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Medicines: Identifying, Exposing and Tackling Unethical and Corrupt Practices is Essential for Safeguarding Patient and Public Health Interests Worldwide

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A special issue of Medicines (ISSN 2305-6320).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2022) | Viewed by 13881

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. George J. Kontoghiorghes

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Guest Editor

Postgraduate Research Institute of Science, Technology, Environment and Medicine, CY-3021 Limassol, Cyprus
Interests: chelation therapy; chelation in medicine; chelating drugs; iron chelating drugs in thalassaemia and other diseases of iron overload or imbalance; chelator antioxidants in free radical pathology; chelators and antioxidants in cancer and neurodegenerative diseases; chelating drug design, development and clinical use
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Issues surrounding health care affect all people worldwide. High rates of morbidity and mortality are observed due to the lack of medicines, medical devises and because of low standards of health care services in many countries as a result of insufficient resources. COVID-19 and other communicable diseases highlight the interdependence of nations on health and the need for one world / one health policies, as well as access to water, food and medicines as a human right. High standard global health care can be achieved by the redistribution of wealth and resources, as well as tackling corruption, fraud and unethical practices, which are a cause of massive drainage on health resources worldwide.

The aim of the special issue is to use analytical tools and methods in order to address corrupt and unethical practices, highlight their implications in everyday life and at all levels in health care and academia, with the priority being the need for accessible health care, medicines and medical devices for all people. Most importantly colleagues from public health institutions, academic and research communities are invited to share their experience, identify and highlight associated problems and suggest the appropriate analytical tools, list the criteria and find solutions to unethical and corrupt practices in all sectors of public health including medicines and medical devices.

Prof. Dr. George J. Kontoghiorghes
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Medicines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Medicines
Global health care
Patient care-all specialties
Corruption in public health
Corruption in academia
Corruption in national health institutions
Corruption in international health institutions
Tackling corruption
Analytical tools and methods
Pharmaceutical industry
Plagiarism
Nepotism
Victimization
Patient rights
Orphan diseases
Orphan drugs
Patent issues
Drug marketing
Elite journals
Risk/benefit assessment

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Editorial

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5 pages, 257 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Ethics in Medicines: Exposing Unethical Practices and Corruption in All Sectors of Medicines Is Essential for Improving Global Public Health and Saving Patients’ Lives

by George J. Kontoghiorghes

Medicines 2021, 8(9), 54; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/medicines8090054 - 14 Sep 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3044

Abstract

While great strides have been made in science and medicine ensuring better living standards and health care for most human beings, many issues still remain, which are responsible for an increase in mortality and morbidity rates of millions of people worldwide, despite that [...] Read more.

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Medicines: Identifying, Exposing and Tackling Unethical and Corrupt Practices is Essential for Safeguarding Patient and Public Health Interests Worldwide)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

10 pages, 435 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Investigating Prescription Medication Expenditures and Level of Perceived Health Status among Older Adults with Pain in the United States

by David R. Axon and Leonard P. Barrios

Medicines 2022, 9(3), 17; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/medicines9030017 - 22 Feb 2022

Viewed by 1969

Abstract

Background: the objective of this retrospective, cross sectional study was to assess the relationship between different levels of perceived health status and prescription medication expenditures among United States adults aged ≥50 years with self-reported pain. Methods: using 2019 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data, four levels of perceived health status were formed (excellent, very good, good, and fair/poor health). Differences between characteristics in the groups were compared using chi square tests. Adjusted linear regression models, using logged positive annual prescription medication expenditures, were constructed to assess differences in prescription medication expenditures between levels of perceived health. Results: a total of 4826 individuals were included in the study. Adjusted linear regression analysis indicated those who reported excellent health had 65.8% lower annual prescription medication expenditures than those with fair/poor health. Those with very good health had 49.7% lower annual prescription medication expenditures than those with fair/poor health, while those with good health had 27.2% lower annual prescription medication expenditures than those with fair/poor health. Conclusions: better perceived health status was generally associated with relatively lower prescription medication expenditures. Further research is needed to investigate if this pattern is also observed for other categories of healthcare expenditures and in other populations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Medicines: Identifying, Exposing and Tackling Unethical and Corrupt Practices is Essential for Safeguarding Patient and Public Health Interests Worldwide)

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10 pages, 18776 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Medial Surface of the Auricle: Historical and Recent Maps. What Are the Possible Expectations of the “Thumb-Index Technique”

by Antonello Lovato, Francesco Ceccherelli, Giuseppe Gagliardi and Marco Postiglione

Medicines 2022, 9(2), 13; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/medicines9020013 - 17 Feb 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 5788

Abstract

Introduction: The medial surface of the auricle (MSotA), as compared to the lateral, has been less studied and has limited consensus among schools of auricular acupuncture (AA) due to its small size, greater difficulty in carrying out an adequate physical examination on it, and less precise and limited agreement on its anatomical references as compared to the lateral surface. The thumb-index technique TIT is performed using a guiding finger (taking advantage of the anatomical conformation of the lateral surface) to guide the explorer finger (placed on the MSotA) to project the therapeutic areas and land marks on the MSotA. TIT could be considered useful and effective in AA to make the most of diagnostic and therapeutic MSotA potential. Methods: An investigation was carried out on the impact of TIT in AA practice through a survey collected from former AA students. Results: TIT showed a high consensus, and is used and appreciated by AA practitioners. Discussion/ Conclusions: To date, in AA, there is no thoroughly shared nomenclature for MSotA. TIT is simple and quick to project on to MSotA the well-coded lateral surface auricular maps from French or Chinese AA schools. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Medicines: Identifying, Exposing and Tackling Unethical and Corrupt Practices is Essential for Safeguarding Patient and Public Health Interests Worldwide)

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Figure 1

12 pages, 600 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Toxic Metal Concentrations in Drinking Water and Possible Effect on Sex Hormones among Men in Sabongida-Ora, Edo State, Nigeria

by Osaro Ogie Enehizena and Mathias A. Emokpae

Medicines 2022, 9(1), 4; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/medicines9010004 - 07 Jan 2022

Viewed by 2270

Abstract

Drinking water can be a potential source of toxic metals, which are a known leading cause of infertility in men. This study determines the concentrations of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu) in drinking water (borehole, hand-dug well and treated water) and sex hormone levels (serum follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), prolactin (PROL), estradiol (E2), progesterone (PROG), and testosterone (T) in males who drink water mainly from these sources. The concentrations of Cd, and Pb in hand-dug wells were higher than the permissible limit recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) while Zn and Cu were within the permissible levels in drinking water. Blood Cd and Pb levels were significantly higher (p < 0.001) among subjects who consumed hand-dug and borehole water than treated water, while serum Zn was significantly lower (p < 0.001) in hand-dug well and borehole water consumers than in control subjects. Also, serum FSH (p < 0.001), LH (p < 0.001), E2 (p < 0.002), PROG (p < 0.04) and T (p < 0.001) were significantly lower among hand-dug well and borehole water consumers than controls, while PROL (p < 0.001) was significantly higher in hand-dug well and borehole water consumers than controls. Blood Cd and Pb levels were significantly higher (p < 0.001) in hand-dug well water consumers than borehole water consumers. The consumption of water from hand-dug wells may have adverse reproductive sequelae among consumers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Medicines: Identifying, Exposing and Tackling Unethical and Corrupt Practices is Essential for Safeguarding Patient and Public Health Interests Worldwide)

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