Physicians for Social Responsibility

Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility. In harm s way, 1998. 

Schletter T, Stein J, Reich F, et al. Harm s way Toxic threats to child devel opment, Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility, Cambridge, MA, 2000. 

National Environmental Trust, Washington, DC, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Washington, DC, Learning Disabilities Association of America, Pittsburg, PA. Polluting our future Chemical pollution in the U.S. that affects child development and learning, March 2004, www.safekidsinfo.org... 

The publication of clinical trials, then, is one example where the pharmaceutical physician (acting as publicist or medical writer) may become an agent for social change (Gray 1994). Even when he/she acts solely as a medical writer, the pharmaceutical physician must understand the ethical responsibility to represent the material in a fair, balanced, and, above all, accurate manner. While an ombudsman-like role may help in finding compromise among the various pressures that are applied to this process from diverse outside parties, the pharmaceutical physician will inevitably (and... 

This positivist attitude is well-established in the biomedical world, and, to be sure, it was hard-won and hardly to be disparaged. However, at the same time, the price for objectifying disease has diluted, if not too often replaced medicine s ancient calling of care. I mean by care, attention to each facet of the individual, namely, treating the patient as a person, as a whole. A medicine that fails to address those elements of personhood that have no scientific basis - the social, the emotional, the moral - is ultimately fractional and therefore incomplete. Only by the physician committing to comprehensive care can the multifarious elements of being ill be addressed effectively. There is no one else to assume that responsibility, and we must invoke the ethics of responsibility to re-define the entire enterprise.5... 

Currently, many physicians adopt a benzodiazepine-sparing strategy by using benzodiazepines when necessary but conservatively. That is, benzodiazepines can often be helpful when treatment is initiated or when a rapid-onset therapeutic effect is desired. They can also help improve the short-term tolerability of SSRIs by blocking the jitteriness and exacerbation of panic sometimes observed when initiating treatment with an SSRI or other antidepressant. Benzodiazepines can also be useful to top up the patient s treatment on an as-needed basis for sudden and unexpected decompensation or short-term psychosocial stressors. Finally, if a patient is not fully responsive to an antidepressant or combinations of antidepressants, long-term treatment with concomitant benzodiazepines and antidepressants may become necessary to effect full or adequate control of symptoms. Sometimes, once symptoms are suppressed for several months to a year, the benzodiazepine can be slowly discontinued and the patient maintained long-term on the antidepressant alone. The consequences of inadequate treatment of panic disorder can be very severe loss of social and oc-... 

Pharmaceutical manufacturers and cross-disciplinary teams in health systems (e.g., nurses, physicians, pharmacists, and social workers) are particularly well suited for this endeavor. This allows for diversity of ideas and for the best possible solution to emerge. On the negative side, there is little evidence that employees prefer reporting to more than one supervisor, and confusion as to who is responsible for what can develop (Tosi, Rizzo, and Carroll, 1994). 

Children respond to disasters based on their developmental stage, their level of exposure and the response of others around them (22). Physical injury, proximity to the disaster, witnessing injury and death of family members or other loved ones, the extent and duration of disruption of daily activities, parental reactions and family disruption all contribute to how children respond. Relevant developmental factors include cognitive, physical, educational and social development and experience. In addition, the emotional state of children and their families before the disaster help predict their response after. Therefore, primary care physicians who have provided continuous care for families, including emotional support, are well suited to help families, including children, to adjust following a disaster (22). 

This activity often described as The Medical and Social Conscience of a company largely resides in the Medical Affairs department. In most large -and medium-sized pharmaceutical companies this responsibility lies with Medical Affairs. The review of all materials, whether detail pieces provided in person to physicians in practice, slide sets for speakers on behalf of the company, general promotional material that is disseminated via print, radio, TV or web must be reviewed and approved by internal committees comprised of Medical Affairs staff, regulatory and legal personnel. In addition to the company review, this material must be sent to FDA at least by the first day of use. Review by FDA s DDMAC should be sought for TV advertisements. 

Although several ancient physicians were aware that lead was harmful, it was not until the Industrial Revolution in Europe and America that any sustained attention was paid to lead poisoning. Numerous observations of sterility, miscarriages, stillbirths, and premature delivery in both female leadworkers and the wives of male leadworkers resulted, by the end of the nineteenth century, in the removal of female workers from the industry. In the twentieth century, improvements in testing techniques and an awakening social conscience significantly reduced lead exposure. The most serious (and obvious) effects of lead toxicity are now rarely observed. However, lead is believed to be responsible for more subtle injuries. For example, in one controversial hypothesis, some cases of renal disease and hypertension are linked to mild lead exposure. In addition, several researchers have associated intellectual dullness and lowered IQ scores to relatively low levels of lead exposure. 

Social workers need to take a more active role in this area in order to protect and educate their clients. McGrath s study (1999) highlights that prescribers are interested in increasing compliance and the availability of medication information to their clients. Yet a frequent debate in the medical industry asks. Who is actually responsible for counseling patients on the negative results of a drug interaction Physicians and pharmacists say that they do not have the time (Barnes, 1999), which means that other... 

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