A thought provoking psychiatrist
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http://lakecocytus.blogspot.com/I particularly like the post about NICE. (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 9, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
Ruth day and the bees repeat performance at house dtc hearing
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Some of you may remember back in November, 2005, when I posted snippets from an FDA public hearing on DTC (see "FDA DTC Hearings: Snippets from Day 1"). Well, yesterday's U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce hearing on DTC seems to be a replay of the FDA version.You might say that Congress is re-enacting this investigation into DTC precisely because two and one half years after FDA held it's hearing, the agency and the drug industry have done precisely ZIP about the issues raised. In fact, since 2005, the industry and FDA have cozied up and are attempting to rubber-stamp FDA's approval of DTC ads under a payol...
Source: Pharma Marketing Blog - May 9, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Tags: FDA DTC Advertising Bees wings Risk Communication Source Type: blogs
"new rules" from uk's pharma police
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More detailed requirements for pharmaceutical companies’ relationships with patient groups and health professionals will be included in the revised ABPI Code of Practice which comes into effect on July 1.Many of the changes relate to even greater transparency, and include:• Companies will have to make publicly available a short description of their support for patient organisations for both financial and significant indirect support.• Sponsorship declarations must accurately reflect the nature of the company’s involvement.• It will be a breach of the code to fail to disclose details on ongoing clinical trials.•...
Source: PharmaGossip - May 9, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
What’s wrong with quick and easy weight loss?
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Anyone who’s looked around the weight loss section of a drugstore or watched the ads on TV knows that some products promise to help you lose weight quickly and easily. The problem is that little, if any, evidence supports these claims – and some of them are outrageous.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, more Americans are victimized by weight loss fraud than any other activity they survey. Make no mistake about it. The FTC and the FDA work hard to address this problem, but more products keep flooding into the market, making unsupported claims.
I believe this situation needs to change. I’ve spen...
Source: alliConnect - May 8, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Authors: Janice McSherry Tags: alli in the news alli in the blogosphere Source Type: blogs
Steps - not the group, fatty!
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The UK National Prescribing Centre (NPC) has published a MeReC Bulletin (PDF) discussing the drug management of obesity.The bulletin describes the increasing incidence of obesity and the impact that this has on health. The article also discusses non-pharmacological and pharmacological methods for loosing weight with a more detailed examination of when drugs are appropriate, how effective they are likely to be and the side effects and safety concerns associated with use.The article concludes that, “it is worth encouraging people to eat a little less and move a little more“. It is also noted that all anti-obesity drugs a...
Source: PharmaGossip - May 8, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
Remote area medical in deepest tennessee
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Forty-seven million Americans have no health insurance. Millions more are underinsured, unable to pay their deductibles or get access to dental care. Here's the story of Remote Area Medical, a charity founded by Stan Brock that was originally designed to bring doctors and medicine into the jungles of the Amazon. But these days RAM finds itself doing much of its business in the U.S. Scott Pelley spent a weekend in Knoxville, Tennessee taking a look at RAM in action.Watch the video. (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 8, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
Big pharma's big problem - an ft redux
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Some of the world's biggest drugs companies - including Britain's GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca - are facing their worst crisis in decades, as their future revenues come under threat from shrinking drug pipelines, increased competition from generic rivals and a slew of patent expiries."For the first time in history, the industry will have negative growth in 2011," says Alexis de Rosnay, global co-head of healthcare at Lehman Brothers. This is a timebomb the sector has known about for some time. Its last big answer, up to about three or four years ago, was to pursue large-scale mergers and acquisitions.AstraZeneca was cre...
Source: PharmaGossip - May 8, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Tags: big pharma Source Type: blogs
Amgen's sharer shares his regrets with shareholders
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The beleaguered chief executive of biotech giant Amgen Inc. confronted an often testy group of shareholders Wednesday, his first annual meeting with investors since the company's fortunes took a hard turn last summer."Last year was awful. I deeply, deeply regret that," Kevin Sharer said, appearing calm and confident during an hour long presentation to an audience of several hundred at the Four Seasons Hotel in Westlake Village.He also sought to reassure investors. Sharer said the company was off to a good start this year and suggested that many of Amgen's woes should be viewed along with problems affecting all drug compani...
Source: PharmaGossip - May 8, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
Which big pharma ceo has wandering eyes?
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So, here's the story:When Michele Royalty wore a simple black strapless gown to a black-tie business dinner for her pharmaceutical company, she says, "I saw the CEO's eyes drop to my cleavage.""Once a CEO is startled by seeing your cleavage, an image is set in his mind that is not going to disappear," says Ms. Royalty, who recently retired as an executive at the company. "I never wore that type of dress again." More at WSJ So the $64,000 dollar question - who did Michele work for? The article doesn't say. But this might help us solve the mystery! (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 8, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
'twas the night before layoffs.....
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Found on the Merck Company Board at CafePharma:'Twas the night before layoffs and all through the houseNot a creature was stirring, not even a mouseThe reprints were stacked near the dumpster with careBeside the ROME items, this just isn't fairI hid my computer right under my bedMaybe at checkout I can claim "it went dead"My car it was free, and so was the gasAnd now rising oil prices will bite me in the assWhen out on the lawn there was a loud hollaMerck security was there to take my Impala"Have a nice day" the old man said with a laughI peered from the window as he cut the AMEX in halfThe moon it was full, and it shined ...
Source: Pharma Marketing Blog - May 7, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Tags: recesssion networking dinner reception Source Type: blogs
Guess what merck has called it's 1200 drug rep layoff programme?
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"Plan to Win"! (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 7, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Tags: Merck drug reps Source Type: blogs
Lobbying with chris
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Here's the story. (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 7, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Tags: gsk chris viehbacher Source Type: blogs
The vytorin saga contd. - over to you melissa
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ProbeDissection (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 7, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Tags: Vytorin Schering Plough Merck Fred Hassan ezetemibe Source Type: blogs
Gsk sell bonds to buy shares
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GlaxoSmithKline, the pharmaceutical group, was poised to raise a record $9bn (£4.6bn) from new corporate bonds on Tuesday night as part of plans to raise its gearing to finance an ambitious share buy-back programme.Demand from investors for non-financial corporate bond issues is high following the credit crunch, and the original $6bn issue was substantially oversubscribed. GSK added $2bn to its five, 10 and 30-year bonds and a further $1bn in floating rate two-year notes.Most of the money will go towards funding the outstanding £8bn of a two-year £12bn buy-back unveiled in July last year and set to be completed by July ...
Source: PharmaGossip - May 7, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
Spanish for your nanny
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Hat tip: http://growabrain.typepad.com/growabrain/ (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 6, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
"merchant banker" is cockney rhyming slang
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http://view.break.com/428454 - Watch more free videosStory (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 6, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
What are we doing to our children?
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American children take anti-psychotic medicines at about six times the rate of children in the United Kingdom, according to a comparison based on a new U.K. study. And with scant long-term safety data, it's likely the drugs are being over-prescribed for both U.S. and U.K. children, research suggests.Among the most commonly used drugs were those to treat autism and hyperactivity.In the U.K. study, there were 595 anti-psychotic prescriptions for children in 1992, or a rate of fewer than four children per 10,000 using the drugs. By 2005, 2,917 prescriptions were written, or a rate of seven children per 10,000 — a near-doubl...
Source: PharmaGossip - May 6, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Tags: risperdal antipsychotics adhd children Source Type: blogs
Safety first!
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The UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has published Drug Safety Update Issue 10 (PDF).This issue includes drug safety advice articles on rimonabant (Acomplia): depression; psychiatric adverse reactions and exenatide (Byetta): risk of acute pancreatitis.Hat tip: http://www.prescriber.org.uk/ (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 6, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
Wal-mart meds - now even cheaper!
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WalMart is going one step further! They are cutting the cost of more than 1,000 of its store-brand, over the counters drugs. They're now available for $4 without a prescription. There's also additional women's health medicines availbale at discounted prices.Today Walmart announced the third phase of its' prescription drug program. It will now offer 90-day prescriptions for $10 for 350 medications.For a complete list Walmart's discounted prescription drugs click here. (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 6, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
Bush does stand up
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His next profession? Liked the pop up book joke. (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 6, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
Need to increase your swearing vocab?
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This should help. (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 6, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
Nicox - clinical trials, ain't they a bitch
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Pfizer has decided not to take NicOx's experimental glaucoma drug PF-03187207 into final Phase III tests after a mid-stage study failed to met its primary endpoint, sending NicOx shares tumbling.The news is a major blow for NicOx, which has been working on developing eye treatments with Pfizer for four years, and shares in the French biotechnology company dived 30 percent to 10.10 euros by 3:20 a.m. EDT (0720 GMT) on Tuesday.More (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 6, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Tags: nicox pfizer Source Type: blogs
Merck gives the field force little to cheer about
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Merck said Monday that it is eliminating 1,200 U.S. sales jobs, a move that comes a week after federal regulators' surprise rejection of Cordaptive.The cuts come on top of the elimination of about 8,100 positions under the sweeping restructuring plan announced in December 2005.The new cuts are to be completed by the end of July and amount to nearly 15 percent of the 8,500 sales jobs Merck had at the beginning of 2007, said Amy Rose, spokeswoman for the Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based firm. More at The Trib Insider's view: time to blow the whistle, perhaps? (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 6, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Tags: Merck drug reps Source Type: blogs
Pharma experts to speak at june 4 networking event
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The agenda for the Fourth Annual Networking Dinner Reception that I am hosting at the Princeton Marriott on the evening of June 4, 2008 now includes 4 people currently working in the pharmaceutical industry or who have recently worked at a major pharmaceutical company. See the Agenda Update below. MAY 5, 2008 IS THE LAST DAY TO SAVE $25 ON REGISTRATION!CLICK HERE TO REGISTER Register today using the discount code EB558 and save $25 off the standard registration fee. This "Early Bird" special ends tomorrow, so this is your last day to take advantage of it! Agenda UpdatePaul Boidy, President of EVP of Sales and Development a...
Source: Pharma Marketing Blog - May 5, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Tags: Paul Boidy Michael Parks Marc Monseau networking dinner reception Source Type: blogs
Increase your vocab
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....and donate rice at the same time! (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 5, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
Now that's ironic!
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In Houston, a Texan protesting amnesty for illegal immigrants argues that anyone who can't master English doesn't deserve to live in America. "official" hat tip: http://arbroath.blogspot.com/ (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 5, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
J&j - here's an idea for all those "camp baby" moms
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I'll let Ed explain....... http://www.banthebags.org/ (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 5, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Tags: JNJ-BTW johnson and johnson Source Type: blogs
Lo(we) - the bearded one speaks
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And we must listen:"Stupid R&D most definitely steals money from smarter R&D, and here's some of it that's made off with the swag."Derek Lowe (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 5, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Tags: Schering Plough singulair claritin Merck Source Type: blogs
The joker - graphjam style
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http://graphjam.com/ (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 5, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
More visual humor
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Indexed (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 5, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
Shelley batts is now in two minds
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So to speak! Welcome to Steve Higgins and this funny post. (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 5, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
Us consumers union get $4 million
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Consumers Union in the US has been awarded a $4.4 million grant to support a public education program designed to eliminate huge gaps in public knowledge about prescription drugs.The grant will help expand the availability of free unbiased prescription drug information to counter the $10 billion spent on advertising in the US by drug companies each year.The grant money is available as part of a $38 million dollar consumer protection settlement between the Attorneys General of 50 states and Warner-Lambert, now owned by Pfizer. In 2004, Warner-Lambert agreed to pay $430 million to resolve allegations that it illegally market...
Source: PharmaGossip - May 4, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
Matt herper writes about that merck / schering relationship
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"One facet of the Merck/Schering-Plough relationship many don't appreciate is that in some ways its a rotten deal for Schering."Bless you! (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 4, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
Tom hanks endorses obama
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. (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 4, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
Not so secret!
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UK Big Pharma is taking a tough line in negotiations on drug pricing, offering to cut the £11bn NHS drugs bill by roughly half the amount the Government is looking for.In secret negotiations industry leaders have offered to cut the price of patented drugs by under 5 per cent, significantly less than the 10 per cent to 12 per cent that the Government is understood to be targeting.The Telegraph (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 4, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
A youtube hidden gem
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Only 212 views! (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 3, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
Bms sell convatec to finance purchase of.....
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The drug developer Bristol-Myers Squibb said it would sell ConvaTec, its wound therapy and surgical care unit, for $4.1 billion to two private equity firms.Proceeds from the sale, to Nordic Capital and Avista Capital Partners, will be used to help finance Bristol-Myers’s strategy to shift its focus to biopharmaceuticals. (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 3, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
Melody gardot - wow!
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A tip for the top! (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 2, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
Mike huckman interviews the one and only roy vagelos
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Well worth a read.Here's a quote:In Wednesday's speech Dr. Vagelos said, "Most drugs are a terrific bargain." And he believes that high prices are justified if the drug offers high value. But value, of course, can be subjective. Dr. Vagelos was diplomatic enough not to identify the company from behind the lectern--you can probably figure which well-known biotech he's referring to--but he went on to say that he has a problem with the $50,000 price tag for a drug that adds four months of life. "There is a shocking disparity between value and price and it's not sustainable," he said. "The industry will bring about government ...
Source: PharmaGossip - May 2, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Tags: Merck roy vagelos Source Type: blogs
The tony zook album
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As a follow up to his smash hit single Tony has enlisted the help of Mike Zubillaga to both mix and promote the new album.Track 1Track 2Track 3Track 4 (for Giles)Track 5All suggestions considered! (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 2, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Tags: AstraZeneca tony zook zub Source Type: blogs
The best man's speech
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The bride's face is a picture.Hat tip: http://arbroath.blogspot.com/ (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 2, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Tags: viagra Source Type: blogs
Forgotten but not gone
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(Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 2, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
Astrazeneca - zook sings!
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Pass me a bucket! (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 2, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Tags: AstraZeneca tony zook Source Type: blogs
Dick clark - on the other hand
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Quote 1 Quote 2 (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 2, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Tags: Vytorin Richard Clark Merck ezetemibe Source Type: blogs
Poem
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Drug Company Dinner By Richard BerlinPsychiatric Times May 2005 Vol. XXII Issue 6I dressed in a suit and cashmere coat,a young man parked my car.Red-dressed starlets flashed cleavageand offered me black Beluga caviaron buckwheat blinis.They sat me at a tablelaid out with silver on white linen cloth,each setting trimmed with an orchidin a royal blue vase.And I might have heardsomeone speak about doses and side effectsbefore the waiters served sea urchin eggsarranged on white porcelain shells, circledwith fresh basil and warm tomato puree.They carried two pound lobsters, rack of lamb,poured wine into a glass that never empti...
Source: PharmaGossip - May 2, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
Michelangelo's dave
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Hat tip (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 2, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
Heparin - the human cost
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Heartbreaking. (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 1, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
Mr lucky
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Roger Newton. (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 1, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Tags: pfizer esperion Source Type: blogs
Go wilford
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(Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 1, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Tags: wilford brimley Source Type: blogs
Bitter pills?
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Hat tip (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - May 1, 2008 Category: Pharma PRs Source Type: blogs
