Jane Chin, Ph.D.

Is taurine in Red Bull harmful?

Question on Quora asks about taurine: “It’s the ingredient in Red Bull. I’m aware that each Red Bull contains the amount of caffeine a cup of coffee would have but what about the taurine ingredient?” According to a pubmed citation – this one specifically examines the effects of energy drinks containing Taurine and other additives [...]

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Medicines and Drugs – Do Doctors and Scientists Know What They’re Talking About?!

Here’s a great question from Quora: “Do doctors and/or scientists really understand why or how drugs work or do they only understand that they (begin emphasis) do (end emphasis) work?” I think an accurate description would be, “doctors and scientists mostly understand one or few aspects of how the active compound of a drug could/should [...]

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Why I Chose NOT to be a Doctor

I was once a premed. I chose not to become a doctor because I wasn’t truly interested in the profession, it was something I felt I “had” to do or “should” do because I happened to major in biology. And being a first generation Asian-American there was also pressure from being a “Tiger Cub”: we [...]

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FDA Has to Slow Down to Keep Up with Drug Companies

Steve Woodruff is hopping mad with the apparent gross inefficiency and indecision of the “guidance process” for pharma company promotional practices when it comes to social media, and I can’t blame him! But I’m on the FDA’s side this time. Let me say up front that I never liked how the FDA remains vague and [...]

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Big Pharma Shilling and WebMD.com MayoClinic.com Smack-Down

New York Times Online is likening WebMD’s “information” as “using the meretricious voice of a pharmaceutical rep”. I don’t know… I never found WebMD’s interface “apparently attractive” but I suppose some people like all the flashy stuff. I mean, I find the ads on NakedMedicine.com mildly annoying, but these only go toward keeping the site [...]

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