There was recently a list put out of medications to avoid in the elderly. It was published by the Archives of Internal Medicine, a medical journal.

It is remarkable in that it lists only generic drugs. This means that all of the drugs on the list were once brand name, and now their patents have expired. The list includes drugs that each are associated with increased illness, injury or death in older people.

Does this mean that generic drugs are the only ones to avoid? Certainly not. Just because a drug is new doesn’t mean that it is safe. Often much less is known about new drugs and even more caution should be exercised when using them.

Journals such as the Archives for Internal Medicine get much of their funding from the sponsored advertisements of pharmaceutical companies. They see it as bad for business to talk poorly about the very drugs they are being paid to advertise. This may be acceptable in other industries, but in medicine we are dealing directly with people’s lives and health.

SmartMEDinfo has taken this list and expanded it by adding the brand name drugs to watch out for in addition to the generics. (The list can be accessed by logging in or signing up and navigating to the LowDown section.)

We hope you find it of use.

Just a few days ago, the former director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was named as the new president for Merck & Co’s vaccine division. Merck is one of the mega manufacturers in the “Big Pharma” group of companies. They make many vaccines including MMR, flu, HPV and others. It is the responsibility of the CDC to make official recommendations to the American people regarding the use of these very vaccines.

Julie Gerberding, MD has been head of the CDC for the past 7 years. She will be stepping up to take her new job at Merck on January 25^th 2010.

This event has raised some red flags and more than a few eyebrows. However, it is just the latest in the obvious and crooked fondness between the CDC and drug manufacturers. In 2007 the CDC had a “moral lapse” by failing to resolve the conflicts of interest of many of the panel members who evaluated that year’s vaccines for flu and cervical cancer. Some of these people were legally forbidden from serving on such a board but did so anyway.

Earlier this year, the CDC was one of the organizations that called for “urgent action” to stop the supposed Swine Flu pandemic. This was despite the knowledge that H1N1 was no more deadly than the regular seasonal flu and did not justify the massive distribution and promotion of untested vaccines. So it seems to make sense to one of the companies that stood to profit that Mrs. Gerberding be given the helm of their $12 billion dollar a year vaccine division.

After you get over your initial feeling that there is more here than meets the eye, the event brings one question to mind. Just how deep do the ties between government health agency and Big Pharma go?

Conflict of interest in the medical industry is why the unbiased medical information provided by SmartMEDinfo is an absolute necessity. It is hard to know who to trust when there is any other motivation but protecting and helping the consumer. That’s why our doctors and pharmacists rely on the science and not the sensational and suspect pronouncements of government health agencies. Especially when the conflicts of interest are so rampant.

SmartMEDinfo.com was recently granted accreditation by the Health On The Net Foundation.

As stated on their website:

“Created in 1995, HON is a non-profit, non-governmental organization, accredited to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. For twelve years, HON has focused on the essential question of the provision of health information to citizens, information that respects ethical standards…

…HONcode is the oldest and the most used ethical and trustworthy code for medical and health related information available on [the] Internet.”

One of the many requirements of a HON certification is to disclose to users conflicts of interest and source of funding. We have no conflict of interest and are entirely funded by our subscribers, like you. We are proud to be part of the HON group of sites.

Look for the HON symbol to appear throughout the site soon. Happy Holidays and we look forward to seeing you back to get the most trustworthy medical information on the web.

Best,

Dr. Moira Dolan

Hello and Merry Christmas!

You may have noticed some changes to the SmartMEDinfo website. We have been steadily improving the features and ease of use of the site to make sure you can access the information you need.

We are committed to giving our users the most clear, understandable medical information. With all the problems and controversy surrounding health care these days, there is one thing we feel has been overlooked. That is, with the skyrocketing health care costs and the apparent lack of enough resources to help the sick, the reality is that as a country we are not as sick as we are led to believe.

There is quite a lot of hype surrounding the health care industry. However, keep in mind it is an industry. Information you are given on TV, in magazines and the things “everybody knows” may not be entirely true and may not have your best interests in mind.

You can be healthy. You can make good decisions about your health. SmartMEDinfo is not here to give you medical advice. We CAN give you the truth about your drug or condition. Once you have all the trustworthy information the right choices for you will become clear.

Let’s change the way you look at your health.

Happy Holidays!