thousands of men are taking testosterone hormone on a regular basis. Continue reading

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