Archives

Archive for June, 2010

the perfect storm…

As one ages, the word history takes on a different meaning, at least it has for me. As a young person, history meant something like it was before my time. But now, it includes my time too. And so my preoccupation these days with the invasion of my medical specialty by the pharmaceutical industry has […]

repressed memories…

In my first residency in the late 60’s [Internal Medicine], there was one time during the week when all faculty and all trainees showed up – Grand Rounds on Wednesday at 10:30-12:00 – where interesting cases were presented.  We called it "Granite Rounds" [meaning attendance was carved in granite]. In my second residency [Psychiatry], we […]

speaker bureaus…

Put "pharmaceutical speaker bureau" into Google®. There, you’ll find a whole industry that you didn’t even know existed – Training Programs, Consultants, Search Firms, Strategies – a panoply of ways to access the exciting world of medical "experts" for hire. Now try "pharmaceutical speaker bureau psychiatry". It produces a very different kind of list. It’s […]

chilcot returns…

With our dawdling economy, oil gushing into the Gulf, arrogant insubordinate General, Tea Party, and other gloomy news of the days, it’s easy to forget to look back at how we got here. Well the British are still at it. Remember to Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq War? They ended a round of public hearings […]

the right direction…

hat tip to ShrinkRap Debate Over Industry Role in Educating Doctors New York Times By NATASHA SINGER and DUFF WILSON June 23, 2010 In the latest effort to break up the often cozy relationship between doctors and the medical industry, the University of Michigan Medical School has become the first to decide that it will […]

dominos…

Against The Super-Asinine, The Gods Themselves Contend in Vain New York Time by Paul Krugman June 23, 2010 Brad DeLong wonders how the proponents of tight budgets and tight money are prevailing in the midst of mass unemployment, low interest rates, and incipient deflation. It’s actually not all that surprising. Horrifying, but not surprising. The […]

bump…"> bump

Problem With Cap Causes More Oil to Gush in Gulf New York Times By LIZ ROBBINS June 23, 2010 BP suffered another setback in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, when a discharge of liquid and gases forced the company to remove the containment cap that for three weeks had been able to capture a […]

12. online disclosure…

Meanwhile, back on disclosing Conflicts of Interest  in Medicine, the Association of American Medical Colleges has an interesting article in their June newsletter. Their President is the Dean of the Emory Medical School, Thomas J. Lawley, and the primo University for posting COI data on the web is the University of Miami Miller School of […]

thanks for nothing, general

The Runaway General [Rolling Stone]: This article describes a man unfit to lead. I suppose that the valid criticism of the President is for picking such a person in the first place. There are plenty of his sort in the military. One of the first things one learns in the service is how to avoid […]

11. a bad penny…

This is a piece captured from the brochure of the Summer 2010 CME Meeting of the Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association. being held in Ponte Vedre Florida in August. Unless I missed something, there are no disclosures on the Web Site about the speaker’s affiliation with Pharmaceutical Companies. A friend sent me the link with note […]