Author: Jonathan Block

Jonathan Block

Jonathan Block is a freelance writer and former MedShadow content editor. He has been an editor and writer for multiple pharmaceutical, health and medical publications, including BioCentury, The Pink Sheet, Modern Healthcare, Health Plan Week and Psychiatry Advisor. He holds a BA from Tufts University and is earning an MPH with a focus on health policy from the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy.

Deaths related to the adverse events of medical treatments fell between 1990 and 2016. Researchers examined the causes of death listed on death certificates as well as data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries and Risk Factor tool. Overall, the mortality rate due to adverse events declined by 21.4% from 1.46 per 100,000 people to 1.15 over the time period. However, researchers noted that age was a significant factor in mortality. The mortality rate for those aged 70 and over was nearly 20 times higher than for those between 15 and 49. Location also influenced the rate, with California…

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Quick Hits: Almost half of patients 65 and over that are prescribed statins stop taking them within a year — and side effects may be to blame. Researchers looked at 22,340 seniors who started statin therapy and found that 45% stopped taking the medication within a year of receiving the prescription. Results also showed that patients 85 and older were even more likely to stop taking the pills. Some people on statins do experience muscle aches and pains and some studies have indicated that statins are associated with a higher risk of developing diabetes. The researchers noted that having diabetes…

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The FDA recently issued a warning that kratom is unsafe. But did the FDA ignore scientific evidence — as well as patient experience — supporting kratom? America is in the midst of one of the worst epidemics in its history over opioids, which may be one of the reasons the FDA recently issued a warning that kratom, a plant-based supplement often used for pain, is potentially addictive since it has opioid-like qualities. Kratom has also been used by some people to treat withdrawal from opioids. However, the agency stated that there is “no reliable evidence” to support this and “significant…

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Other methods to lower cholesterol may be just as effective as statins in also reducing cardiovascular events. Researchers recently analyzed 49 trials involving more than 300,000 people that looked at different ways of lowering cholesterol. The trials were sorted into 4 groups: Those that examined statins; nonstatin treatments that work to lower LDL “bad” cholesterol levels such as diet and the drug Zetia (ezetimibe); fibrates and niacin; and the newest class of cholesterol-lowering drugs known as PCSK9 inhibitors. Statins and nonstatin interventions had similar reductions in the risk of a heart attack, stroke or need for a stent, according to…

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Antidepressants are prescribed for conditions other than depression nearly 50% of the time, as many doctors give them to patients to treat conditions including anxiety, insomnia, fibromyalgia and chronic pain, according to Canadian researchers. 2 out of every 3 antidepressant prescriptions given for conditions other than depression were for off-label use. The results are not entirely surprising given that antidepressant use in the US has skyrocketed, surging nearly 400% between 1988-1994 and 2005-2008, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the study, the researchers found only 55% of antidepressant prescriptions were actually for depression. Other conditions antidepressants…

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SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), the most popular kind of antidepressants prescribed, when taken by pregnant women, increase the chance that their child will be born prematurely or with low birth weight, according to a new study. Infants exposed to SSRIs during 2 or more trimesters weighed an average of 205 grams (7.2 ounces) less than infants whose mothers did not receive the antidepressants, say researchers from Norway and Canada. In addition, the infants would also be born, on average, 4.9 days earlier, they reported in the International Journal of Epidemiology. “Severe depression or depression not responding to non-pharmacological therapy…

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