You were worried about your 'heart problem' and any associated worsening if you took caffeinated coffee, here is a link to calm you down on many of these issues.
The American Journal of Medicine Blog: “Hey, Doc, Is It OK for Me to Drink Coffee?”
21 December, 2009
29 November, 2009
A news article from India on doctor-pharma nexus
Most of us who have an access to the Internet knows that there usually is a nexus between a medical doctor and pharmaceutical companies. This mostly relates to medical prescription of products of a particular company in favour of the benefits provided to the doctor. This is taken as an unholy alliance.
In a news article by Mehul Jani in the Ahmedabad Mirror, we find a good illustration and wake-up call on the issue. It writes and compares some drug products from different pharma companies and describes how compensating for various reasons including an education affair, a trip, work hour loss compensation etc come into picture when deciding market prices.
No wonder why your medical bill is increasing and many of patients are under-dosing themselves as they cannot afford the cost it needs to keep them better! I recall a stable COPD patient from rural Saharanpur in UttarPradesh taking just one puff of Salbutamol as he cannot afford 2 puffs every time he got short of breath. And you will be surprised to know that a pack of Salbutamol ROTACPS from Cipla costs just INR 20!
Recently, the Medical Council of India has written to the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for a ban on acceptance of gifts from pharma companies. Fore detail read here. Another news article on the issue where the union minister of health speaks on the issue.
But the question is, will it get implemented. We all know how good we are on paper. India and its systems are excellent on paper. Yes, on ground also they are good but only at handful of places. But they cry foul in most of the rural areas where the soul of India lives!
Millions are paid just by one company in one season for talks, forget about the gifts other than that.
Many of the physicians have raised voice against it also. In the USA some universities have stopped accepting pharmaceutical favours to organise educational events. There is an organization called PharmFree which is working on liberating pharmaceutical influence from medical education. It is backed by the American Medical Student Association (yes, they want to catch them young). They publish a scorecard on how best the medical school comply to the regulations/standards set by the organizations. This gives a good illustration on how transparent the institute is when it comes to unwanted practices.
Hope we learn from these!
Now, the LOCOST
In a news article by Mehul Jani in the Ahmedabad Mirror, we find a good illustration and wake-up call on the issue. It writes and compares some drug products from different pharma companies and describes how compensating for various reasons including an education affair, a trip, work hour loss compensation etc come into picture when deciding market prices.
No wonder why your medical bill is increasing and many of patients are under-dosing themselves as they cannot afford the cost it needs to keep them better! I recall a stable COPD patient from rural Saharanpur in UttarPradesh taking just one puff of Salbutamol as he cannot afford 2 puffs every time he got short of breath. And you will be surprised to know that a pack of Salbutamol ROTACPS from Cipla costs just INR 20!
Recently, the Medical Council of India has written to the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for a ban on acceptance of gifts from pharma companies. Fore detail read here. Another news article on the issue where the union minister of health speaks on the issue.
But the question is, will it get implemented. We all know how good we are on paper. India and its systems are excellent on paper. Yes, on ground also they are good but only at handful of places. But they cry foul in most of the rural areas where the soul of India lives!
Millions are paid just by one company in one season for talks, forget about the gifts other than that.
Many of the physicians have raised voice against it also. In the USA some universities have stopped accepting pharmaceutical favours to organise educational events. There is an organization called PharmFree which is working on liberating pharmaceutical influence from medical education. It is backed by the American Medical Student Association (yes, they want to catch them young). They publish a scorecard on how best the medical school comply to the regulations/standards set by the organizations. This gives a good illustration on how transparent the institute is when it comes to unwanted practices.
Hope we learn from these!
Now, the LOCOST
- LOCOST (Low Cost Standard Therapeutics) makes essential medicines for those working with urban and rural poor in India
- LOCOST is a response to the difficulty faced by those working in remote areas to access good quality medicines at affordable prices.
- LOCOST is an innovative experiment to show that good quality medicines can be made and marketed at viable, low prices.
- The correct use of medicines and education of end-users and prescribes are major concerns of LOCOST.
- LOCOST is a public, non-profit charitable trust, registered in Baroda, India.
27 November, 2009
Tribute to the Mumbai attack victims
November 26, 2008 was a bad day for Indians. Serial blast happened at eight different places. Read the Wikipedia article on the topic.
The whole nation was gripped in shock. For me, I was in Bijapur (MSF Chhattisgarh project) and we were being visited by our head of mission Shri Martin Sloot. It as him only who broke the news to us after making some calls.
If someone wants to follow news on the topic she/he can do it here at Google news.
At Herbertpur Christian Hospital, we observed two minutes' silence and sung our national anthem.
What made me write this blog is the "Talk For India" by cellular operator "!dea". Under this program the earnings of one hour from 08:36 PM to 09:36 PM (Indian Standard Time) will be donated to the police force! It seemed as a great corporate social responsibility. What an idea sirji!
In Dehra Dun, the capital city of Uttarakhand, this program was marked by candle lighting, playing patriotic songs and a signature campaign. The pictures are above. "Dainik Jagran
Let us hope the good work continues and the world remains united.
19 November, 2009
Malaria treatment protocols
In one of the previous posts, there was an update on the status of malaria seen at Herbertpur Christian Hospital. The World Health Organization has banned the sale of single-drug pills of artemisinin derivatives.
But, due to negligence and open sale in India of artesunate as a single drug formulation, there seems to be rampant practice to prescribe artemisinin monotherapy. It may not be feasible to manufacture {artesunate + (sulphadoxine+pyrimethamine)} combination pill but there should be intense education campaign both to qualified as well as unqualified medical practitioners in India. Because of the lack of a strong system of primary health care affordable to all, most of the rural Indian masses (and some urban as well) highly depend on these 'doctors', who are easily available to them.
Combodia, Thailand etc are very close to India. There have been reports of Artemisinin resistant malaria parasites from there. In this article, they write about the access to ACT (artemisinin based combination therapy in rural areas of Combodia).
Some time back, the Times of India had published an article on the posed threat of artemisinin resistance in India.
This RollBackMalaria (RBM) infosheet provides excellent information on the treatment regimens, especially for falciparum malaria. And this picture
Hope, we keep ourselves updating and keep learning how to prescribe as per current recommendations and not to make mistake(s) which will cause more harm in the long run.
But, due to negligence and open sale in India of artesunate as a single drug formulation, there seems to be rampant practice to prescribe artemisinin monotherapy. It may not be feasible to manufacture {artesunate + (sulphadoxine+pyrimethamine)} combination pill but there should be intense education campaign both to qualified as well as unqualified medical practitioners in India. Because of the lack of a strong system of primary health care affordable to all, most of the rural Indian masses (and some urban as well) highly depend on these 'doctors', who are easily available to them.
Combodia, Thailand etc are very close to India. There have been reports of Artemisinin resistant malaria parasites from there. In this article, they write about the access to ACT (artemisinin based combination therapy in rural areas of Combodia).
Some time back, the Times of India had published an article on the posed threat of artemisinin resistance in India.
This RollBackMalaria (RBM) infosheet provides excellent information on the treatment regimens, especially for falciparum malaria. And this picture
Hope, we keep ourselves updating and keep learning how to prescribe as per current recommendations and not to make mistake(s) which will cause more harm in the long run.
17 November, 2009
Third year syndrome
Medical students and residents often suffer from diseases they read or see. Jennifer J. Yuan, a Tulane university student describes her experience and things that later made her feel good including an ice-cream:
http://tmedweb.tulane.edu/mu/thebeat/2009/11/12/clinical-blips-what-not-to-do-on-your-first-day-as-an-inte/comment-page-1/#comment-22
http://tmedweb.tulane.edu/mu/thebeat/2009/11/12/clinical-blips-what-not-to-do-on-your-first-day-as-an-inte/comment-page-1/#comment-22
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