Reflections after the Diane affair

Reflections after the Diane affair.

The Pharmacovigilance Centre Lareb received 621 reports of possible adverse drugs reactions on Diane-35® . Of all reports, 388 were received after media attention. Of the 309 reports of thromboembolic adverse drugs reactions, 18 cases were fatal. In 31 cases the thromboembolic adverse drugs reaction was initially not recognized as such. The analysis and the turmoil of the 'Diane affair' gave ri...

The Alder Hey affair.

The monkey gland affair

His method of working involves very close study of the texts in order to uncover the medical concepts of their authors. For example, when he analyses the vocabulary of disease, showing how diseases are described and named, his conclusions illuminate the question of the extent to which individual characteristics ofthe patient are thought to influence the symptoms and course of the disease. One c...

The Singapore Herald Affair

lN MAY, 1971 THE SINGAPORE GOVERNMENT CAUSED AN ENGLISHlanguage newspaper, The Singapore Herald, to cease publication. Although its circulation was considerably less than the long-established Straits Times, in its year of existence the Herald had gained many loyal readers. They looked to the Herald for balU?ced, critical commentary on national affairs, something rarely found in the Times, at le...

An affair of the heart.

In 1950, patients with Hodgkin lymphoma had a median survival time of 4 years and a 5-year relative survival rate of 29% (1). Since the introduction of radiation therapy and chemotherapy for Hodgkin lymphoma in the 1960s and 1970s, the 5-year relative survival rate is more than 85% (2), and these patients can now expect a long lymphoma-free life. However, the price for this phenomenal success h...