Episodes

  • Ep. 9 -

    Ep. 9 - "Epidemic Caused by Greed: Pain and the Opioid Crisis" with Dr. Andrew Kolodny

    · Pharmanipulation

    Episode 9 features a conversation on opioids with AndrewKolodny MD. Dr. Kolodny is a leading expert on the opioid crisis and serves as President of Health Professionals for Responsible Opioid Prescribing (PROP). We chat about the opioid epidemic in the US over the years, the covert marketing strategies used to sell opioids, and opioid prescribing guidelines.

    Pharmanipulation is produced by PharmedOut, a project atGeorgetown University Medical Center that advances evidence-based prescribing.

    Additional Resources

    PROP’s Website: https://www.supportprop.org/

    PharmedOut on Opioids: https://sites.google.com/georgetown.edu/pharmedout/advocacy/pharmedout-on-opioids

    PharmedOut's Journal Article, “Survey of opioid prescribingamong dentists indicates need for more effective education regarding pain management” in Journal of the American Dental Association: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34689958/

    “Years into an addiction crisis, a med school lecture stillminimized opioid risks” by Ed Silverman for STAT News, link: https://www.statnews.com/pharmalot/2024/02/07/opioid-addiction-pain-nova-southeastern-university-florida/

    Fact sheet on opioid marketing: https://georgetown.app.box.com/s/3fqr4f0nl4jnviwrcxhn6muaxqqptgsx

    Summaries of key articles on opioid marketing: https://georgetown.app.box.com/s/xt2rhk3tinq0rqgn9bz2dozm2w4dv84c

  • Ep. 8 -

    Ep. 8 - "The First One's Free and Then You're Hooked: The Problem with Free Drug Samples" with Dr. Shahram Ahari

    · Pharmanipulation

    Episode 8 features an interview with Shahram Ahari MD, an emergency medicine physician and former drug rep, that explores the world of pharmaceutical samples. We chat about why samples are the most important marketing tactic drug companies have, how samples are used to manipulate prescribing choices, and discuss whether or not drug samples should be banned.

    Pharmanipulation is produced by PharmedOut, a project at Georgetown University Medical Center that advances evidence-based prescribing.

    Additional Resources

    PharmedOut fact sheet on drug samples: ⁠https://georgetown.app.box.com/s/y51hkdvu2dju9sv26fjcc976ivlvwtkj

    Summaries of key articles on the topic of drug samples: ⁠https://georgetown.app.box.com/s/3052cjlgv9thfw0qf3k9fkuyio978mbr

    PharmedOut’s paper “Pharmaceutical marketing: the example of drug samples.” Link: https://joppp.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40545-022-00479-z

    PharmedOut’s paper “Following the Script: How Drug Reps Make Friends and Influence Doctors.” Link: https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.0040150

    PharmedOut’s paper “Why lunch matters: Assessing physicians' perceptions about industry relationships.” Link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/chp.20081

    Dr. Ahari’s op-ed in The Washington Post “I was a drug rep. I know how pharma companies pushed opioids.” Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/i-was-a-drug-rep-i-know-how-pharma-companies-pushed-opioids/2019/11/25/82b1da88-beb9-11e9-9b73-fd3c65ef8f9c_story.html

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  • Ep. 7 – “Rethinking mild cognitive impairment and dementia

    Ep. 7 – “Rethinking mild cognitive impairment and dementia" with Dr. Peter Whitehouse and Dr. Lon Schneider

    · Pharmanipulation

    Episode 7 features an interview with Peter Whitehouse MD, PhD and Lon Schneider MD, MS exploring dementia and mild cognitive impairment. We chat about the medicalization of normal aging, the overdiagnosis of mild cognitive impairment, problems with new drugs and tests for Alzheimer’s disease, and how to prevent dementia.

    Pharmanipulation is produced by PharmedOut, a project atGeorgetown University Medical Center that advances evidence-based prescribing.

    Additional Resources

    PharmedOut resources on Alzheimer’s and Mild CognitiveImpairment: https://sites.google.com/georgetown.edu/pharmedout/advocacy/alzheimers-and-mild-cognitive-impairment?authuser=0

    Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2020 report ofthe Lancet Commission. Link: https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(20)30367-6/fulltext

    Making the Case for Accelerated Withdrawal of Aducanumab.Link: https://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-alzheimers-disease/jad220262

    Dr. Peter Whitehouse’s latest letter to the editor, “Cummingscolumn on Alzheimer treatments skips over a few key things.” Link: https://www.cleveland.com/letters/2023/10/cummings-column-on-alzheimer-treatments-skips-over-a-few-key-things.html

    American Dementia: Brain Health in an Unhealthy Societyby Danny George PhD and Peter Whitehouse MD, PhD. Link: https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/12394/american-dementia

    The Myth of Alzheimer’s: What You Aren't BeingTold About Today's Most Dreaded Diagnosis by Peter Whitehouse MD, PhD and Danny George MSc. Link: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780312368173/themythofalzheimers

  • Ep. 6 –

    Ep. 6 – "Fat and fiction" Considering the risks and benefits of weight loss and weight loss drugs with Ragen Chastain and Dr. Joel Lexchin

    · Pharmanipulation

    Episode 6 invites Ragen Chastain, activist and author, and Joel Lexchin MD of York University, to discuss myths about weight and health, the hype around Ozempic and Wegovy, and the unclear connection between weight loss and health.

    Pharmanipulation is produced by PharmedOut, a project at Georgetown University Medical Center that advances evidence-based prescribing.

    To learn more about Ragen Chastain and her work, please visit her website: https://weightandhealthcare.substack.com/

    Additional Resources

    Dances With Fat Monthly Workshop – September: Navigating Weight Stigma at the Doctor’s Office date changed from September 27 to October 11 to avoid overlap with ASDAH’s annual meeting. Link: https://danceswithfat.org/monthly-online-workshops/

    Books

    “Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia”by Sabrina Strings. Link: https://nyupress.org/9781479886753/fearing-the-black-body/

    “Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness asAnti-Blackness” by Da'Shaun L. Harrison. Link: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/670607/belly-of-the-beast-by-dashaun-harrison/

    Articles

    "Semaglutide: a new drug for the treatment of obesity" by Joel Lexchin and Barbara Mintzes. Drug Ther Bull. 2023 Oct 25:dtb-2023-000007. doi: 10.1136/dtb.2023.000007. Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37879878/

    “How the ‘It's Bigger Than Me’ Campaign Is Harming Fat People for Profit" by RagenChastain. Link: https://themighty.com/topic/eating-disorders/its-bigger-than-me-campaign-harms-fat-people-for-profit/

    “Weighing the Consequences of Weight-Loss Drugs” by JudyButler and Dr. Adriane Fugh-Berman. Link: https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/104482

    Igho J. Onakpoya, Carl J. Heneghan and Jeffrey K. Aronson. Post-marketing withdrawal of anti-obesity medicinal products because of adverse drug reactions: a systematic review. BMC Medicine 2016;14:191. Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27894343/

    Prescrire’s "Semaglutide (Wegovy°) for excess bodyweight" Prescrire International 2023; 32 (245): 36-38. Link: https://english.prescrire.org/en/81/168/66102/0/NewsDetails.aspx

    Please note: the full article is available for subscribersonly.

    PharmedOut is supported primarily by individualdonations. To donate, please visit: https://sites.google/com/georgetown.edu/pharmedout/donate

  • Ep. 5 – “Under the Knife and Over it” Unnecessary C-sections and hysterectomies with Dr. Tony Scialli

    Ep. 5 – “Under the Knife and Over it” Unnecessary C-sections and hysterectomies with Dr. Tony Scialli

    · Pharmanipulation

    Episode 5 invites Tony Scialli MD, an obstetrician-gynecologist and reproductive toxicologist, to talk about the overuse of gynecologic surgeries – namely hysterectomies and Cesarean sections.

    Pharmanipulation is produced by PharmedOut, a Georgetown University Medical Center rational prescribing project. For a transcript of this episode, please visit: https://georgetown.box.com/s/1bdbxvaezezlpu0qsm02q3101mmhsi3a

    To learn more about Dr. Tony Scialli, please visit his website:https://www.scialliconsulting.com/#about

    Additional Resources

    The Cultural Warping of Childbirth by Doris Haire. Link:https://www.abebooks.com/9789315600471/Cultural-Warping-Childbirth-Doris-Haire-9315600479/plp

    Our Bodies, Ourselves by Boston Women’s Health Collective.Link: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Our-Bodies-Ourselves/Boston-Womens-Health-Book-Collective/9781439190661

    Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin. Link: https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31385160493&ref_=ps_ggl_17730880232&cm_mmc=ggl-_-US_Shopp_Trade_10to20-_-product_id=COM9781570671043USED-_-keyword=&gclid=Cj0KCQjw1_SkBhDwARIsANbGpFs4ExX1P9YXQFUuTueJytlUy2VdelLMIBU7neywgGu14aYawh1w7hkaArxfEALw_wcBNational Women’s Health Network. Link: https://nwhn.org/

    PharmedOut is supported primarily by individual donations.To donate, please visit: https://sites.google/com/georgetown.edu/pharmedout/donate

  • Ep. 4 -

    Ep. 4 - "How Do We Know We are Sick? Culture, Disease and Illness" with Dr. Sylvia Önder and Dr. Yulia Chentsova Dutton

    · Pharmanipulation

    Episode 4 invites medical anthropologist Sylvia Önder PhD and cultural psychologist Yulia Chentsova Dutton PhD to discuss the differences among disease, sickness and illness and explore the concepts of invented diseases, folk illnesses, and the social value of certain diseases.

    Pharmanipulation is produced by PharmedOut, a Georgetown University Medical Center rational prescribing project. For a transcript of this episode, please visit: https://georgetown.box.com/s/ufrrmreu5d26cbfvorbu863uz32qkih9

    PharmedOut Conference: https://sites.google.com/georgetown.edu/pharmedout/resources/conferences/2023-conference

    Bonnie O’Connor. Healing Traditions: Alternative Medicine and the Health Professions. 1995. Link: https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt3fhvd3

    Irving Zola. Medicine as an institution of social control. 1976. Link: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43618673

    Michel Foucault. The Birth of the Clinic: An Archaeology of Medical Perception. Link: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/55034/the-birth-of-the-clinic-by-michel-foucault/

    PharmedOut is supported primarily by individual donations. To donate, please visit: https://sites.google/com/georgetown.edu/pharmedout/donate

  • Ep. 3 -

    Ep. 3 - "Paying Attention to ADHD: Diagnosis and Treatment in Children" with Dr. Gretchen LeFever Watson and Robert Whitaker

    · Pharmanipulation

    Episode 3 of Pharmanipulation invites Gretchen LeFever Watson PhD and Robert Whitaker to question diagnoses of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and to critique drug treatment of behaviors associated with ADHD.

    Pharmanipulation is produced by PharmedOut, a Georgetown University Medical Center rational prescribing project. For a transcript of this episode, please visit: https://georgetown.box.com/s/jjei0u9zhtezfqg2i5p83h9per8nzugc

    For a list of resources and studies mentioned in this episode, please visit: ⁠https://bit.ly/Ep3Resources

    To learn more about Dr. LeFever Watson, please visit her website: https://drgretchenwatson.com/

    To learn more about Robert Whitaker, please visit his website: https://www.madinamerica.com/robert-whitaker-new/

    PharmedOut is supported primarily by individual donations. To donate, please visit: https://sites.google/com/georgetown.edu/pharmedout/donate

  • Ep. 2 -

    Ep. 2 - "Here Comes the Sun(screen): Myths about Melanoma" with Dr. Adewole Adamson

    · Pharmanipulation

    Episode 2 of Pharmanipulation invites Adewole S. Adamson MD, MPP, to discuss the relationship of sun exposure to melanoma, whether sunscreen actually prevents skin cancer, and the overdiagnosis of melanoma. Dr. Adamson is a board-certified dermatologist and an assistant professor in the department of Internal Medicine at Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin where he studies skin cancer, evidence-based medicine, and health policy. He is also the Director of the Pigmented Lesion Clinic at the University of Texas at Austin, and he serves as an assistant editor at JAMA Dermatology.

    Pharmanipulation is produced by PharmedOut, a Georgetown University Medical Center rational prescribing project. For a transcript of this episode, please visit: https://georgetown.box.com/s/3bte8vynpulj33kv3qdtwdabamm2n9xx 

    To learn more about Dr. Adamson, please visit his website: https://adeadamson.com/

    Dr. Adamson’s paper on Estimating Overdiagnosis of Melanoma Using Trends Among Black and White Patients in the U.S. is available here: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamadermatology/fullarticle/2789995

    Dr. Adamson’s paper on The Rapid Rise in Cutaneous Melanoma Diagnoses is available here: https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMsb2019760?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200pubmed

    PharmedOut is supported primarily by individual donations. To make a donation please visit: https://sites.google/com/georgetown.edu/pharmedout/donate

  • Ep. 1 - Unlocking Pharma’s Secrets

    Ep. 1 - Unlocking Pharma’s Secrets

    · Pharmanipulation

    Pharmanipulation is a new show created by PharmedOut, dedicated to the topics of evidence-based medicine and industry influence on medical information and public health. PharmedOut is a Georgetown University Medical Center rational prescribing project. Episode 1 covers pharmaceutical marketing tactics, industry influence on medical knowledge, and invented diseases. Join hosts Caroline Renko and Patricia Bencivenga as they interview Adriane Fugh-Berman MD, the Director of PharmedOut. 

    Links

    PharmedOut website: https://www.pharmedout.org/ 

    PharmedOut is supported primarily by individual donations. To make a donation please visit: https://sites.google.com/georgetown.edu/pharmedout/donate 

    Pharma Marketing Hub (factsheets and summaries of important topics): https://sites.google.com/georgetown.edu/pharmedout/resources/pharma-marketing-hub?authuser=0

    Patient Grooming Webinar: https://youtu.be/PD_tBqHDouY 

    Transcript to this episode: https://georgetown.box.com/s/qsf6875gd5qgelemtx9urltgaxyl77lx