It is time to wash the linen.

The unethical practice of commissions in private healthcare requires an open debate since it leads to expensive and hazardous healthcare. Doctors are accused of being sales agents and law breakers, private hospitals resemble luxury hotels, the consumer has become fair game whenever he/she has money, and our profession and society are rendered insensitive to human suffering. At the root of this malaise is the unplanned promotion of healthcare as a free market product.

Adverse interactions of rofecoxib with lisinopril in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Background: Hypertension and arthritis are frequent comorbidities. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are well known to produce hypertension or attenuate the effects of antihypertensive agents in a few patients. The influence of selective NSAIDs on blood pressure and the cardiovascular and renal effects of coxibs have still to be investigated.

Platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibition using eptifibatide with primary coronary stenting for acute myocardial infarction: a 30-day follow-up study.

The results of primary coronary stenting for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have been reported to improve significantly with the concomitant administration of platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor abciximab. There are, however, no data available with the use of eptifibatide, a more cost-effective, small-molecule GP IIb/IIIa blocker with a shorter half-life. In a prospective multicenter feasibility and efficacy study, we assigned 55 consecutive patients with AMI being taken up for primary stenting to receive eptifibatide just before the procedure (two boluses of 180 microg/kg 10 min apart and a 24-hr infusion of 2 microg/kg/min).