Researchers Attempt to Reduce the Placebo Effect in Drug Trials
Pharmaceutical company researchers develop a tool to suppress the placebo effect and improve their drug results. More
Pharmaceutical company researchers develop a tool to suppress the placebo effect and improve their drug results. More
Over-medication can be dangerous and patients should consult with medical professions to ensure an effective plan of treatment, Dr. Bob Newman writes in a guest column. More
This cohort study examines the delivery of palliative care among adults in their last year of life who died of terminal noncancer illness compared with those who died of cancer. More
The treatment was authorized for emergency use last summer, but clinical trials showed plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients didn't help fight illness. More
Nearly three fourths of US women with an uncomplicated urinary tract infection get antibiotics longer than necessary. More
How can we remove the barriers and make pharmacists our deprescribing heroes? In their recent piece in Senior Care Pharmacist, Judith Garber and Don Downing create a roadmap for collaboration. More
Employers can cut their health-care expenses by paying top medical providers a flat rate for a bundle of related services while offering incentives to the patients who use them, a study suggests. More
At least 20% of older adults will experience an adverse event in the weeks following hospitalization, with most being secondary to adverse drug-related events (ADEs). Of these, half are considered preventable or ameliorable. More
Due to lackluster antidepressant study results, researchers test if subgroups of depressed patients show greater improvement. More
Study shows more than half of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in U.S. received antibiotics in pandemic’s first six months More
"We are left with evidence of benefit from interleukin-6 inhibitors, at least under some circumstances." More
In this issue of JAMA, Janiaud et al present a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of convalescent plasma for the treatment of patients with COVID-19. More
This cohort study evaluates the differences in survival, duration of therapy, and treatment patterns between clinical trial patients and older adults with Medicare receiving cancer drugs for metastatic solid cancers in usual practice. More
A recent analysis in JAMA finds that overuse in Medicare barely budged from 2014-2018. How can we move further toward value-based care? More
Most drug approvals are based on surrogate markers, such as tumor shrinkage in a fraction of patients (response rate) or delayed tumor growth (progression-free survival). These surrogates use arbitrary percentage cutoffs and are not optimized to ensure that a drug can improve the length or quality of life. More
People who have faced debilitating side effects say we need better warnings on drugs. The FDA hasn’t been enthusiastic. More
This cross-sectional study examines changes in the outpatient retail dispensing frequency of proposed treatments for coronavirus disease 2019 after the March 13, 2020, declaration of a national emergency due to the pandemic. More
The government will fund reseach asking whether cancer patients "really do worse because of being diagnosed later" during the pandemic. More
The way the pandemic has deferred some primary and preventive care is rekindling debate over whether the U.S. is spending too much on diagnostic tests. Lown Institute President Vikas Saini doesn’t think Covid will move the needle on how doctors and patients approach medical care, with demand for tests and services returning once the crisis lifts. “There's been chatter, and people speculating or saying it's a great opportunity because there's all this elective stuff that got stopped [so] when we resume, maybe we should be more thoughtful — yeah, we should," he says. "But what's actually going to happen? I don't see any reason to think it won't go back to business-as-usual." More
The pandemic may prompt American medicine to become less expensive, more efficient and more effective at protecting people’s health. More