Pharma Commentators Blogs 
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This page shows you the most recent publications within this specialty of the MedWorm directory.
FDA: Replace Babies In Ads With More Risk Info
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Fifteen years after the FDA greatly expanded direct-to-consumer advertising, the agency is proposing new rules that would require drugmakers to limit the happy-go-lucky images that - sometimes, incongruously - are used to promote meds for extremely serious and sobering illnesses. And, not surprisingly, the agency may revise current rules so side effect info is easier to digest.
The FDA proposed the change two years ago and then conducted a ‘Distraction Study,’ in which 75-second ads for a fictitious blood-pressure drug called Zintria were shown to 2,134 adults over the age of 40, half of whom were diagnosed wit...
Source: Pharmalot - February 7, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Direct-to-Consumer Advertising DTC DTC Advertising FDA Source Type: blogs
White House Sides With Sales Reps On OvertimeEmail this article to a colleague.
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As the US Supreme Court gets ready to review the contentious debate about overtime pay for sales reps, the US Solicitor General has filed an amicus curiae, or friend of the court brief, and sided with pharma reps. The move is not surprising, given that the US Department of Labor has, several times, taken a similar step in federal courts around the country where cases were heard.
The review is expected to have far-reaching implications for the pharmaceutical industry, which has been fighting a growing number of cases nationwide over the past several years, but has had mixed results as the issue has continually divided the c...
Source: Pharmalot - February 7, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized GlaxoSmithKline Labor Department New England Journal of Medicine Overtime Pfizer Pharmaceutical Sales Reps Schering Plough Solicitor General Supreme Court US Department of Labor US Supreme Court White House Source Type: blogs
Pharma Struggles With The Value PropositionEmail this article to a colleague.
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They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but what about value? The same concept, of course, holds true. Take medicines. Drugmakers are scrambling to justify the worth of their medications to a variety of different groups, but not everyone agrees on value. As with so much else, perception depends on your station in life.
For instance, a new survey finds drastically different notions of value when decision makers at big pharma, health insurers, regulators, government payers, generic makers and service providers were asked about the extent to which improved efficacy, patient outcomes, unmet medical needs, comparat...
Source: Pharmalot - February 7, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Medical Innovation Prescription Drug Costs Quintiles RD Unmet Medical Needs Source Type: blogs
Bayer's CEO Accuses Patients of Being Ungrateful B*stards! We Cured Cancer, Dammit!Email this article to a colleague.
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(Source: Pharma Marketing Blog)
Source: Pharma Marketing Blog - February 7, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Tags: Bayer Pharma CEOs and Big Wigs Source Type: blogs
Pharmalot… Pharmalittle… Good MorningEmail this article to a colleague.
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Good morning, everyone, and nice to see you today. A clear, crisp day is emerging over the Pharmalot corporate campus, where we are engaging in our regular ritual of hustling assorted short people to their school houses. This marathon calls, of course, for a nice cup of stimulation and a bottle of water. We are two-fisted drinkers today. Meanwhile, there is much to be done. So let us begin. Here are some tidbits to start the day. Hope yours goes well and stay in touch…
Glaxo Insists R&D Returns Will Continue To Rise (Reuters)
Pfizer And Ranbaxy Sued For Anti-Competitive Lipitor Scheme (Bloomberg News)
Dogs May H...
Source: Pharmalot - February 7, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized AIDS Anacor Pharmaceuticals Anti-Trust Australia Breast Cancer Daiichi Sankyo DEA Dogs Drug Enforcement Agency Express Scripts Food Marketing Institute Generics GlaxoSmithKline HIV India Insomnia Lipitor M Source Type: blogs
Pharma fears it is not up to demands of 'value challenge' - EIUEmail this article to a colleague.
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Kevin Grogan Drugmakers realise they need to demonstrate the value of their new treatments to payers, but many are concerned about their ability to do so. That is one of the key findings from a new report from the Economist Intelligence Unit, sponsored by Quintiles. The analysis, called 'The Value Challenge', is based on findings of a survey of 399 senior executives from the life sciences industry, and it states that the situation is "further complicated by a shift in the balance of power among industry stakeholders, each of which may require different evidence to be convinced of a product’s value". The EIU repor...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 7, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
NIH Clinical Research Trials and You - National Institutes of Health (NIH)Email this article to a colleague.
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via nih.gov Posted via email from Jack's posterous (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - February 7, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
The 11 Most Expensive Medicines in America - Medical Billing and Coding CertificationEmail this article to a colleague.
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The 11 Most Expensive Medicines in America Posted on February 6, 2012 Think you pay way too much for your monthly prescriptions? These amazingly expensive drugs may put things into perspective. Paying $10,000 or even $30,000 in annual prescriptions might be busting many peoples’ budgets, but those price tags pale in comparison to some that come in at over $400,000 for an annual treatment. So why isn’t someone doing something about this obvious highway robbery? How could the FDA let evil pharmaceutical companies get away with this? The truth is that these are often lifesaving drugs that would not exist if it...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 7, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Sloan-Kettering Chief, Celgene Sued Over Cancer Research - BusinessweekEmail this article to a colleague.
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Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) -- The head of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center was accused along with biotechnology company Celgene Corp. of using research he helped develop at another cancer institute to start his own company. The Leonard and Madlyn Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute at Philadelphia’s University of Pennsylvania sued Dr. Craig Thompson in federal court in Manhattan for fraudulent misrepresentation, asking a judge to decide on the ownership of intellectual property rights to the research. The institute seeks damages from Thompson of more than $1 billion, according to the complaint. Thompson studied...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 7, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
JPMorgan Chase To Pay $110 Million To Settle Accusations Of Excessive Overdraft FeesEmail this article to a colleague.
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By Jonathan Stempel Feb 6 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co has agreed to pay $110 million to settle consumer litigation accusing it of charging excessive overdraft fees. The largest U.S. bank by assets joined Bank of America Corp and several smaller lenders in settling their portion of the nationwide litigation over the fees, which are typically assessed when customers overdraw their checking accounts. Consumers had accused more than 30 lenders of routinely processing transactions from largest to smallest rather than in chronological order. This can cause overdraft fees, typically $25 to $35...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 7, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
The Shortage of Essential Chemotherapy Drugs in the United States — NEJMEmail this article to a colleague.
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This article (10.1056/NEJMp1109772) was published on October 31, 2011, and updated on November 2, 2011, at NEJM.org.Source InformationFrom the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, Richmond (M.L.G.); and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore (T.J.S.).References1Food and Drug Administration. Current drug shortages (http://www.fda.gov/drugs/drugsafety/drugshortages/ucm050792.htm).2Kaakeh R, Sweet BV, Reilly C, et al. Impact of drug shortages on U.S. health systems. Am J Health Syst Pharm 2011;68:1811-1819CrossRef | Medline3Twombly R. Medicare cost containment strategy targ...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 7, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Brown University, A Paxil Study And RetractionsEmail this article to a colleague.
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For the past few years, an effort has been under way by a pair of academics to retract a study about the Paxil antidepressant in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry that concluded the GlaxoSmithKline pill was “generally well tolerated and effective for major depression in adolescents.” Why? Since then, the 2001 paper has been discredited amid charges that primary and secondary outcomes were conflated, selective results were reported and ghostwriting was involved (see this).
The details became known more three years ago as documents emerged from investigations (look here) and lawsuits ...
Source: Pharmalot - February 6, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Antidepressants Brown University Martin Keller Paxil Seroxat Source Type: blogs
Merck Loses Trade Secrets Battle In CanadaEmail this article to a colleague.
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In a ruling that has repercussions for the pharmaceutical industry, the Supreme Court of Canada late last week issued what is being called a landmark ruling on what constitutes a corporate trade secret under the Access to Information Act. The decision involved a decade-old dispute between Merck and Health Canada over the release of information about the Singular asthma drug.
The 6-to-3 decision is seen as a victory for advocates of open government and is expected to stiffen requirements for companies that rely on exemptions to the law in order to block the release of documents they argue contain confidential or sensitive b...
Source: Pharmalot - February 6, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Asthma Canada Health Canada Merck Merck Frosst Singulair Trade Secrets Source Type: blogs
Lilly Freezes Salaries For Most EmployeesEmail this article to a colleague.
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Beset by patent expirations on best sellers and struggling to rebuild its pipeline, Eli Lilly had decided that employees in most countries around the world, including its executive team, will not receive base pay increases this year, according to a filing made late last week with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (see page 38).
At the same time, Lilly ceo John Lechleiter (pictured to the left) requested that he not receive an increase in his $1.5 million base salary or incentives “in light of the business challenges the company faces.” This is the third year in a row he has taken this step. Nonetheless,...
Source: Pharmalot - February 6, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Alzheimers CEO Compensation CEO Pay Eli Lilly John Lechleiter Source Type: blogs
Pharmalot… Pharmalittle… Good MorningEmail this article to a colleague.
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Good morning, everyone, and how are you today? Was the weekend relaxing? We hope so. Now, though, the time has come to resume that routine of meetings and deadlines. It never ends, does it? So to cope, yes, are we brewing our mandatory cup of stimulation and invite you to join us. Or grab a bottle of water, if you prefer. This promises to be a busy week so there is no need to tally. Here are some tidbits to get you going. Hope your day goes well and stay in touch…
FDA Skeptical Of Amgen Drug Ahead Of Panel Meeting (The Street)
Orexigen And FDA Agree On Trial Design For Diet Drug (Reuters)
Supermarket Chains Object To...
Source: Pharmalot - February 6, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized ACTA Allergan Amgen Animal Health Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement Biogen Idec Cardinal Health Cervarix cervical cancer Contrave DEA Diet Drugs Diet Pills Drug Enforcement Agency Express Scripts FDA Food Source Type: blogs
Smith & Nephew to Settle Foreign Bribery Charges - WSJ.comEmail this article to a colleague.
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BY NATHALIE TADENA Medical-device company Smith & Nephew PLC and its U.S. unit will pay more than $22 million to settle charges that a former distributor bribed public doctors in Greece for more than a decade, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday. London-based Smith & Nephew PLC will pay more than $5.4 million to settle the SEC's charges, while its U.S. subsidiary, Smith & Nephew Inc., will pay a $16.8 million fine to the U.S. Department of Justice. via online.wsj.com Posted via email from Jack's posterous (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - February 6, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Johnson & Johnson shuns poor people with HIV -- New InternationalistEmail this article to a colleague.
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via newint.org Patents held by drugs companies are a big reason why more than nine million people in the developing world are not getting the HIV medicines they need. So the creation in July 2010 of the Medicines Patent Pool – which encourages the pharmaceutical giants to loosen their grip on licences so that cheaper, better and more accessible HIV medicines can be made – was seen as a key victory for common sense. But, hold the party poppers, there’s a massive hitch. Some of the main players, notably Johnson & Johnson, are refusing to negotiate with the Pool, putting a huge number of lives at risk. ‘It seems Johns...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 6, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Lawmakers Probe Drugmakers on Generic ADD Drug ShortagesEmail this article to a colleague.
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Several Democratic lawmakers are requesting information from two brand drugmakers and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on production quotas that may limit generic attention deficit disorder (ADD) drugs. The four leading House members accuse Shire Pharmaceuticals and Novartis of “manipulating the market” by using DEA quotas that limit the amount of a particular product to flood pharmacies with more brand than generic versions of ADD drugs. Generic Line via fdanews.com Posted via email from Jack's posterous (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - February 6, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
PharmageddonEmail this article to a colleague.
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has been defined as, "the prospect of a world in which medicines and medicine produce more ill-health than health, and when medical progress does more harm than good". We see the need to investigate and explore that risk and to identify the factors and features that describe it. Pharmageddon embraces the arguments of Ivan Illich (1976) but extends his focus. He warned of the risks of medicalisation, the generally dehumanising and damaging effects of professional interventions: "the medical establishment has become a major threat to health". Beyond direct drug injury (clinical iatrogenesis), he was concerned about the ill-...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 6, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
New rules could save billions in prescription drug costs - BostonHerald.comEmail this article to a colleague.
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WASHINGTON - The federal government this week announced a rule change it says will save the federal-state Medicaid program $17.7 billion over the next five years. Called for in the 2010 federal health law, the new rules for prescription drug pricing are based in part on an innovation pioneered in Alabama. Instead of paying for drugs based on drug company price lists, which are often inflated, Alabama decided a few years ago to start paying local pharmacies for prescriptions based on what they actually paid for the medicines. After getting permission in September 2010 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, t...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 5, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Unions Vow To Fight AstraZeneca Job CutsEmail this article to a colleague.
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In the wake of the massive job cuts proposed by AstraZeneca, a pair of unions in the UK that represent employees at two facilities are vowing to fight the layoffs. The drugmaker, you may recall, announced plans earlier this week to eliminate 7,300 jobs in from facilites in various locations and divisions, including 2,200 from research and development (back story).
“This is a blow to Britain’s R&D base and Unite will be doing everything possible to minimize compulsory redundancies at Alderley Park,” one of two UK facilities that is likely to be effected, Linda McCulloch, Unite national officer, tells ...
Source: Pharmalot - February 4, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized AstraZeneca Crestor jobs Layoffs Nexium Novartis Seroquel Unite Source Type: blogs
Professor Nutt on drugsEmail this article to a colleague.
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(Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - February 4, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Who supports these NHS reforms?Email this article to a colleague.
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A special thanks to David McCandless and Andy Perkins for their inspiring and beautiful Snake Oil visualisation which provided the inspiration for this work. via whosupportsnhsreforms.org.uk Posted via email from Jack's posterous (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - February 4, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
“Drop the Health Bill” - e-petitionsEmail this article to a colleague.
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“Drop the Health Bill” Responsible department: Department of Health “Calls on the Government to drop its Health and Social Care Bill.” Sign this petition via epetitions.direct.gov.uk Posted via email from Jack's posterous (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - February 4, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
The STAR*D Fraud - by Ed Pigott, Ph.D. | Mad In AmericaEmail this article to a colleague.
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A licensed psychologist in Columbia, MD., Ed Pigott has published 16 journal articles and contributed to three books, two of which were published by the American Psychiatric Association Press. He has co-authored two articles on the STAR*D trial, and is the sole author of ajournal article published in March 2011 titled: “STAR*D: A Tale and Trail of Bias.” In addition to his research efforts and his clinical practice, he works as a healthcare consultant, and is a partner in NeuroAdvantage, a neuorotherapy company. STAR*D Documents STAR*D bibliography More biographical information via madinamerica.com Posted via emai...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 4, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Whistleblower Claims Forest Bribed Study's Investigator to Favor Celexa | Bloomberg BNAEmail this article to a colleague.
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By John T. AquinoA whistleblower's complaint from 2011 that was unsealed Jan. 20 in a federal district court alleged that Forest Pharmaceuticals paid the principal investigator of a federally funded antidepressant drug study to fix the results in favor of the company's drug Celexa (United States ex rel. Pigott v. Forest Pharmaceuticals Inc., D. Md., No. 1:11-cv-00717, unsealed 1/20/12).The whistleblower litigation was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland by H. Edmund Pigott, a psychologist who resides in Clarksville, Md. The alleged False Claims Act violations occurred during the company's manageme...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 4, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
38 Degrees | NHS: Lansley's secret reportEmail this article to a colleague.
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via 38degrees.org.uk Posted via email from Jack's posterous (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - February 4, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Was NIMH Trial Rigged To Favor A Forest Drug?Email this article to a colleague.
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In 2002, the National Institutes of Mental Health finalized a contract with the University of Texas Southwest Medical Center to run a 4,000-patient study of antidepressants at a cost of $35 million. The principal investigator chosen to run the year-long study was John Rush, a controversial figure who, at the time, was the professor and vice chair in the Department of Clinical Services (pictured to the left).
However, a recently unsealed whistleblower lawsuit charges that Rush, who is now the vice dean for clinical services at Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore (see this), also had financial ties to Forest Laborator...
Source: Pharmalot - February 3, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Antidepressants Antipsychotics Celexa Chuck Grassley Conflicts of Interest Edmund Pigott Eli Lilly Forest Laboratories H. Edmund Pigott JJ John Rush Johnson & Johnson National Institutes of Mental Health NIMH Source Type: blogs
Rick Santorum: “We’re Going To Ration Care”Email this article to a colleague.
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video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player
As the US grapples with an ailing economy, the notion of cost effectiveness of medicines has entered the Republican primary race. Although some people were concerned about rationing when the Obama administration introduced health care reform, Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum this week expressed support for the idea during what was billed as a major address on health care.
The ABC News clip does not show you everything he said, but his remarks were made during a brief, but heated exchange with the mother of a young boy, who asked Santorum what he would...
Source: Pharmalot - February 3, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Barack Obama Cost Effectiveness Health Care Rationing Health Care Reform QALY Quality Adjusted Life Years Rick Santorum Source Type: blogs
Up And Down The Ladder… Job ChangesEmail this article to a colleague.
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Hired someone new and exciting? Promoted a rising star? Finally solved that hard-to-fill spot? Share the news with us and we’ll share with it others. That’s right. Send us your announcements and we’ll find a home for them. Don’t be shy. Everyone wants to know who is coming and going, especially with all the layoffs. Despite the downsizing, there is movement. Here are some of the latest changes. Recognize anyone?
And here is our regular feature. Send us a photo and we will spotlight a different person each week. This time around, we note that United BioSource promoted Jonathan Morris to senior vp and chief scientifi...
Source: Pharmalot - February 3, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Acadia Pharmaceuticals Achillion Pharmaceuticals Anergis Array BioPharma Entelos Icon Medical Imaging Immunogen Intellipharmaceutics MethylGene Napp Pharmaceuticals Patheon PBS Biotech Pharmaceutical eConsulting P Source Type: blogs
Pharmalot… Pharmalittle… The Weekend NearsEmail this article to a colleague.
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And so, yet another working week is about to draw to a close. As you know, this is our treasured signal to daydream about weekend plans. And we have a great deal on our list: spending time with Mrs. Pharmalot; hosting a dinner for friends in the Pharmalot corporate cafeteria and, sadly, visiting still other friends who have lost someone special. And you? What will you do? Perhaps this is a good time to curl up with an e-book or take a nap. Or maybe watch that football game. Whatever you do, have a grand time, but be safe. See you soon…
Drugmakers Have Spent Less On TV Advertising (New York Times)
Abbott And Hospira W...
Source: Pharmalot - February 3, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Abbott Laboratories Affordable Care Act Allergan Astellas Astellas Pharmaceuticals Cancer Daiichi Sankyo Diabetes Direct To Consumer DTC DTC Advertising Employee Benefits FDA Gilead Sciences Health Care Reform Source Type: blogs
Lilly CEO's compensation dips as profits decline | The Indianapolis StarEmail this article to a colleague.
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John C. Lechleiter's salary, stock awards, pension value and other compensation were worth about $16.4 million, the company said in a government filing on Friday. via indystar.com Posted via email from Jack's posterous (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - February 3, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Eli Lilly To Freeze Base Pay For Most Employees In 2012 - WSJ.comEmail this article to a colleague.
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Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) will freeze base pay for most of its employees in 2012, citing financial pressures caused by patent expirations on top drugs. The Indianapolis drug maker recently lost U.S. patent protection for its former No. 1 product, the antipsychotic Zyprexa, triggering generic competition that is expected to contribute to a decline in profit and sales for 2012. via online.wsj.com Posted via email from Jack's posterous (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - February 3, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Paying For Cancer Treatment for Children in America With a Car Wash, Bake Sale and Fish Fry | MichaelMoore.comEmail this article to a colleague.
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By Wendell Potter "It shouldn't be this way," read the subject line of an email I received Friday morning from a conservative friend and fellow Southerner. "People shouldn't have to beg for money to pay for medical care." At first, I thought he was referring to my column last week in which I wrote about the fundraising effort to cover the bills, totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, that the husband of Canadian skier Sarah Burke is now facing. Burke died on January 19, nine days after sustaining severe head injuries in a skiing accident in Park City, Utah. I noted that had the accident occurred in Burke's native ...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 3, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Professor David Healy's 4-24 March 2012: North American visitEmail this article to a colleague.
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Promotion for Pharmaggedon and RxISK.org. My speaking calendar is as follows (more details to come). Date Time City Location Details 5 March 12-1pm Boston Tufts UniversityFarnsworth 250 Conference Room The Changing Face of Psychosis 8 March 9-11am New Jersey Rutgers The Psychology of Drugs and Risk 9 March 6pm New York City University of New York The Psychology of Drugs and Risk Week of 12 March Toronto University of Toronto The Eclipse of Medical Care 14 March late afternoon Hamilton University of McMaster The Changing Face of Psychosis 19 March San Fransisco Commonwealth Club The Ec...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 3, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
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PharmageddonPharmaceutical companies have hijacked healthcare in America, and the results are life-threatening.Dr. David Healy documents a riveting and terrifying story that affects us all.University of California Press (2012)Available on Amazon.com (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - February 3, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Goldman to face mortgage debt class-action lawsuit | ReutersEmail this article to a colleague.
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(Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc was ordered by a federal judge to face a securities class-action lawsuit accusing it of defrauding investors about a 2006 offering of securities backed by risky mortgage loans from a now-defunct lender. U.S. District Judge Harold Baer in Manhattan certified a class-action lawsuit by investors led by the Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi.These investors claimed they lost money in the GSAMP Trust 2006-S2, a $698 million offering of certificates backed by second-lien home loans made by New Century Financial Corp, a California subprime mortgage specialist that went bankrupt ...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 3, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
J&J Hid Risperdal Studies to Boost Drug Sales, Lawyer Says - BusinessweekEmail this article to a colleague.
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Feb. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Johnson & Johnson hid studies showing its Risperdal anti-psychotic drug caused diabetes to protect billions of dollars in sales, a lawyer said in the first personal-injury claim over the medication to go to trial. Researchers at J&J’s Janssen unit knew as early as 1999 that a study found Risperdal caused diabetes at a higher rate than a competing drug and failed to hand over the results to regulators probing links between the disease and anti-psychotic medicines, Fletch Trammell, a lawyer for a former Risperdal user, told a New Jersey jury today in opening statements. “The evidence w...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 3, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
INSIGHT-In PIP implant scandal, a ragged safety net exposed | ReutersEmail this article to a colleague.
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It all adds up to what Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet medical journal, calls a "smokescreen of device regulation which is putting patients at risk." The whole system is "based on the idea that you wait until something goes wrong before you take any serious action. via reuters.com Posted via email from Jack's posterous (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - February 3, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Big Chief - Professor LonghairEmail this article to a colleague.
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(Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - February 3, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Scientists sign petition to boycott academic publisher Elsevier | Science | guardian.co.ukEmail this article to a colleague.
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More than 3,000 academics, including several Fields medal-winning mathematicians, have put their names to a petition declaring their intention to boycott the academic publisher Elsevier.The "Cost of Knowledge" petition claims Elsevier charges "exorbitantly high" prices for its journals and criticises its practice of selling journals in "bundles" so libraries "must buy a large set with many unwanted journals, or none at all". It says the publisher makes "huge profits by exploiting their essential titles, at the expense of other journals".The petition also criticises Elsevier's support for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), ...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 3, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
It will soon be Valentine's DayEmail this article to a colleague.
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via neatorama.com Cheekily, the message inside reads “My love for you is priceless!” The card costs 7p. Posted via email from Jack's posterous (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - February 3, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Jeremy Laurance: Why spare the drug companies? -- The IndependentEmail this article to a colleague.
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Why are Britain's health charities bent on sucking the blood from the NHS? The very same organisations that do such sterling work funding research, supporting patients and promoting awareness appear to have a blind spot when it comes to assessing what treatments are worth. We see it each time the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) reaches an unpopular decision to ban a drug on the NHS because it is too expensive, as it did yesterday with the new prostate cancer medicine abiraterone. Cue uproar from charities. "This decision is a bitter blow to thousands of men and their families and must be over...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 3, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
BBC News - NHS reform bill: Royal College of GPs urges scrappingEmail this article to a colleague.
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via bbc.co.uk The Royal College of GPs has called for the health bill to be scrapped, heaping more pressure on the government's controversial reforms in England. In doing so, it becomes the first of the medical royal colleges to move to outright opposition. The college, which represents 34,000 GPs in England, said the overhaul had to be stopped because it threatened to cause "irreparable damage" to care. Posted via email from Jack's posterous (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - February 3, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Drug Makers Dial Down TV Advertising - NYTimes.comEmail this article to a colleague.
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The decline is in sharp contrast to the decade-long drug-industry advertising spree that began in 1997, when the Food and Drug Administration loosened its regulations and allowed direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs on TV.Some industry analysts attribute part of the decline to controversy over such ads. Employers and health insurance companies have long complained that TV ads drive consumers to the latest, often most expensive, pills. And doctors complain that their patients often pressure them into prescribing these heavily advertised drugs.Perhaps the most well-known criticism of TV advertising of p...
Source: PharmaGossip - February 3, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
FDA Commish: COI Rules Should Remain IntactEmail this article to a colleague.
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Six months after telling Congress that the FDA may loosen conflict of interest rules because finding qualified experts to serve on advisory committees has become increasingly difficult, FDA commish Margaret Hamburg has issued an about-face and now says the rules should remain intact. She confessed her change of heart before a House committee hearing yesterday on user fees.
Why the reversal? For months, FDA data has actually shown that the percentage of conflict of interest waivers granted for advisory committee members has remained below targets. At the same time, the FDA vacancy rate for advisory committees has remained l...
Source: Pharmalot - February 2, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Conflict Of Interest FDA Janet Woodcock Margaret Hamburg Source Type: blogs
Novartis Is Criticized Over Vasella CompensationEmail this article to a colleague.
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This has become an annual ritual. Each year, a shareholder activist organization called Ethos slams Novartis over Dan Vasella. Once again, his compensation is the issue, although in years past, Ethos has also criticized the drugmaker for allowing him to serve as both chairman and chief executive. Vasella and the board eventually relented and he is now only the chairman (see here and here).
The latest complaint focuses on his $14.8 million compensation last year, which Ethos says is inappropriate, given that Novartis profit fell 7 percent. Meanwhile, the drugmaker has recently announced plans to eliminate thousands of jobs....
Source: Pharmalot - February 2, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized CEO Compensation CEO Pay Ethos jobs Layoffs Novartis Source Type: blogs
Pfizer's Contraceptive Recall: A Statistical Needle in a Haystack!Email this article to a colleague.
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(Source: Pharma Marketing Blog)
Source: Pharma Marketing Blog - February 2, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Tags: Drug Safety Pfizer recall Source Type: blogs
Drug Shortages Cause Cancer Patients To Die SoonerEmail this article to a colleague.
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This may not come as a surprise, but the ongoing shortages of various prescription drugs - notably, injectables that are used to treat assorted cancers - are not only preventing patients from receiving timely or the most appropriate treatments, but patients are dying sooner than they would otherwise and tumors are recurring more often, according to a survey of oncologists.
“The consequences are real. The quality of cancer care has been materially impacted. It’s disheartening,” says Susan Schwartz McDonald, ceo of National Analysts Worldwide, a market research and consulting firm that queried 204 oncologis...
Source: Pharmalot - February 2, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Cancer Drug Shortages Prescription Source Type: blogs
Grassley Probes FDA Over Employee WhistleblowersEmail this article to a colleague.
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How does the FDA treat employees who blow the whistle? US Senator Chuck Grassley, a long-standing agency nemesis, wants to know. And so he has written FDA commish Margaret Hamburg to explain the circumstances surrounding a controversial episode in which several current and former agency employees say they were harassed and dismissed after complaining about device reviews to Congress.
Their charges were contained in a sensational lawsuit filed last month, in which they accused the agency of secretly reading their personal email accounts, while the agency maintained they illegally disclosed confidential business information ...
Source: Pharmalot - February 2, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Chuck Grassley FDA Medical Devices Whistleblowers Source Type: blogs
