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Stories by Judy Stone

The NIH Superbug Story a Missing Piece

Considerable attention has been given to this week’s news about hospital (healthcare) acquired infections (HAI) at NIH with a “superbug.” *There has been probably misplaced criticism of NIH for not making its finding of transmission of a bacteria between patients public, as well as wonder at the high-tech tools that enabled NIH to track down this killer organism.These articles all overlook the more basic underlying problems, which I am aware of because of my practice as an Infectious Disease physician.These relatively new, highly resistant strains of bacteria—carbapenem resistant Gram negative bacteria as Klebsiella and Acinetobacter—are not just at NIH...

August 24, 2012 — Judy Stone

Counterfeit Drugs: a Deadly Problem

Counterfeit drugs appear to be “all the rage.” For some time there have been problems with counterfeit antimalarials, as I learned when I studied in Bangkok at the Asian Tropical Medicine Course in 2006...

August 20, 2012 — Judy Stone

Hospital merger d j vu

For past decades I’ve vacationed in mid-coast Maine, an enjoyable respite from sweltering Washington, D.C. weather. When I returned to Boothbay Harbor last week, I was dismayed to learn that local St...

August 13, 2012 — Judy Stone

Diet drugs vs. Healthier lifestyle

As expected, the FDA recently announced approval of a second drug for obesity within a month, Vivus’ Qnexa, now renamed Qsymia. This approval is less of a surprise, as the data appeared somewhat stronger than that for Arena’s lorcaserin (Belviq)...

August 3, 2012 — Judy Stone

Understanding medical news - "Between the Lines"

First, a confession—I’m a mathphobe, traumatized by growing up in a family skewed with an overabundance of math genes for whom math skills came as naturally as breathing.

July 18, 2012 — Judy Stone

Over-the-counter OraQuick HIV test: What does this mean for you?

The FDA has just announced approval for the OraQuick In-Home HIV test, by OraSure Technologies. That’s great news on some fronts, but the test raises new questions, as well.As I’ve just been catching up on my vacation reading with Marya Zilberberg’s helpful new book, “Between the Lines,” the first thing that caught my eye were the statistics on the test’s accuracy...

July 9, 2012 — Judy Stone

You've met me...so come in, pull up a chair, and tell me a bit about yourself

G'morning! You've already met me, but I'd like to get to know you better and have this column to be a conversation between us. So, in the tradition of Ed Yong's Not Exactly Rocket Science: the Who Are You thread,"1) Tell me about you...

July 5, 2012 — Judy Stone

A Glut of Obesity Drugs?

On June 27, the FDA approved the first new weight-loss drug in 13 years, Arena’s lorcaserin (Belviq). The track record for anti-obesity drugs has not been very good—each has been withdrawn from the market, after approval, due to safety concerns...

July 2, 2012 — Judy Stone

Clinical Trials for Beginners: Recipe for a new drug

Sometimes it seems like new drugs suddenly appear like magic. Have you ever wondered if there was something special going on behind the scenes? Earlier in Clinical Trials for Beginners, we looked briefly at why drug studies came into being, then at how a drug is developed, from test tube to your tissues...

June 26, 2012 — Judy Stone

TEDMED 2012: Dessert!

In an earlier post I tackled some of the tougher issues that made the stage at TEDMED. Now it’s time for dessert and I’ll share an array of the tasty treats that were presented in Washington.One of the highlights for me, already mentioned in my first post, was the acrobatic performance of Traces by Les 7 doigts de la main...

June 19, 2012 — Judy Stone

Clinical Trials for Beginners: Ethics - Pediatric Anthrax Vaccine Case Study

Having looked at the rampant conflicts of interest surrounding the anthrax vaccine and a bit at the logistics of the proposed pediatric vaccine trial let’s look at the trial in the context of ethical principles...

June 12, 2012 — Judy Stone

Anthrax vaccine - To the victor, the spoils

In my last post, we began to play “Follow the Money” to better understand the history of the anthrax vaccine and the current proposal to test the vaccine on children.

May 30, 2012 — Judy Stone

Anthrax, anthrax, everywhere

This past week brought news about another successful bioterrorism response drill, effectively delivering hypothetical medicines to protect the citizens of Baltimore from a hypothetical anthrax attack...

May 22, 2012 — Judy Stone

TEDMED: Tougher topics to chew on

With earlier posts about TEDMED, I hope I whet your appetite and energized you to take on the tougher topics. There were several talks that either particularly resonated with me or that left a sour aftertaste.Ivan Oransky, executive editor of Reuters Health, offered excellent perspective on the current trend of treating “preconditions” more aggressively, noting facetiously that “subclinical acne is the easiest type to treat.” He focused on the medicalization of even trivial problems leading to unnecessary interventions...

May 15, 2012 — Judy Stone

Welcome to Molecules to Medicine!

I’m Dr. Judy Stone, an infectious diseases physician and author. I love helping people understand issues and look at things from a different perspective.

May 14, 2012 — Judy Stone

Molecules to Medicine: Public Health or Impaired Penises?

Today's news starkly juxtaposed this countries' priorities. First was news of the approval of yet another look-alike drug for erectile dysfunction, avanafil (Stendra).

April 27, 2012 — Judy Stone

Molecules to Medicine: Public Health or Impaired Penises?

Today’s news starkly juxtaposed this countries’ priorities.First was news of the approval of yet another look-alike drug for erectile dysfunction, avanafil (Stendra).Then “From First Cold To Grave: How Two-Month-Old Brady Died Of Pertussis.” Brady was too young to have been protected by receiving immunizations, but there are strategies for protecting newborns from pertussis, or whooping cough...

April 27, 2012 — Judy Stone

Molecules to Medicine: Have You Thanked a Clinical Researcher Today?

Seeing a reminder that International Clinical Trials Day will soon occur, I wanted to recognize and thank the clinical research teams and volunteers that make this possible.

April 25, 2012 — Judy Stone

Molecules to Medicine: Have You Thanked a Clinical Researcher Today?

Seeing a reminder that International Clinical Trials Day will soon occur, I wanted to recognize and thank the clinical research teams and volunteers that make this possible.

April 25, 2012 — Judy Stone

A taste of #TEDMED 2012: Main Course

The initial fare at TEDMED 2012 whet my appetite for the sessions that followed. Howard-Yana Shapiro, a plant scientist wizard, focused on how to improve nutrition in crops, rather than just the volume of the yield, and the coming crisis in feeding the world's population...

April 20, 2012 — Judy Stone

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