Medical roundup

  • Sued if you do, sued if you don’t: drugmaker faces lawsuits over failure to provide Fosamax warning that FDA told it not to provide [Jim Copland, James Beck on Merck Sharp & Dohme v. Albrecht, pending at Supreme Court]
  • On new APA masculinity guidelines, Sally Satel cuts to the point: will they improve the success of therapy for people seeking help? [Washington Post]
  • What does it mean to say the opioid litigation might follow the tobacco model? [Rob McKenna, U.S. Chamber] Citing fate of earlier gun lawsuit filed by city of Bridgeport, state judge dismisses four lawsuits filed by Connecticut cities against opioid industry [Daniel Fisher, Legal NewsLine]
  • I do miss the days when leaders of the public health profession focused on communicable diseases like typhus rather than running after Bloomberg grants to promote soda bans [Joel Grover and Amy Corral, NBC Los Angeles]
  • Cooking the books on infant mortality: about those Cuban life expectancy stats [David R. Henderson]
  • As artificial intelligence begins to make inroads into medical diagnosis, liability issues loom large [Beck, see related linked earlier]

2 Comments

  • Re: Masculinity guidelines

    Oh my. A Macy’s Parade balloon designed to charm and delight the simpletons in the crowd. I am giddy with anticipation.
    Acknowledging the context of men’s therapy needs is a grand idea. But no surprise about the APA’s conclusions, 75% of psychology majors are women. They list some traditional male traits – stoicism, competitiveness, dominance, and aggression; and declare they are, on the whole, harmful. But they’re just quoting their own press.
    Compare:
    Stoicism in the face of taking another financial hit to the family.
    Competitiveness that brings the blessings of a market economy.
    Dominance necessary for leadership. And they can include Margaret Thatcher
    Aggressiveness of taking action in the face of doubt and fear.
    No need to go into the chemistry of testosterone to see how valuable it is. If the profession wanted to help instead of censure they’d learn how to work with it.

  • Oops. There’s my patriarchy showing again. I meant to say that over 75% of psychology majors identify as female.