MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'intimidation'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:31:32 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4241686&cid=t_160677_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F12%2Fabbott-laboratories-and-pig-roasts.html Help.... The health care muck is now being raked so fast I can't keep up.Abbott Laboratories, Prolific Stenters, Pig Barbecues, EtcIn the last week, multiple media outlets picked up the story of the cozy relationship between Abbott Laboratories and a doctor now accused of implanting too many cardiac stents for too much money.  The essentials were, as summarized from New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Baltimore Sun articles -Dr Mark Midei was a prolific user of cardiac stents for patient with coronary artery disease (blocked cardiac arteries)In the June deposition, Dr. Midei estimated that in 2005 — before research revealed that many stents were unnecessary — he performed about 800 stent procedures. Instead of dropping in subsequent years, however, the number of ste... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4241686 Wed, 08 Dec 2010 17:45:00 +0100 4241686 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4151874&cid=t_160677_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F11%2F10%2F10-tips-to-enhance-your-love-bonds%2F I detest love lyrics. I think one of the causes of bad mental health in the United States is that people have been raised on love lyrics. - Frank Zappa Since more marriages in the United States fail rather than succeed, it is clear that most people have unrealistic expectations and lack the skills necessary to maintain a good relationship. What goes into being in love? Is it love at first sight, or something else? In the January/February 2010 issue of Scientific American Mind, Robert Epstein outlines a series of exercises which emphasize vulnerability and which research has shown to enhance feelings of love. Here’s what we know about mutual gazing, bungee jumping, and arranged marriages. Gazing at someone increases positive feelings toward them. The key word here is mutual. Mammal... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4151874 Wed, 10 Nov 2010 19:53:04 +0100 4151874 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4124994&cid=t_160677_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F5xSmeZ7jCU0%2F By Roger PilonToday POLITICO Arena asks: Given the Civil Rights Commission’s investigation of DOJ’s handling of the New Black Panther case, talk of voter irregularities in Arizona, and the request by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) that DOJ investigate whether tea party groups are intimidating black and Hispanic voters in her Houston-area district, how serious a threat are voter intimidation and irregularities? My response: Relative to elections in many parts of the world, American elections are fairly clean. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t have voter intimidation and election irregularities. I speak from personal experience: As graduate students, my wife and I were election judges in Chicago during the reign of the first Mayor Daley. We saw up close how big ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4124994 Mon, 01 Nov 2010 13:54:42 +0100 4124994 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3311635&cid=t_160677_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F02%2Fbring-back-dsi-avandia-case-as-spy.html Starting in 2007, we posted quite a bit about the "Avandia case," which centered on whether Avandia (rosiglitazone, by GlaxoSmithKline), a glucose lowering drug for type 2 diabetes, presented excess cardiovascular risks, and how evidence about these risks was handled.  SummaryThe Nissen and Wolski meta-analysis [Nissen SE, Wolski K. Effects of rosiglitazone on the risk of myocardial infarction and death from cardiovascular causes. N Engl J Med 2007; 356, online here] was to be the first published article to combine data from all relevant clinical trials of rosiglitazone then available.  Although two major trials of Avandia had been published, its manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, had performed many other smaller trials of the drug which remained unpublished.  The... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3311635 Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:47:00 +0100 3311635 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3311748&cid=t_160677_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F02%2F25%2Fbuilding-assertiveness-in-4-steps%2F All of us should insist on being treated fairly — to stand up for our rights without violating the rights of others. This means tactfully, justly and effectively expressing our preferences, needs, opinions and feelings. Psychologists call that being assertive, as distinguished from being unassertive (weak, passive, compliant, self-sacrificing) or aggressive (self-centered, inconsiderate, hostile, arrogantly demanding). Because some people want to be “nice” and “not cause trouble,” they “suffer in silence,” “turn the other cheek,” and assume nothing can be done to change their situation. The rest of us appreciate pleasant, accommodating people but whenever a nice person permits a greedy, dominant person to take advantage of him/her, the ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3311748 Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:29:08 +0100 3311748 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3266874&cid=t_160677_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F02%2Fmerck-settles-another-vioxx-case.html All the shenanigans that went on in the course of Merck's marketing of the now withdrawn Cox-2 inhibitor non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug Vioxx have provided grist for the Health Care Renewal mill since 2005.  For example, see these posts:- here about ghost-writing of a Vioxx research publication; - here, and here about allegations that Merck executives tried to intimidate Vioxx critics; - here about how advocates of an extreme laissez faire approach to regulation of health care corporations used illogical arguments about the Vioxx case; - here about how an apparently major clinical trial of Vioxx turned out to be a "seeding trial," that is, a study really meant to recruit supposed physician-researchers as prescribers; and - here about how one once promine... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3266874 Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:18:00 +0100 3266874 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3104995&cid=t_160677_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F7WshpKt1adk%2F By Tim LynchWhen we hear the phrase “witness intimidation” we’re likely to think of a gang member who is on trial or about to go on trial and, to evade justice, tries to have key witnesses change their story so the case will collapse.  We hardly ever hear about cases where the prosecutors try to intimidate witnesses.  But it happens.  In an extraordinary proceeding this week in Santa Ana, CA, a federal judge reprimanded prosecutors for contemptible conduct toward witnesses.  This story needs telling. Here’s the gist of the case: William Ruehle was charged with criminal securities law violations.  Mr. Ruehle’s defense was that his actions were always made in good faith — that he did not act with criminal intent.  That’s an important... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3104995 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:58:53 +0100 3104995 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2768618&cid=t_160677_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F09%2Fcaptains-outrageous-for-cape-annes.html While on a brief vacation on lovely Cape Anne, Massachusetts, one of my daily automated Google searches provided an article of local interest. The person nominated to be CEO of the local hospital system had been at the center of controversy while in his previous position as leader of a hospital system in Cincinnatti, Ohio. When I got back, I put some relevant terms into Google, and lo and behold, came up with one of the more complicated and colorful, if unhappy stories about problems with health care leadership and goverance I have seen lately. So, to the tune of "lions and tigers and bears, oh my...."Let me start with some background, and then to try to tell this story chronologically, noting issues as they came into public view. Northeast Health System is a regional hospital system in no... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2768618 Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:13:00 +0100 2768618 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2414745&cid=t_160677_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fg4eIeyjb6zE%2F In the last week there’ve been deeply worrying developments in Guatemala. Rodrigo Rosenberg, a highly respected Guatemalan lawyer, was killed Sunday outside of his house by unknown gunmen. On Monday, a posthumous video recorded by Rosenberg was released where he blames the country’s president, Alvaro Colom, for his assassination. Constantino Díaz-Durán, former editor of elcato.org, tells the story in a piece appearing in the Daily Beast. Since Monday, thousands of Guatemalans have flocked to the streets demanding Colom’s resignation, but they have been met by an equal number of government supporters who are resorting to violence and intimidation against the protesters. This is the modus operandi of the hard-left in countries such as Venezuela, Bolivia, Argentina, and Ecuador. But ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2414745 Fri, 15 May 2009 19:20:37 +0100 2414745 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4060687&cid=t_160677_109_f&fid=34859&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.davemsw.com%2Farchives%2F2009%2F03%2Fantibullying_bill_pushed_in_minnesota_legislature.php Image via Wikipedia A Bill that I hope will become law in Minnesota and an example for the nation is moving through the Legislature. StarTribune.com "The bill would prohibit "harassment, bullying, intimidation and violence" based on a student's personal characteristics such as race, sexual orientation or religion. It would, in effect, "simply expand the categories of people that schools already cover with their anti-bullying policies," according to OutFront Minnesota, one of the organizations pushing for its adoption. Education Minnesota, the state's teachers union, is the most prominent of several other groups backing the bill." Bullying has been the scourge of childhood relationships inside and outside of schools. It has done tremendous damage to developing children at a highly se... Ψ Dare To Dream... blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4060687 Wed, 18 Mar 2009 18:22:35 +0100 4060687 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1975000&cid=t_160677_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F11%2Fwas-gsk-merely-incompetent-about.html At my post "GSK, Avandia and Medical Informatics: More on Why Pharma Fails" I outlined repeated rejection of Medical Informatics expertise by GSK, based on what I believed essentially to be the narrowminded and tunnel-visioned thinking of information technologists and others in pharma. I wrote:It is my belief that a view [at GSK] of medical informatics professionals as "writers of algorithms to solve business problems" reflects a fundamentally narrow and mechanistic view of the field, or perhaps a mislabeling of the position as being one of Medical Informatics. The lack of a requirement for formal Medical Informatics education and training suggests the latter.The U.S. Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences seems to agree with that assessment, as I pointed out in an... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1975000 Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:24:00 +0100 1975000 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1759834&cid=t_160677_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F09%2Fdocs-ditched-after-undesirable.html From the Johannesburg, South Africa Star, this story, entitled "Docs Ditched after Undesirable Diagnosis," has some eerie echoes of the past:When medical specialists diagnosed at least 10 cases of manganese-specific illnesses at a factory in Cato Ridge, KwaZulu Natal, the Assmang manganese company dumped them 'like hot potatoes'.They replaced them with a new team of doctors that revised the diagnoses to suggest the sick workers might be alcoholics, drug abusers or victims of Aids.All 10 workers had also been certified previously by the Compensation Commissioner as being permanently disabled as a result of manganism, an occupational disease caused by exposure to excessive levels of toxic manganese.Another 27 workers, also earmarked by doctors as possibly suffering from manganism, were also ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1759834 Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:27:00 +0100 1759834 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1689336&cid=t_160677_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D245 An editorial in today’s issue of the New Zealand Medical Journal prints in full a letter sent to the Journal by Paul Radich, a lawyer who acts for the New Zealand Chiropractors’ Association Inc and its members. The letter alleges defamation by Andrew Gilbey’s articla, and by my editorial which sets the wider context [...] (Source: DC's goodscience) DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1689336 Fri, 08 Aug 2008 06:28:39 +0100 1689336 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1445992&cid=t_160677_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F05%2Flist-of-unconflicted-experts-produces.html We previously discussed an article by Jeanne Lenzer and Shannon Brownlee in Slate The article discussed a show broadcast on many US National Public Radio (NPR) stations which portrayed a rather benign view of the side-effects of anti-depressant medications. Not revealed to listeners was that the show was partially funded by a company that manufacturers such medication, and all the participants in the show had some financial relationships with such companies. We suggested that the audience deserved to know about such conflicts of interest, and that had the show's producers felt compelled to reveal them, maybe they would have thought twice about not including without such conflicts. To demonstrate that it is possible to find such experts, at the end of the article, Lenzer and Brownlee noted ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1445992 Thu, 15 May 2008 20:14:00 +0100 1445992 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1279421&cid=t_160677_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F03%2Fslapp-against-clinical-research.html Posts on the Wall Street Journal Health Blog, the Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry Blog, and by Dr Aubrey Blumsohn on the Scientific Misconduct Blog all picked up on a brief story in the Harvard Crimson about a lawsuit apparently claiming that a clinical research article, and a randomized controlled trial no less, was defamatory. Here is the gist from that news article,Harvard Medical School professor Douglas P. Kiel is facing a lawsuit because of an article he published in the July 2007 issue of the Journal of American Medicine (JAMA).In the study, Kiel, a gerontologist, said that hip protectors are not effective in preventing injuries among elderly patients, a claim challenged by HipSaver, a popular hip protector manufacturer, in a suit filed in Norfolk Superior Court on Feb. 15.HipSav... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1279421 Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:11:00 +0100 1279421 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1090420&cid=t_160677_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F12%2Favandia-case-and-warning-about-how-bad.html We have posted frequently about the controversy about rosiglitazone (Avandia, by GlaxoSmithKline). Some of the distressing aspects of the case were various efforts made to keep information and opinions unfavorable to Avandia away from physicians, the patients, and the public, including efforts involving obfuscation, deception, and intimidation. (For example, see this post about the "spinning" of Avandia and the ridiculing of Avandia critics, and this post about attempts to silence an early Avandia critic.)This month, the British Medical Journal printed a news article about the US Senate report that claimed that the critic, Dr John Buse, was intimidated by top GSK executives.Perhaps with deliberate irony, on the same page was another news article, headlined, "One in 20 East German doctors s... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1090420 Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:14:00 +0100 1090420