The House of Representatives recently passed a Medicare bill
that reduces the copay for Medicare patients from 50% to 20%, the rate it is
for all other medical specialties.
That may not seem like a big deal—and if it doesn't, you probably
don't have Medicare.
An even more interesting provision of this bill is that it... Read more
Richard Friedman, MD, recently wrote an article in the New York Times about our troubled
relationship with antidepressants. He opens his article by asking how antidepressants might affect a patient's psychological development and core identity.
It's an interesting question, one which some have discussed
in the past, but which is... Read more
There is some new data concerning an old drug. Mecamylamine is an old medication originally used to treat hypertension. It had numerous side effects, such as hypotension and sedation, and thus was not often used. It had a bit of a resurgence later on as an anti-smoking drug (it is a nicotine antagonist) but the overall efficacy was poor,... Read more
It isn't called a broken heart for nothing. Numerous studies have found an association between depression and cardiac problems, including arrhythmias, heart attacks, strokes, etc. Some studies have found associations between worsening outcomes in heart disease in patients who develop depression (for example, depression following a... Read more