MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'astra zeneca'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 03:00:46 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4309676&cid=t_177688_109_f&fid=38951&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcarlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F01%2Fcurrent-psychiatry-now-binging-on.html Current Psychiatry is a controlled circulation "throwaway" journal that comes to all psychiatrists free of charge. It's well-written, often useful, but editorially it has unfortunately become a mouthpiece for the promotional aims of its advertisers. Recently a few examples attracted my attention. 1. This CME Supplement was packaged with the November 2010 issue. It is called “Effective Strategies for Patients With Complex Depression in Psychiatric Practice." It's supported by AstraZeneca, maker of Seroquel, and the supplement's three articles are well-masked ads for the use of Seroquel in treatment-resistant depression. There are lots of subtle promotional strategies here, but check out especially pages 10 and 11. Here, you find a paragraph on atypicals pretending that they all have ... The Carlat Psychiatry Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4309676 Tue, 04 Jan 2011 20:13:00 +0100 4309676 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3911753&cid=t_177688_109_f&fid=38951&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcarlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F08%2Fwas-cafe-study-manipulated-by.html This study design in no way was influenced adversely by industry influence." So there you have it. If you can believe these researchers, this may have been an example of an AstraZeneca funded study without undue commercial influence. I think they are believable, and I know that Dr. Lieberman in particular has been quoted regularly in the media recently about various new drugs, and has been appropriately skeptical about their benefits over older agents. Of course, there are other ways in which CAFE might have been rigged, which are detailed in Carl Elliott's Mother Jones article. I've asked the investigators about these allegations and will let you know if I get a response. (Source: The Carlat Psychiatry Blog) The Carlat Psychiatry Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3911753 Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:44:00 +0100 3911753 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3895955&cid=t_177688_109_f&fid=38951&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcarlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F08%2Fmaking-killing-new-carl-elliott-article.html There's a fascinating article by Carl Elliott in the current issue of Mother Jones. It's called "Making a Killing," and it shows how clinical trials have become marketing exercises for the pharmaceutical industry, sometimes at the expense of patients' lives. (You can read the article here, but you will need to complete a free registrations process).The focus is on Astra Zeneca, maker of the antipsychotic Seroquel. Elliott tells the tragic story of Dan Markingson, a young man with schizophrenia who killed himself in a particularly gruesome way in May of 2004. At the time, Markingson was enrolled in an Astra Zeneca-funded study called the CAFE study. The acronym CAFE stands for "Comparison of Atypicals in First Episode of Psychosis." As the name implies, this study randomly assigned patients... The Carlat Psychiatry Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3895955 Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:57:00 +0100 3895955 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2883072&cid=t_177688_109_f&fid=38951&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcarlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F10%2Fcme-outfitters-guilty-of-pro-seroquel.html In ACCME's testimony before the Senate Special Committee on Aging on July 29 of this year, Dr. Murray Kopelow, the chief executive of ACCME, defended the integrity of the embattled organization in part by pointing out that they have beefed up their enforcement of anti-commercial bias policies.He said that he has begun to give extra "scrutiny" to organizations that "receive a large amount of commercial support," and said that 10% of all ACCME providers are now on probation. But how well does ACCME actually regulate the bad apples of CME--generally speaking, those for profit MECCs who are completely dependent on commercial support for their very existence and who consistently bend the Standards of Commercial Support in order to maintain the flow of money?In a fascinating post by Bernard Car... The Carlat Psychiatry Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2883072 Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:11:00 +0100 2883072 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2588318&cid=t_177688_117_f&fid=36026&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Fzimney-health-and-medical-news-you-can-use%2Fdiprivan-propofol-and-michael-jackson%2F Although Diprivan is widely used every day in hospitals and surgery centers across the United States, very few people, outside of medical personnel, were familiar with it or had even heard of it prior to its being found in Michael Jackson’s home after his untimely death. And while we still don’t yet know if it was related in any way to his death, many people want to know more about Diprivan and what its potential effects might have been. I worked for ICI, now Astra Zeneca, the pharmaceutical company that originally developed Diprivan, in the mid-80s during the time it was being prepared for market launch. I was part of the team helping to train the sales people who would later be selling the product. But Diprivan was unlike any product previously sold by these representatives b... Dr. Z's Medical Report blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2588318 Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:48:47 +0100 2588318 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1366895&cid=t_177688_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F268380895%2F File this under ‘Say Uncle.’ A dozen drug and device makers have told Chuck Grassley, the Iowa Republican, that they have plans or are working on plans to publicly disclose grants to outside groups, and the details will be provided on each company’s Web sites, the Associated Press reports. In particular, Grassley is interested in money spent on continuing medical education. Recently, Grassley asked 15 companies whether they planned to do what Lilly does, which is disclose its grants to such programs. And the responses are in. They are wide-ranging and sometimes vague, but mostly what the senator wanted to hear - many say they will go beyond disclosing CME grants and will also disclose payments to patients advocacy groups such as the American Heart Association or the Ameri... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1366895 Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:48:41 +0100 1366895