Dr. Frank M. Torti, M.D., MPH has just been appointed as the Acting Commissioner of Food and Drugs (FDA). He has been a prominent clinician, scientist and researcher in molecular oncology. Until his appointment at the FDA as Principal Deputy Commissioner and first Chief Scientist in April 2008, Dr. Torti had served the as Charles [...]
On Tuesday, we will be inaugurating a new president, President Elect Obama. Obama has inherited a country in severe financial distress, unemployment rates are at an amazingly high rate, bankruptcy filing at a new high and the real state market has crashed. No matter where you turn, there are houses in foreclosure and most people’s [...]
Yesterday afternoon I participated in a conference call, which included representatives from most of the major prostate cancer organizations in the United States. Alvin Chin and John Willey who serve as consumer advocates for the Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research programs (DOD CDMRP) prompted the call. Alvin and John serve specifically on the [...]
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is one of the major governmental entities that has a significant, direct and immediate affect on any of us who has any illness. All men with prostate cancer have had their life and their deaths impacted by the FDA. This impact has not been on just a few of [...]
GTx announced in a company media release that it has requested that the FDA consider its new drug application (NDA) for the use of toremifene 80 mg to prevent bone fractures in men with prostate cancer receiving androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). GTx has asked for a priority review of its application stating that “there are [...]
Many members of Congress see the potential of an increased investment in the NIH as part of the solution to our ailing economy. We prostate cancer survivors can glean additional benefits from an increase to NIH funding, in our fight against this terrible disease. The belief that making an increased economic investment in research through [...]
I am trying to be well behaved, but I have to say that increasingly I am having a more difficult time controlling myself. My darling, loving wife, Wendy, says that I have to be nice and always listen to what others are saying. In theory that is great, but shouldn’t others also have to listen [...]
Remember back to when your children were young and you would sit at a table with them and help put together a puzzle. Depending upon the puzzle’s size and complexity, it could take hours of hard work; however, the time was well spent because you could bond on a common task with your children. When [...]
There is a lot of pressure on cancer survivors to participate in clinical trials. Without the brave individuals willing to participate in the trials research would grind to a halt along with new, improved treatments for all cancers. Even though an estimated 2.3 million people in the United States take part in clinical trials every [...]
Woman should not be given mammograms for the same reason that men should not have PSA tests! This is the conclusion that would be very easy to come away with after reading an article in today’s New York Times (November 25, 2008), “Study Suggests Some cancers May Go Away”, by Gina Kolata. Researchers, for many [...]
