The Myth of Absolute Safety (from National Review Online)
The FDA shouldn’t be excessively cautious in its drug-approval process
By Gilbert Ross, M.D.
Publish Date : Thursday, March 3, 2005
The FDA has its heavy regulatory hand on almost one quarter of the nation's economy, so its leadership is of deep concern to all Americans, not merely those involved in public health...  Read Full >>

Along with Risks, COX-2 Drugs Have Many Potential Benefits (from Wall Street Journal)
By Gilbert Ross, M.D.
Publish Date : Monday, January 3, 2005
In addition to your nuanced counsel on dealing with the crescendo of dire warnings about various drugs ("The Painkiller Panic", Dec. 23), another factor that should be considered in the precipitous withdrawal of Vioxx and the untoward panic about various pain-relievers is the vast potential of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDs) in the chemoprevention of cancer...  Read Full >>

Preventing Flu Deaths (from the New York Times)
By Gilbert Ross, M.D.
Publish Date : Sunday, January 2, 2005
You say "it would be nice to know for sure" that immunizing schoolchildren against influenza is the most effective route to prevent flu-related deaths among the vulnerable...  Read Full >>

Doctor calls lawyers predators (from New York Daily News)
Bad Medicine
By Gilbert Ross, M.D.
Publish Date : Sunday, November 21, 2004
Drug giant Merck pulled its painkiller Vioxx because it increased the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Now the company may face thousands of lawsuits. Are lawyers unjustly driving Merck toward bankruptcy?  Read Full >>

Don’t Kill the Pharmaceutical Golden Goose: Tort Litigation Against Merck Can Destroy New Drugs – and Lives (from Center for Medical Progress at the Manhattan Institute)
By Gilbert Ross, M.D.
Publish Date : Thursday, November 18, 2004
What a Fall it's been - in every sense of the word - for drug giant Merck: late September saw its withdrawal of the blockbuster anti-arthritis and pain-relieving drug Vioxx. Then, last week, a new report revealed that a Merck vaccine against the virus that causes almost all cervical cancer was completely effective in a 4-year trial among over two-thousand patients...  Read Full >>

Merck is not Philip Morris (from the New York Sun)
By Gilbert Ross, M.D.
Publish Date : Thursday, November 18, 2004
Your editorial ("The Merck Case" Nov. 15th) correctly deplores the tactics of tort lawyers in their quest to dismember Merck and get a piece of the billions likely to be re-distributed subsequent to the Vioxx withdrawal. But you are wrong to conflate the needless and unjust assaults on the pharmaceutical industry with the well-justified litigation against the tobacco industry...  Read Full >>

Insurance for the Obese? NO (from New York Daily News)
By Gilbert Ross, M.D.
Publish Date : Monday, July 26, 2004
Those Americans who crave being taken care of by the government will be comforted by the latest from Medicare: Obesity is no longer banned from the list of illnesses covered by our national health insurance program for the elderly and disabled. The "disease-ification" of America continues its march...  Read Full >>

Sacrificing the Grandkids for Grandma
By Gilbert Ross, M.D.
Publish Date : Wednesday, March 17, 2004
It pains me to hear that your concern for your aged mom has caused some confusion on your part about the risks and benefits of importing drugs from Canada and elsewhere.  Read Full >>

A Needless Worry Concerning Breast Milk
By Gilbert Ross, M.D.
Publish Date : Monday, February 2, 2004
The Jan. 20 article in the Health Journal, "Toxins in Breast Milk," conveys unscientific assumptions that will needlessly alarm many members of the public, especially women who plan to breast feed. The assertion that a study subject's body "carried 105 chemicals in measurable levels" is meaningless on its face.  Read Full >>

Rate films with smoking 'R' for their influence on kids
By Gilbert Ross, M.D.
Publish Date : Wednesday, August 20, 2003
During scenes from the movie The Secret Lives of Dentists, Dana and David Hurst are seen undergoing an unholy combination of adultery and viral gastroenteritis.  Read Full >>