Clinician's Roundtable

It seems most drug-makers are making their biggest sales to doctors by pushing medicines for common conditions whether they be statins for cholesterol or proton pump inhibitors for heartburn. But drugs can actually take on blockbuster significance for specialized treatment groups where treatment options are limited. Jeffrey Aronin, president and CEO of Ovation Pharmaceuticals Inc. tells the Chicago Tribune's Bruce Japsen about his company's efforts to build blockbuster franchises by treating rare conditions.

Not all drug companies are in pursuit of billion-dollar blockbuster drugs taken by millions of Americans. In fact, there are drugs treating rare conditions that wouldn't be sold on the market if not for a landmark piece of legislation known as the Orphan Drug Act, now 25 years old. Jeffrey Aronin, president and CEO of Ovation Pharmaceuticals Inc. tells the Chicago Tribune's Bruce Japsen about the silver anniversary of the Orphan Drug Act, its benefits and its future potential.

Should African American’s be treated with beta blockers to prevent heart failure? This has been a controversial question in the cardiovascular community. In this segment, Dr. Gerald Dorn of Washington University School of Medicine explains the biological mechanisms in which beta blockers offer protection from heart failure and what led him and his team to more closely examine the African American population who as a group does not seem to benefit as much from beta blockers. Learn in this segment about a gene variant identified by Dr. Dorn and his team carried by African American patients which provides protection from heart failure. Is this gene variant found in all African Americans? Are there other populations with this gene variant? Dr. Dorn talks about the implications of this study and where he hopes to go from here with his research.

Dr. Michael Greenberg welcomes Tangerine Brigham, Deputy Director of Health for the San Francisco Department of Health and Director of "Healthy San Francisco," a landmark plan to provide health care to San Francisco's 73,000 uninsured city residents. Now available at multiple clinics across the city, this program is intended to give people a medical home, a primary doctor and medical services ranging from basic preventive care to pharmaceuticals to surgeries.

With a myriad of overlapping hormones and neurotransmitters involved, weight regulation is a complex task. While our bodies aim to stow away energy reserves for emergent times, our patients simultaneously try desperately to shed unwanted pounds. As Sandra Aamodt, PhD, author and former editor-in-chief of Nature Neuroscience, tells host Dr. Leslie Lundt, thanks to leptin, and a host of other regulatory compounds, many patients face long odds making a permanent change in food intake.

Our patients use their brains every moment of their lives. So do we! How well do you know your brain? You may be distressed at the answer. Dr. Sandra Aamodt, co-author along with Dr. Sam Wang of Welcome to Your Brain joins host Dr. Leslie Lundt to discuss common misconceptions about neurobiology.

Status epilepticus. What does that bring to mind? For most of us, we think of convulsions. But this is not always the case. Epileptologist Dr. Rama Maganti discusses nonconvulsive status epilepticus with host Dr. Leslie Lundt.

The American economic environment has drastically changed since the 1970s, and we now live in a world of material desire. Almost anything imaginable is available to purchase, and many of our patients choose to buy frivolities instead of spending their money wisely. How can understanding the psychology of debt help us to help them? Dr. Stuart Vyse will be discussing his latest book, Going Broke: Why Americans Can’t Hold on to their Money with host Dr. Leslie Lundt.

Over the last 30 years, debt, bankruptcy and now home foreclosures have risen to crisis proportions. In addition, the personal savings rate of Americans is at its lowest point since the Great Depression. What is wrong with us? Dr. Stuart Vyse will be discussing his latest book, Going Broke: Why Americans Can’t Hold on to their Money, with host Dr. Leslie Lundt.

Tremendous leaps have been made in the science of vision giving us a better understanding of how we see. What do visual pathways teach us about the process of visual thinking? Host Dr. Leslie Lundt welcomes Dan Roam, author of The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures to discuss how we can use visual thinking techniques to improve our communication skills.