terrasig

One of the drawbacks to writing under a pseudonym is that when people around you do well, it's sort of dodgy how you can use the blog to congratulate them publicly. In fact, dear readers might ask: "Why bother putting this up on the blog?" Well, I'm just proud - like a parent - like an anonymous…

In attempting to re-engage my academic brain stem, I've been doing a little continuing education the last couple of weeks at various forums hosted by the University-That-Tobacco-Built. Last week I had the pleasure of attending a forum of the Duke student organization, Women in Science and…

A paper in last month's issue of Nature Reviews Drug Discovery reported that US drug approvals during 2007 were the lowest number since 1983. (17 new molecular entities and 2 biologicals; see this figure for 1996-2007 data.) The review cites increased regulatory action as a factor in this…

Only time for a short post today but many news outlets are just now picking up on a 12 March WaPo article by David Segal on the 10th anniversary of the US FDA approval of the erectile dysfunction drug, Viagra. As we noted in yesterday's post, the active ingredient in Viagra, sildenafil, is so…

No, it's not a song by Foreigner - these are the names of two products "promoted and sold over the Internet for the treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED) and for sexual enhancement." In yet another instance of a trend that would be comical if not so serious, the US FDA has announced that "Blue…

Last week we spent some time discussing the shortcomings of the generic vs. brand name drug debate, focusing on an example of non-bioequivalence between the antidepressant Wellbutrin XL and its generic competitors. Three days later, I then received an e-mail from one John Procter about a movement…

I usually don't do these kinds of linkfests but we're on the road for a Pharmboy family Easter weekend and there are a few items of interest that slipped through my fingers recently. Here are a few things that readers may enjoy this weekend: Bora's blog gets its 1,000,000th visitor Go over and…

The safety and effectiveness of medicines and other health products is dependent upon their proper use, particularly the proper route of administration. There are reasons why products are labeled as "for topical use only" or "do not swallow" - two recent warnings from the US FDA illustrate these…

Two political posts in two days. Apologies to those who come here for the science but these are the issues getting my attention and energy this week. Billy Bragg is a special guy in my life and this song from 2002 was particularly prescient. In memory of those lost in the 11 September attacks,…

No matter who you support - wow.

This issue was brought up by my fellow blogger, Joseph at Corpus Callosum, following an article in yesterday's LA Times. For those not familiar with the concept or countries other than the US where laws may differ, generic drugs are those with the same active chemical as the originally-approved "…

Local wine shops are to wine what ScienceBlogs.com is to science blogs - while perhaps imperfect, they are both good at directing you to unique sources and enriching flavors. With the proliferation of information and winemakers, we can all use some educated filtering guides. And that is how I view…

It's been a roller coaster of a week for Charles E Jordan High School in Durham, North Carolina. (Wikipedia history here). As we noted earlier this week, Jordan's Shivani Sud took first prize in the Intel Science Talent Search for her work on biochemical markers of stage II colon cancer. The Intel…

[Hi Mom. Will call you soon but you really need not read this post. Love, Your son.] Bora/Coturnix just alerted me to the FDA approval of a home sperm-check test that can be used to determine the effectiveness of one's vasectomy. The product, SpermCheck Vasectomy, was developed by Dr John C Kerr…

[Welcome mental_floss blog and Daily Kos readers. After you read about this outstanding young woman, you can learn more about me, my life story, and this blog here.] If you read elsewhere at ScienceBlogs.com, you'll know that several bloggers have been discussing race and gender issues in the…

On this day in 1957, A magnitude 9.1 earthquake shook the Andreanof Islands in Alaska, the second strongest quake in U.S. history (although Alaska would not become the 49th state until more than a year later), generating a tsunami that hit the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Harry Belafonte's Banana Boat…

Your Humble Blogger has suddenly become the go-to guy in the blogosphere for all things vasectomy. I don't know why. So I've embraced becoming an ambassador for the double-snip and bring you a clever radio marketing campaign from the Oregon Urology Institute in Springfield: Guys, what would you…

Just a hypothesis here. A vibrant, 55-year-old Denver-area furniture executive, Lesile Fishbein, is possibly near death according to The Denver Post: The bubbly Fishbein, one of the most recognizable faces in the metro area because of her television ads for her company, Kacey Fine Furniture, was…

Eve Carson | student body president | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill This photo was taken on Monday, 3 March. Eve was shot less than 36 hours later. The entire campus, community and alumni mourn her death. She had a ethic of public service so strongly symbolized in her response to why…

[Back by popular demand is my Friday Fermentable co-blogger, Erleichda - to read all of the offerings from my silver-tongued and golden-palated friend, see this compilation. For new readers, here is The Friday Fermentable mission statement.] Another Wine Experience : 2002 White & Red…

Yesterday, we received tomorrow's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine and, yet again, I nearly walked into a tree coming back from the mailbox. This (abstract, full text), folks, is a fascinating medical detective story rivaled only by (and similar to) the discovery that Parkinson's…

"There's no credible evidence that what's in Airborne can prevent colds or protect you from a germy environment," said CSPI senior nutritionist David Schardt, who reviewed Airborne's claims. "Airborne is basically an overpriced, run-of-the-mill vitamin pill that's been cleverly, but deceptively,…

DrugMonkey just had an interesting post about the potential influence of cocaine use trends following the 1986 death of Maryland college basketball player, Len Bias, just days after his being selected in the NBA draft by the Boston Celtics. DM's post and the ensuing discussion got me thinking…

It's my great pleasure to congratulate Skookumchick (Rants of a Feminist Engineer) and the world of women bloggers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) on the first anniversary of their blog carnival, Scientiae. With the theme of "renewal," I'll leave it to Skookum to…

A lively discussion has ensued this week across the intertubes about the ScienceBlogs.com network to which we belong and what should or shouldn't be provided as content in a blog that calls itself a science blog. As usual, the most sober, inclusive, and non-inflammatory treatise on the topic comes…

Bisphenol A (BPA) is currently one of the major lightning rods for controversy in consumer products and public health research. The compound is used in the manufacture of plastic bottles, polycarbonate (PC) in particular, as well as in the lining of many food and beverage cans. The compound has…

[Note: Mr. Tweedy's first post, Shaking It Off, went up on 5 March 2008] Yesterday, London-based blogger Mo at Neurophilosophy alerted us to a new blog at the New York Times website entitled, Migraine: Perspectives on a Headache. A notable cadre of prominent migraine sufferers have started blogging…

I was remiss in noting that Hungarian medical student and Medical Web 2.0 guru Berci Meskó has hosted the current and rather large Grand Rounds medical blog carnival at his excellent blog, Science Roll. Fresh off his US tour that included a presentation at the Medicine Meets Virtual Reality…

I started this post a couple of times early this morning but kept having to walk away from the computer in disgust and disbelief. Regular readers know that I don't usually throw personal or demeaning statements around lightly. But today's Santa Cruz Sentinel follow-up article on the home invasion…

I just received this news from Americans for Medical Progress with a link to the Santa Cruz Sentinel reporting on the home invasion last evening Sunday of a UC-Santa Cruz breast cancer and neurological disease researcher: UCSC researcher targeted in attack - animal rights activists believed to be…