The FAERS Public Dashboard and its Value to the Pharmaceutical Industry

The No Surprises Act aims to protect consumers from surprise medical bills. But how exactly does it go about doing that, and what’s the current status of its implementation? Joining Dr. Charles Turck to share progress and challenges associated with the No Surprises Act is Ms. Emily Carroll, a senior legislative attorney for the American Medical Association's Advocacy Resource Center.

Among the most touted candidates in the hunt for effective coronavirus treatments are the antimalarial drugs chloroquine and its derivative, hydroxychloroquine. Will these drugs become effective treatment and post-exposure prophylaxis agents?

Published March 23, 2020

As physicians, we know that vaccines help protect people from preventable diseases, but somehow this message is getting lost among our patients. With more parents than ever choosing to skip the needle, Dr. Andrew Wilner dives into the 16^th chapter of his book, Bullets and Brains, where he discusses the widespread benefits of vaccines and how they not only protect your patients’ children, but all of us.

Up until 2011, there was no FDA-approved antivenom for scorpion stings—until a very concerned pediatrician created one that came with seemingly miraculous results. Dr. Andrew Wilner breaks down this overlooked health threat and the development of its antivenom, which he explores in his book of essays called Bullets and Brains.

The FDA has made strides in improving transparency and data access, and has implemented tools to allow the pharmaceutical industry and the public to transform raw data into usable information. One of these tools is called the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) Public Dashboard. In this episode, the architects of the FAERS Public Dashboard – Deputy Director of the Regulatory Science Staff Suranjan De, and Acting Team Lead in Regulatory Science Information Sanjay Sahoo—both of CDER’s Office of Surveillance and Epidemiology, highlight their work with this new online tool.

To explore the origin of our country’s opioid epidemic, Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning Barry Meier, author of Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America's Opioid Epidemic which dives into the pivotal role Purdue Pharma, makers of the narcotic OxyContin, played in the greatest public health crisis of the 21st century.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning that the medicine lamotrigine (Lamictal) for seizures and bipolar disorder can cause a rare but very serious reaction that excessively activates the body’s infection-fighting immune system. This can cause severe inflammation throughout the body and lead to hospitalization and death, especially if the reaction is not diagnosed and treated quickly.

A link to the full communication detailing specific information for health care professionals and a list of FDA-approved GBCAs can be found at www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety

Released 4/25/2018

Carl Hart, who grew up in one of Miami’s toughest neighborhoods, escaped a life of crime and drugs and avoided becoming one of the crack addicts he now helps treat as the Chair of the Department of Psychology at Columbia University. His landmark, controversial research is redefining our understanding of addiction and demonstrates how personal experience and scientific study can inform and validate each other for a deeper understanding of human behavior and addiction.

Host Dr. Maurice Pickard talks with Dr. Hart, author of the book High Price, about the relationship between drugs and pleasure, choice, and motivation, both in the brain and in society. They explore how his research sheds new light on common ideas about race, poverty, and drugs, and explain why current policies are failing.

According to a report from the Trust for America’s Health, an estimated 1.6 million people could die from drugs, alcohol, and suicide in the next ten years. This is a 60% increase from the past decade.

Host Dr. Brian McDonough talks with John Templeton Jr, President of Footprints Beachside Recovery Center in Florida, about treating addiction and what doctors need to know about reducing opioid addiction risk in their pain medication management.

Over 33,000 lives were lost to opioid overdose in 2015, translating into 91 people dying each day, according to the most recent CDC data. Reducing exposure to prescription opioids, for situations where the risks of opioids outweigh their benefits, is a crucial part of reversing this trend.

Host Dr. Brian McDonough explores alternative options to prescription opioids with addiction specialist Dr. Isaac Alexis, Medical Director of the Lifeline Addiction Center in Beckley, WV.