Pharmaceutical Researcher

Pharmaceutical Researcher

drugstr

Central, NJ

Male, 61

I have worked as a drug discovery scientist for over 30 years performing experiments to help identify novel chemical compounds for their potential in treating diseases in the areas of infection, inflammation and cardiovascular disorders. I have a good familiarity with the entire process from discovery to safety to clinical trials and even marketing. Ask me about the business of Big Pharma. I’m happy to comment on any and all hot-button issues. My opinions are quite often not pro-business.

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58 Questions

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Last Answer on October 29, 2020

Best Rated

Why do some doctors prescribe meds knowing it’s dangerous

Asked by Jim almost 5 years ago

Every drug carries risks of side-effects which are sometimes dangerous. Doctors are responsible for determining whether the curative value of a prescription outweighs these risks. A competent physician does this with full knowledge of the drug profile and an intimate knowledge of the patient’s condition. A drug manufacturer applies to the FDA for permission to market a drug for a particular indication by submitting clinical evidence proving safety and efficacy. A drug may have more than one indication in its ‘label.’ Doctors are free, however, to prescribe drugs ‘off-label’ for a condition not specifically approved by the FDA. There may be published reports to support this or the doctor may have had good results with similar agents. They do this at their peril, though. They may be liable for injury. Doctors are human and may be subject to pressure from patients, drug companies, politicians, or criminals to prescribe in a way that is not in the best interest of their patient or worse, to support the dangerous and illegal trafficking of narcotics. So to answer your question, doctors may succumb to various pressures to use their power to prescribe in ways that may cause harm, thus violating their oath.

What do you think of meth?

Asked by Sammy almost 5 years ago

I answered a related question 7 years ago. Find it above and see if it answers your question.

Hey hon I heard the CDC updated the numbers to where only 9,000 died of COVID-19 is this true or is this another bazaar conspiracy theory?

Asked by May about 5 years ago

This is not a pharma question.No numbers have been changed. Evidently, a CDC report on comorbidities was the source of this misinformation.

What type of medicine would you think is the most fraudulent?

Asked by Garett almost 5 years ago

I don’t know what you mean by fraudulent. Is it the most counterfeited, the most unauthorized generic, or the one that I would say does not perform as claimed? Frankly, I don’t have an answer for any of these. My pet peeve is the endless promotion of herbals, and formulations that promise better memory, vision, prostate health, weight loss, etc. I don’t believe their ‘clinical’ evidence.

which solute is most effective at lowering freezing temps sucrose, sodium chloride, calcium chloride, aluminum chloride

Asked by Mark g almost 5 years ago

This is not a pharma question and I’m not expert in colligative properties, however, my understanding is that freezing point depression is a function of the molality of a solute in a solution. The molality represents the total number of dissolved particles. You’re obviously familiar with this since your list includes compounds of increasing molal potential. I submit that based on molality, aluminum chloride would be best so long as the solution was fairly dilute. While the others nicely dissolve in water, AlCl3 reacts with water and forms HCl, a dissolved gas. In a concentrated solution some of the HCl would degas and thus lower the molality reducing the freezing point depression. So if your goal is a several degree drop, choose CaCl2. It’s a safer bet.

When prescribed HDQ (plaquenil hydroxychloroquine) for COVID-19 how much should you take and for how long? What are some side effects and is this a effective medication? What are some other illnesses for the medication?

Asked by Dannie almost 5 years ago

According to the FDA there is no effective HCQ regimen for the treatment of COVID-19. Its emergency use is no longer authorized. I refer you to the link below for answers to your three questions.https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-cautions-against-use-hydroxychloroquine-or-chloroquine-covid-19-outside-hospital-setting-or

When will we realistically have a COVID-19 vaccines?

Asked by Michael almost 5 years ago

First there's development, then testing, then approval, then manufacture, then distribution and then WE have it. For COVID-19 most are still in development and a handful are now in testing with a few in late stage testing. Normally these steps would take a couple of years, but acceleration has been inserted in a couple of places, i.e. government funding of development, political pressure on approval (maybe), and manufacture on spec. These things could shave off several months. Also, if a vaccine works very well, interim analysis may reveal significant efficacy and safety and thus early approval. There are still unresolved hurdles to distribution and recipient selection. I think most folks should not expect to get it until next year. Early I hope.