The Known Unknowns You don’t have to read Nicholas Nassim Taleb’s “The Black Swan” to recognize unpredictable events produce inordinate impact. Consider the major events of your own life – marriage, work, serious illnesses. How many of them were predictable? Chance rules the world. Presently most “health” crises are, in policy terms, health care crises. […]
Crazy About Drugs (2/4/13)
A Problem of Law Item: An Egyptian rights lawyer is sentenced to 5 years in jail and 300 lashes of the whip for bringing anti-anxiety drugs (xanax – alprazolam) into Saudi Arabia. The judge notes the perpetrator’s “good morals” in explaining his “lenient” verdict (anti-anxiety drugs are banned in Saudi Arabia.) Item: Florida regulators led […]
Fake food, Fake Drugs, Fake… (10/22/12)
Pork-Beef and Other Delectables Swedish diners were surprised recently to discover that 20 tons of beef were ingeniously dyed pork. Some of the meat originated in cash strapped Argentina where it was then routed by the Hungarian company Filetto into Scandinavia. The job appears to be have meticulous – an unknown dye injected by hand […]
The Unnecessarily Painful Treatment of Chronic Pain (8/6/12)
What’s Happening To Chronic Pain Patients? Very difficult times. Federal and state governments have belatedly recognized there’s an epidemic of prescription medications – which includes pain pills like opiates. Influenced by that epidemic, some academic opinion on how to treat pain has also reversed. Many researchers who believed pain patients should be treated for maximum […]
Prozac chicken? (4/6/12)
Dining With Drugs The California Chicken Café, an LA eatery described by the 2011 Zagat Survey as a “healthy, fast-food alternative,” is a popular place to eat. The food is so “good” Zagat concludes “there must be Prozac in the chicken.” Actually, folks, there is prozac in the chicken – and a lot of other […]