drugstr
Central, NJ
Male, 61
I have worked as a drug discovery scientist for over 30 years performing experiments to help identify novel chemical compounds for their potential in treating diseases in the areas of infection, inflammation and cardiovascular disorders. I have a good familiarity with the entire process from discovery to safety to clinical trials and even marketing. Ask me about the business of Big Pharma. I’m happy to comment on any and all hot-button issues. My opinions are quite often not pro-business.
I answered a related question 7 years ago. Find it above and see if it answers your question.
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I don’t know what you mean by fraudulent. Is it the most counterfeited, the most unauthorized generic, or the one that I would say does not perform as claimed? Frankly, I don’t have an answer for any of these. My pet peeve is the endless promotion of herbals, and formulations that promise better memory, vision, prostate health, weight loss, etc. I don’t believe their ‘clinical’ evidence.
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I would say that if these physicians' claims of success in treating COVID-19 patients are accurate then their methods should, indeed, be adopted by others. Having said that, their belief that hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin are the keys to positive outcomes is dubious. There's more to patient care than drugs. Bona fide, well-controlled clinical studies have shown these two to be of no benefit. I'm a little on the fence, however, about zinc. Zinc has a number of roles in biology. The one I'm thinking of is its interaction with protein which can influence tertiary structure (shape) and in so doing interfere with virus binding. As you probably know, zinc is purported to be a remedy for the common cold. Who knows? Maybe there's something there.
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Every drug carries risks of side-effects which are sometimes dangerous. Doctors are responsible for determining whether the curative value of a prescription outweighs these risks. A competent physician does this with full knowledge of the drug profile and an intimate knowledge of the patient’s condition. A drug manufacturer applies to the FDA for permission to market a drug for a particular indication by submitting clinical evidence proving safety and efficacy. A drug may have more than one indication in its ‘label.’ Doctors are free, however, to prescribe drugs ‘off-label’ for a condition not specifically approved by the FDA. There may be published reports to support this or the doctor may have had good results with similar agents. They do this at their peril, though. They may be liable for injury. Doctors are human and may be subject to pressure from patients, drug companies, politicians, or criminals to prescribe in a way that is not in the best interest of their patient or worse, to support the dangerous and illegal trafficking of narcotics. So to answer your question, doctors may succumb to various pressures to use their power to prescribe in ways that may cause harm, thus violating their oath.
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Day Care Provider
Do the kids ever reveal embarrassing things about their parents?
Private Detective
What do you think is the most corrupt industry, city, and State in the country?
Dry Cleaner
What happens to clothing at dry cleaners that goes unclaimed?
First there's development, then testing, then approval, then manufacture, then distribution and then WE have it. For COVID-19 most are still in development and a handful are now in testing with a few in late stage testing. Normally these steps would take a couple of years, but acceleration has been inserted in a couple of places, i.e. government funding of development, political pressure on approval (maybe), and manufacture on spec. These things could shave off several months. Also, if a vaccine works very well, interim analysis may reveal significant efficacy and safety and thus early approval. There are still unresolved hurdles to distribution and recipient selection. I think most folks should not expect to get it until next year. Early I hope.
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These two drugs are not chemically related. Both have sedation as a side effect of their modes of action. Trazadone is an antidepressant. Etorphine is a powerful synthetic opiate significantly more potent than fentanyl. It's considered too dangerous to be used in human medicine. In veterinary medicine its use often requires reversal with an antidote. Thus, it's not practical as a treatment for insomnia.
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Again, not really a pharma question. The CDC recommends a mask with two or more layers of breathable fabric. Wear one anytime you're around people not in your household. I wear inexpensive, disposable, 3-layer surgical masks available online.
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