What if the drugs you take today were tested with the same lax standards as those in the 1950s? Join us on the MedEvidence Monday Minute Radio Show as we sit down with Dr. Michael Koren, a seasoned cardiologist and research scientist, to uncover the dramatic evolution of drug development. Dr. Koren takes us on a journey from the Wild West of unregulated pharmaceutical practices to today's stringent FDA protocols, shaped significantly by the tragic thalidomide crisis. You'll hear eye-opening stories of how medications were once casually approved, shedding light on the progress and the critical need for comprehensive clinical trials.
Dr. Koren also brings to the forefront the ongoing challenges we face with unregulated supplement manufacturers and the continuous need for rigorous testing. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the true efficacy of chemicals and drugs within specific contexts. Discover how you can contribute to groundbreaking research by participating in clinical trials right here in Northeast Florida. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the intricate world of medical research and the strides we've made toward safer, more effective medications.
What if the drugs you take today were tested with the same lax standards as those in the 1950s? Join us on the MedEvidence Monday Minute Radio Show as we sit down with Dr. Michael Koren, a seasoned cardiologist and research scientist, to uncover the dramatic evolution of drug development. Dr. Koren takes us on a journey from the Wild West of unregulated pharmaceutical practices to today's stringent FDA protocols, shaped significantly by the tragic thalidomide crisis. You'll hear eye-opening stories of how medications were once casually approved, shedding light on the progress and the critical need for comprehensive clinical trials.
Dr. Koren also brings to the forefront the ongoing challenges we face with unregulated supplement manufacturers and the continuous need for rigorous testing. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the true efficacy of chemicals and drugs within specific contexts. Discover how you can contribute to groundbreaking research by participating in clinical trials right here in Northeast Florida. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the intricate world of medical research and the strides we've made toward safer, more effective medications.
Welcome to the MedEvidence Monday Minute Radio Show hosted by Kevin Geddings of WSOS St. Augustine Radio and powered ENCORE Research Group. Each Monday morning, Dr. Michael Koren calls in to bring you the latest medical updates with insightful discussions. MedEvidence is where we help you navigate the real truth behind medical research, with both a clinical and research perspective. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn about the truth behind the data in medicine and healthcare. This is MedEvidence.
Kevin Geddings:
Dr. Michael Koren. This morning he joins me live on the studio line at 29 minutes before nine o'clock. Dr. Koren, good song, right
Dr. Michael Koren:
Yeah, good morning Kevin. Yeah, that was how the pharmaceutical industry used to operate in the 1950s.
Kevin Geddings:
Love potion number nine. So talk to us briefly about. You know how different things are. You know in terms of bringing medicines to market when that was a big hit in the 50s as opposed to today, in 2024.
Dr. Michael Koren:
Yeah, well, back in the 50s drug development was fairly unregulated and you know, drug companies would get testings on a few people and then they would just throw them out there and actually in the 50s you didn't even have to have formal safety evaluations performed on your drug before it hit the market. Basically, a drug company would say, okay, we discovered this chemical. Maybe they tried it on some people. Sometimes people who actually developed the drug tried it and said, hey, I used it myself.
Dr. Michael Koren:
So now it's safe for you. And it was very unregulated. And then it got out there and, of course, you had situations where bad things happened. The most famous of them is the Thalidomide crisis, where Thalidomide was actually widely used in Europe. It was used on pregnant women to calm them down during pregnancy, and lo and behold it caused birth defects. It did not affect the United States nearly as much because an early crusader her name Francis Kelsey . Hold on a second let's. Let's check the thing a little bit more Let's get, more information, before we get this out of the market. Well, it even before the well legislation that created the current system, but it was very effective to prevent Thalidomide from affecting a lot more Americans, and Thalidomide was just an absolute disaster in Europe. But, by the way, Thalidomide has made a comeback and now it's been tested and now it's actually used for different infectious diseases.
Dr. Michael Koren:
If I'm not mistaken, it's actually used for leprosy. So, with all these things, you have to really understand how the chemicals work and eventually get to the truth behind the data, which is knowing that these work, in this circumstance, with right people.
Kevin Geddings:
Yeah, and also know and appreciate, I think overall right that the system that the FDA has in place, although no system is ever going to be perfect, but it dramatically improves the safety and outcomes for regular people right.
Dr. Michael Koren:
Totally Again. We know so much more about modern drugs than we do about older drugs, and you know, love potion number nine is something that probably happened in Southern California in the 1950s. You went to a gypsy, you had your palm read and then the gypsy would tell you well, yeah, you're having problems and I have the solution in my kitchen. You want to come back and try some? And Mark Twain said history doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme, and we have a lot of these supplement manufacturers and sellers and other people. I don't want to denigrate the compound pharmacy Some of them do a good job but people are cranking out a lot of things in their basements and in their kitchens that people consume, so this is not a problem that has completely gone away. Yeah, absolutely.
Kevin Geddings:
Hey, if you're just tuning in, that's the voice of Dr. Michael Koren. Of course he's a medical doctor, cardiologist and also research scientist and heads the show at Encore Docs where they do leading edge clinical research right here in Northeast Florida, including next door to UF Flagler Hospital at the Whetstone Building, where folks here locally go to participate in some amazing clinical trials. I have been a participant. Highly recommend it. An opportunity to be a part of science, also to benefit yourself in all sorts of ways, including potentially financially. So we encourage you to learn more by going to EncoreDocs. com. Encoredocs. com their phone number here locally, 904-730-0166. Punch that number into your cell phone and give them a call later today and the process starts by them getting an assessment of where you stand health-wise and what trials you may benefit from 904-730-0166. And of course, a lot of what Dr. Koren is about is getting out good information and to that end, you and I are going to do an event together at WJCT, the public radio station up in Jacksonville, on the 26th of July, right?
Dr. Michael Koren:
Yeah, yeah, I'm looking forward to it. It should be a lot of fun. We've had standing room only for these events over the last several months, so I'd encourage people who are listening to sign up early and get information about it, because it actually may become unaccessible to people closer to the event. But yeah, we're going to talk about conspiracy theories, am I not mistaken?
Kevin Geddings:
Yeah, yeah, that's going to be it Misinformation about health information. Of course, we've got a lot of those issues out there. When you have social media and Facebook and Snapchat and Nextdoor putting out medical recommendations, it can be some pretty scary stuff and we're going to talk about that.
Dr. Michael Koren:
Yeah, and I can also talk about the other love potion number nines out there that you have to be skeptical. Being relentlessly skeptical is an important part of being a good scientist and actually an important part of being a good consumer. So we'll talk about that as well, and how you can test hypotheses and find the truth behind the data.
Kevin Geddings:
One way that you can definitely do that, starting today, as soon as you get through listening to us, is check out the website medevidence. com. Medevidence. com, and indeed Dr. Koren, has done a great job in trying to advance this notion of dealing with misinformation out there. Tell us about that website.
Dr. Michael Koren:
Yeah, MedEvidence is our platform to understand what we know in medicine, what we don't know in medicine, and how we're going to learn about the stuff that we don't know, and we do it in a conversational way, so we'll take two physicians, for example often I'm involved and we'll have a discussion about a particular area. So we had a great discussion recently about acne and some of the new breakthrough concepts to try to treat acne, which is literally a disfiguring condition, that we're now involving people into clinical trials to help them deal with this by using a vaccine that prevents the bacteria that causes acne from affecting victims of this disease. It's not just one example, but we have multiple literally hundreds at this point of podcast discussions where you can eavesdrop into a conversation between two physicians and then really understand the truth behind the data and literally what we know and what we don't know about a particular area, and this helps you make good decisions for you and your family.
Kevin Geddings:
Yeah, now, it's a great website. Lots of good information there, easily consumable, which myself and a lot of our listeners like. Go to MedEvidence. com that's MedEvidence. com. And again, to participate in clinical trials and to learn more about what's going on here locally, go to encordocs. com. That's encordocs. com, Dr. Michael Koren. Thank you very much for calling in and we'll talk with you soon. Okay, sounds great.
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