med-hints

  15 years ago, shortly after I retired, I evaluated the history of Liver Transplant.   I’m sure the indications for transplant have changed in recent years.     Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.   Winston Churchill (speaking of the RAF pilots during the London Blitz.)   I went to the UCSF liver transplant meeting that weekend.   Held at a fancy resort in the Napa Valley it was an event where local Gastroenterologists and Hepatologists gathered to eat free food, spend the night, hear about recent developments, earn education “hours”, and mingle with the faculty.   The lecturers thanked the nurses and staff and there were words of appreciation for the 11 pharmaceutical companies who were footing much of the bill.   We were invited to visit the tables in the hall where clean cut, well dressed, 30 something reps passed out literature, pencils, and books.   The presenters repeatedly prais...

(the polio vaccine story appears on a separate blog.  these articles initially appeared in two books I wrote.) In 1998 Andrew Wakefield, a British doctor told of a study he did that   connected the rising incidence of autism to the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella shots of childhood.   He created a stir and found a receptive ear among growing numbers of parents.   Some had a 2, 3, or 4 year old children who didn’t speak or communicate normally; others had youngsters who were socially withdrawn or inappropriate.   They had all been advised their little one was on the “autistic spectrum”, and when they asked their doctor why this happened, many were told: “I wish I knew.”   Wakefield blamed the behavior on brain changes caused by the vaccine’s mercury preservative, the Thiomersal; his followers put pressure on their legislators.   Laws were passed and vaccine makers removed the “offending” material from the brew; but it didn’t help.   It must be the ...