I thought I’d have just one more follow up post to my book review of Autism's False Prophets earlier this week, which was followed by David Kirby's Smackdown of it.

 

Mr. Kirby gave a presentation to a room full of Congressional staffers in our nation&rsq… Read full post »

 

 

About a year ago, I decided to do a rare thing:  attend a dinner at a fancy restaurant sponsored by a drug maker, Eli Lilly.  It's a regular tactic that Pharma uses to "educate" doctors about medical conditions and the latest treatments. 

 The speaker wa… Read full post »

David Kirby wrote a rebuttal to my book review  in Salon  of Dr. Paul Offit’s new book, Autism’s False Prophets.

 

Here’s a link to his post:

 

“Dr. Parikh, I am Becoming Embarrassed for You.”

  

Far be it for me to change Mr. Kirby&rsqu… Read full post »

NOT a newsflash:  Some 30% of adults and 20-25% of children are obese in this country.  The reasons are many, among them:

• We live in a country with an abundance of food, especially processed and bad food. 
• • We don't really have the time to exercise given that we have/
… Read full post »

 

 

 A photo of Bollywood Superstar, international beauty and former Miss Universe Aishwarya Rai.  She may, or may not, having anything to do with this story.  

 

 

Current Events Pop Quiz:

What is India's latest effort to combat HIV/AIDS?  This is a nat… Read full post »

 

There's an old episode from the TV show ER where an African-American surgeon, Dr. Peter Benton (played by Eric LaSalle), is on duty when a trauma patient comes in.  As he's examining him in the heat of the moment, he strips off the patient's shirt and finds&nbs… Read full post »

 

(hi everyone--in trying to edit this piece  from Aug 15, it got messed up.  The only way I could fix it was by reposting it--so some of you may have read it already-sorry!  I also changed the name because I didn't like the orginal one)

An article in August 14's… Read full post »

  

 

Buried underneath some large headlines about the Beijing Olympics, John Edwards' Affair, and Russians killing Georgians was the sad news that Bernie Mac died at the young age of 50.  And, of all things, from pneumonia. 

 How could someone so young… Read full post »

 

 Overweight?  Lightly Sprinkle Rx for Best Results

 

 

In "The Too Good to be True Category" comes word from researchers that you may be able to get get the lead out without ever leaving the couch.  

 

Two drugs in development have been shown in mice… Read full post »

Brain Tumor?

                                

           &… Read full post »

 

 

 

 

 

 Okay friends,

In the spirt of keeping things a liitle light for Summertime, I've devised a little quiz for y'all.  I call it Name that M.D.

Below is a series of pictures of (in)famous doctors--real and fictional.  Your goal:  Name as ma… Read full post »

This is it, friends! 

Forget Indy and Iron Man, Hulk, X-Files and all the other big Summer movies for 2008.  The Dark Knight opens today, and is the only movie I'm getting in line for.  Growing up, I collected comic books and the dark, intense, psychically damaged alter ego/… Read full post »

My mother recently had to spend a few days in a hospital near LA where I grew up.  Of course, spending as much time as my family and I did there, we found ourselves in the hosptial cafeteria regularly.  So I thought I'd share the medley of offerings theyregularly serve… Read full post »

 

Question:  Posed  In An Ad By Generation Rescue, One they keep asking but remain unable to prove

 

Answer:  No.  Witness The  Spasms in a Child Stricken with Tetanus, Vaccine-preventible disease. 

 

Two recent outb… Read full post »

 

 

We in America are proud of our uniqueness.  Whether it's shunning the metric system, calling football (or is it futbol?) soccer, or converting really good British TV shows into mediocre domestic ones (ok, not the Office, but remember Coupling?), we… Read full post »

 

                                                &nbs… Read full post »

 

  +      =  

 

6/16/2008, Seattle, WA:  Starbucks Coffee announced yesterday that it will be adding the pharmaceutical of your choice to your coffee orders.  The move is expected to start in the 4th quar/… Read full post »

 

Before Joe Camel, Before the Marlboro Man, and before You Came a Long Way Baby, cigarette men were in need of a Mascot to move their product.  This was circa the 1940s.  Who, these men of power, money, and yellow fingernails, wondered, could credibily… Read full post »

Let's start this post like a bad comedian:  "A Patient walks into his gastroenterologist's office...."

Really, here's what happened:  A teenage boy went to see a GI specialist because he had a month's worth of severe stomach pain.  His pediatrician has tested him for ulcers, inf… Read full post »

When we're kids, we all get that finger-wagging lesson from our parents that sugar is bad for you and that one piece of cake per birthday party is enough.

 Then, one day we learn (gulp!) the truth, which is that sugar makes your body go and that some sugars (by no… Read full post »

Let's say you're a doctor and a patient comes into your office for a checkup.  These days, we get the usual vital signs--blood pressure, pulse, etc. and your height and weight.   Then we use that that height and weight to calculate something called Body Mass Index--your BMI, like thi… Read full post »