It is unfortunate that legitimate science and criticism that protects consumers from quackery are being sued by doctors with lesser work ethics. When some people cannot defend or justify their position with logic and constructive criticism, they sometimes resort to lawsuits. Full story here: sciencebasedmedicine.org/another-lawsuit-to-suppress-legitimate-criticism-this-time-sbm/ One of the highlights here, written by Dr. Steven Novella: The case highlighted in the LA Times story involved Ken Chiate, who brought his wife who was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease to Tobinick’s clinic for 165 injections of Enbrel over four years, at a cost of $800 each (that’s $132,000). During that time there were questionable subjective effects from the treatment, typical of placebo-only effects. Meanwhile his wife’s condition continued to relentlessly progress, as is typical of the disease, until she finally died in 2011. I am not the only one to have concerns about Tobinick’s practices. The Medical Board of California filed an accusation in 2004, amended in 2005 and 2006, stating: From about 2000 to 2002, Tobinick, owned and operated a medical practice under the name “Institute for Neurological Research” in Los Angeles and Newport Beach. During those years, Tobinick promoted and advertised a new off-label use for an FDA-approved drug, etanercept (Enbrel). He referred to his drug as DiskCure® [sic] and advertised it as “a new and innovative approach for back or neck pain without surgery,” and as a “breakthrough” in the treatment of disc-related back and neck pain. Enbrel is a genetically engineered protein and immune response modifier approved by the FDA for treating several types of arthritis but not for back pain. Tobinick’s treatment involved injecting it near the spine. Until May 2002, there had been no published, peer-reviewed, scientific studies showing the effectiveness of the treatment for back pain in humans. Nor had there been an approved, pending, or investigational drug application for this use of etanercept. Tobinick’s advertisements for DiskCure constituted unprofessional conduct under the California Business and Professions Code. Tobinick had also failed to obtain a fictitious name permit for the Institute for Neurological Research as required by law. Tobinick agreed to serve one year on probation during which he was required to complete courses in ethics and prescribing practices and have his practice monitored by another physician or complete a professional enhancement program. But now he is not only up to his old tricks, but he has greatly expanded the scope of his Enbrel claims and practice. He has his own “Institute for Neurological Recovery” in which he shows videos of select patients to promote his patented treatments.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 19:39:08 +0000
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