The Food and Drug Administration last week sent letters to 19 physicians in California, Texas, and Chicago notifying them of fake doses of Avastin, a drug used to treat colon, lung, and brain cancers. David Frank, HMS associate professor of medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Eric Wong, HMS associate professor of neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, are quoted.
Paul Levy, who resigned as president of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center a year ago, revealed on his blog – Not Running a Hospital – that he is self-publishing a book on leadership: “Goal Play! Leadership Lessons From The Soccer Field.”
John Lauerman continues his series writing about the experience of deciding to have his genome sequenced. He reflects on meetings he had with George Church, HMS professor of genetics and Joseph Thakuria, HMS instructor in pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital.
A review has found the effectiveness of alerts issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to the medical profession and the public about the dangers of medications on the market have a mixed and unpredictable record. Stacie Dusetzina, HMS research fellow in health care policy, is a co-author of the study.
Researchers have discovered a defective gene that’s responsible for more than one-quarter of cases of inherited dilated cardiomyopathy, a serious heart muscle disease that often leads to heart failure by middle age. Jonathan Seidman, the Henrietta B. and Frederick H. Bugher Foundation Professor of Genetics at HMS, and Christine Seidman, the Thomas W. Smith Professor of Medicine and Genetics at HMS and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, are co-authors of the study.
According to a new study, wealth and, more broadly, socioeconomic status, play a powerful role in determining how long we live. Research by George Vaillant, HMS professor of psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, is highlighted.
Car exhaust and other air pollution, even at levels considered safe by federal regulations, may substantially increase the risk of a stroke, according to new research. Murray A. Mittleman, HMS associate professor of medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, is an author of the study.
Health care leaders are concerned about the growing problem of drug shortages linked to manufacturing problems and the rise of what the speakers described as a “gray market,’’ in which drug suppliers stockpile medications, then sell them at inflated prices. David Frank, HMS associate professor of medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, is quoted.
A new study has shown that childhood abuse leads to permanent changes in a seahorse-shaped area of the brain that can cause adult depression and drug abuse. Martin Teicher, HMS associate professor of psychiatry at McLean Hospital, is an author of the study.
Attempts to develop a vaccine to prevent the spread of herpes have failed, but three local efforts to develop therapeutic vaccines may eventually provide a solution for those with herpes, as well as a wide range of other illnesses. Research by Darren Higgins, HMS professor of microbiology and immunobiology, and David M. Knipe, Higgins Professor of Microbiology and Immunobiology and chair, Harvard Virology
Program, is highlighted.
