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 'eugene'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:25:33 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4893918&cid=t_281983_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FNdbXFKyzx54%2F Earlier this month, an odd and controversial episode involving a Canadian drugmaker once known as Biovail finally drew to a close. Eugene Melnyk, whose tenure as chairman of Biovail was marked by turmoil and controvery, agreed to sanctions imposed by Canadian securities regulators as a result of misleading disclosures following a 2003 traffic accident involving a shipment of meds. Earlier this year, Biovail, which is now owned by Valeant Pharmaceuticals, agreed to settle a similar lawsuit brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which accused Melnyk and the drugmaker of repeatedly overstating earnings and hiding losses to meet earnings forecasts. And Melnyk agreed to a five-year ban as a director or officer of a public company in the US, and paid $150,000 in fines (back story)... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4893918 Thu, 02 Jun 2011 17:16:19 +0100 4893918 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4139479&cid=t_281983_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FtplnNqFKIZU%2F Nearly four years after raising a big stink - and filing a group of $4.6 billion lawsuits - over allegations that research analysts and hedge funds conspired to drive down its stock price, Biovail has finally given up. The white flag was raised, however, only after a recent merger with Valeant Pharmaceuticls that ushered in new management and a new way of viewing a dispute that generated significant publicity and aggravation, but not much else. And so Valeant has agreed to pay $10 million to SAC Capital Advisors to reimburse the hedge fund for the cost of defending two earlier actions filed by Biovail and its shareholders. Both suits against SAC, which is run by billionaire investor Steven Cohen, were dismissed. Moreover, the drugmaker has issued an apology, a rather rare omission, given t... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4139479 Fri, 05 Nov 2010 13:41:00 +0100 4139479 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4133833&cid=t_281983_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F11%2F03%2Fcan-your-creative-brain-ease-negative-moods%2F Your moods and emotions color the way you see the world, yourself, and your future. Negative mood states, such as anxiety, sadness, and anger, are part of the normal ebb and flow of human emotions. They provide a necessary counterpoint to the joyful and happy occasions of life, and they add depth to the “rich tapestry of human experience.” Of course, that doesn’t make them any more pleasant or easy to get through at the time you’re experiencing them. We have negative moods and emotions, however, for a reason. They are a way of alerting us that all is not right with our world and that we may need to take some sort of action. Rather than trying to escape these negative feelings — with pills, liquor, or thrills of some sort — we are better off exploring them and trying to ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4133833 Wed, 03 Nov 2010 10:40:23 +0100 4133833 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4031369&cid=t_281983_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2FNPfq3hdmzOk%2F Neurofeedback Gains Popularity and Lab Attention (New York Times) The treatment is also gaining attention from mainstream researchers, including some former skeptics. The National Institute of Mental Health recently sponsored its first study of neurofeedback for A.D.H.D.: a randomized, controlled trial of 36 subjects. The results are to be announced Oct. 26 at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. In an interview in the summer, the study’s director, Dr. L. Eugene Arnold, an emeritus professor of psychiatry at Ohio State, noted that there had been “quite a bit of improvement” in many of the children’s behavior, as reported by parents and teachers. Comment: The article provides a good overview, and points out one of the main bottlenecks for w... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4031369 Tue, 05 Oct 2010 07:26:16 +0100 4031369 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3965397&cid=t_281983_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FiiG5XuwcTMk%2F By Michael F. CannonOn Friday, I blogged about HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ letter to the health insurance lobby, in which she attempts to stifle political speech by using the new powers that ObamaCare grants her to threaten health insurance companies that claim ObamaCare’s coverage mandates are one cause behind rising premiums.  (Never mind that the insurers’ estimates — which project that ObamaCare will increase premiums in 2011 by as much as 9 percent — are in line with those put forward by HHS.) Here’s a smattering of reactions from others. The Wall Street Journal: “The Health and Human Services secretary…warned that ‘there will be zero tolerance for this type of misinformation and unjustified rate increases.’   Zero t... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3965397 Mon, 13 Sep 2010 16:08:22 +0100 3965397 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3780440&cid=t_281983_113_f&fid=38236&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthcareitnews.com%2Fblog%2Fphysician-champions-speak-out As we head into the next stage of EHR adoption, now that the meaningful use criteria have been finalized, it's time for health IT advocates to start rallying their physician colleagues to get serious about implementing and deriving value from EHRs. (Source: Healthcare IT News Blog) Healthcare IT News Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3780440 Thu, 22 Jul 2010 13:11:15 +0100 3780440 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3549291&cid=t_281983_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F0nIC1rdITtQ%2F By David Boaz“Max Palevsky, a pioneer in the computer industry and a founder of the computer-chip giant Intel who used his fortune to back Democratic presidential candidates and to amass an important collection of American Arts and Crafts furniture, died on Wednesday at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 85,” reports the New York Times. Palevsky used his vast wealth to influence politics, especially to oppose the Vietnam War. He was one of the liberal mega-givers who made the Eugene McCarthy campaign possible in 1968, along with such people as Stanley Sheinbaum, Stewart Mott, and Martin Peretz. Describing the McCarthy campaign as “shoestring,” Christopher Hitchens added: When one says “shoestring,” by the way, one is forced to recall that the whole... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3549291 Mon, 10 May 2010 14:17:38 +0100 3549291 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3479666&cid=t_281983_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F-xw4H2YkCyg%2F By David RittgersAs my colleague Tim Lynch pointed out in this post, the Third Circuit recently upheld an injunction against a prosecutor who threatened charges against teenagers who engaged in “sexting.” A conviction would have turned these minors into registered sex offenders for flirting via cellphone. Professor Eugene Volokh has more on the decision. “Sexting” is sending an explicit photo of yourself to your significant other, and is an increasingly common occurrence with high school–aged teens. It’s dumb — those digits don’t ever go away, and they can come back to embarrass you — but it shouldn’t make you a sex offender. Unfortunately, the laws don’t reflect this sensible distinction between poor teenage judgment (but I repeat myself) and intentional criminalit... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3479666 Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:14:11 +0100 3479666 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3408359&cid=t_281983_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FR3pF58PAFlw%2F By David RittgersThat’s the outcome in the Second Circuit (full decision here), where a Connecticut man who has held a concealed handgun permit since 1982 was given the run-around when he tried to renew it, prompting a year-and-a-half of delay. In March 2007, Kuck applied to DPS to renew his permit to carry a firearm. He was subsequently contacted by Defendant Albert J. Masek, an employee of DPS, who requested that Kuck provide a U.S. passport, birth certificate, or voter registration card in support of his renewal application… Kuck objected to the requirement, arguing that he had submitted proof of citizenship when he first applied for a permit in 1982 and, over the subsequent 25 years, had never before been asked to provide such proof with a renewal application. He claimed then, as h... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3408359 Fri, 26 Mar 2010 11:03:26 +0100 3408359 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3139246&cid=t_281983_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FLLh7x1LGSFU%2F The effort to limit industry influence on the medical community continues. Partners HealthCare, which owns Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s Hospitals in Boston, has imposed caps on the amount of money that its senior officials can receive for sitting on the boards of drugmakers and biotechs, The New York Times reports. The limits? No more than $5,000 a day for actual board work (some had been receiving more than $200,000 a year) and stock may no longer be accepted. The move appears to go further than what other hospitals are instituting and is significant given the research hospitals are affiliated with Harvard Medical School. Although if more academic centers take this step, such efforts may rub up against the insistence by shareholder groups that board members hold stock s... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3139246 Mon, 04 Jan 2010 12:55:04 +0100 3139246 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2284348&cid=t_281983_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fu1ybREkJtxQ%2F The House of Representatives has passed a 90 percent tax on the bonuses paid to AIG employees, seemingly forgetting President Obama’s admonition “that in a time of crisis, we cannot afford to govern out of anger, or yield to the politics of the moment.” Everybody’s angry. But anger doesn’t make good law. And there are real questions about both the wisdom and the legality of such legislation. Bloggers like Conor Clarke, Megan McArdle, and Eugene Volokh have asked if the bonus tax is legal or constitutional. And thank goodness for bloggers who ask the questions that members of Congress and print journalists seem to ignore! The bloggers wonder if after-the-fact taxes on specific people violate the constitutional ban on bills of attainder and ex post facto laws. (... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2284348 Thu, 19 Mar 2009 22:19:29 +0100 2284348 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2191194&cid=t_281983_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F02%2F17%2Fthe-stereotype-tax%2F The last issue of The Economist includes an interesting article, titled “The Price of Prejudice,” summarizing IAT research and two other studies employing conjoint analysis to measure the difference between what we would do as compared to what we would say we would do.  Here’s an excerpt. * * * Nobody likes to admit an uncomfortable truth about himself, especially when charged issues such as race, sex, age and even supersized waistlines come into play. That makes the task of the behavioural scientist a difficult one. Not only may participants in a study be lying to those running a test, but they may also, fundamentally, be lying to themselves. Prising the lid off human assumptions and hidden biases thus requires clever tools. One of the most widely deployed, known as the... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2191194 Tue, 17 Feb 2009 04:41:01 +0100 2191194 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1975948&cid=t_281983_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F11%2F20%2Fvideo-introduction-to-experimental-philosophy%2F Comedian Eugene Mirman explaining a famous study from the new ‘experimental philosophy’ movement. * * * For more on experimental philosophy, see “Quick Introduction to Experimental (Situationist?) Philosophy” and visit the blogs, Experimental Philosophy and The Garden of Forking Paths.        (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1975948 Thu, 20 Nov 2008 04:01:18 +0100 1975948 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1660993&cid=t_281983_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F348493502%2F After winning a court ruling just last week, Eugene is now backing off on his vow to oust the Canadian drugmaker’s board and elect his own team at a rescheduled Biovail shareholder meeting next month, Reuters reports. Instead, Melnyk, who is Biovail’s biggest shareholder, now plans to develop his own private drugmaker, which he will call Trimel Biopharma. The moves come just days after an Ontario judge ruled that a vote on electing the Biovail board at the June 25 shareholder meeting was taken improperly, and he ordered Biovail to reconvene its annual shareholders meeting. In trying to reassert control over Biovail at the June meeting, Melnyk proposed a new emphasis on Biovail’s pipeline, including a return to making generics and acquiring more products and technologies.... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1660993 Mon, 28 Jul 2008 15:33:30 +0100 1660993 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1631581&cid=t_281983_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F337214247%2F Eugene Melnyk shoots and scores. The former Biovail ceo and founder, who owns The Ottawa Senators hockey team, was handed a victory today by a Canadian court, which ordered a new vote by Biovail shareholders, Reuters reports. The ruling came after Melnyk challenged procedures at the June 25 Biovail shareholders meeting at which he lost a proxy fight to displace the drugmaker’s board. Melnyk subsequently argued in court that the meeting proceeded without a quorum. Melnyk had withdrawn his dissident slate of directors before the vote, leaving the meeting with less than half of the company’s stock represented. The Biovail board then hastily amended the bylaws to allow the vote to proceed with only 25 percent of the shares represented. (Back story). A new meeting was ordered to be... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1631581 Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:30:16 +0100 1631581 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1500288&cid=t_281983_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F306044771%2F The proxy battle between Biovail founder Eugene Melnyk and the drugmaker’s current management is getting a wee bit personal. Earlier this week, Melnyk, who recently resigned from the board and is now promoting his own slate of directors, charged that Biovail has a ‘dysfunctional board.’ Now, Biovail ceo Bill Wells is taking slap shots at Melnyk, who owns the Ottawa Senators, by the way. In a letter to shareholders, Wells writes that what Melnyk’s calls ‘the golden years’ are actually the ‘lost years,’ from 2001 to 2007, when he was ceo or chairman. And that most of his proposed directors are not independent because they have or did have business relationships with him. “What this is all about is Eugene Melnyk trying to take control of t... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1500288 Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:42:33 +0100 1500288 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1449571&cid=t_281983_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F291899211%2F The drugmaker was accused of paying docs as much as $1,000 and their office managers $150 each to get patients to use its Cardizem heart drug as part of a study that was to have been published. To extricate itself, Biovail agreed to pay $24.6 million to settle a Justice Department investigation into the 2003 launch of a long-actng version. “This is an important and positive result for Biovail and its shareholders,” ceo Bill Wells says in a statement, “as the agreement eliminates the significant exposure to the corporation related to this matter and should immediately reduce our ongoing legal expenses.” But the aggravation hasn’t ended entirely. The Securities and Exchange Commission two months ago charged the Canadian drugmaker and several former and current senior execs ... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1449571 Sat, 17 May 2008 03:59:16 +0100 1449571 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1391302&cid=t_281983_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F275343419%2F Bill Wells, the drugmaker’s new ceo, may excel at cutting costs, but it remains to be seen whether he can boost sales and a flagging stock price. “I think he’ll strip the company down to its bare bones and act very much like a private-equity firm,” David Lickrish, an analyst at Broadpoint Capital, tells The National Post. “But that doesn’t address the broader issue of developing Biovail’s drug pipeline.” Canada’s biggest publicly traded drugmaker yesterday named Wells, the cfo of the Loblaw supermarket chain, to next month replace Doug Squires, who will become chairman. Wells has been a Biovail director since 2005, but spent most of his career in the food industry, including being “actively involved” in the reorganization of... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1391302 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:39:23 +0100 1391302 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1323238&cid=t_281983_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F257110046%2F In a complaint filed today, the Securities and Exchange Commission accuses the Canadian drugmaker and several former and current senior execs with engaging in fraudulent accounting schemes and making misstatements to analysts and investors. The execs facing charges are former chairman and ceo Eugene Melnyk; former cfo Brian Crombie; the current controller, John Miszuk; and current cfo Ken Howling. Biovail settled the charges and will pay a $10 million penalty. The SEC complaint alleges that “present and former senior Biovail executives, obsessed with meeting quarterly and annual earnings guidance, repeatedly overstated earnings and hid losses in order to deceive investors and create the appearance of achieving earnings goals. When it ultimately became impossible to continue concealin... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1323238 Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:13:41 +0100 1323238 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1300625&cid=t_281983_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F250853752%2F Eugene Melnyk, who owns The Ottawa Senators hockey team, wants to ice the board and replace it with his own nominees at the drugmaker’s upcoming annual meeting, according to The Canadian Press. The maneuvering comes after Biovail reported a fourth-quarter loss and announced a strategic review of its business. The loss was attributable, in part, to hefty charges due to competition from generics, particularly its version of Wellbutrin XL, and litigation charges. “Beyond 2008, in the next two, three, four years, (we) see incredible growth,” Doug Squires, Biovail’s ceo, tells Reuters. “We’re approaching the point where the old Biovail is turning into the new Biovail.” But Melnyk, who owns nearly 11.7 per cent of the stock and is considering a plan to... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1300625 Thu, 13 Mar 2008 16:36:41 +0100 1300625 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=856913&cid=t_281983_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F154547931%2F Who’s a hockey puck? The Canadian drugmaker, which is suing 22 research analysts and hedge funds for allegedly conspiring to drive down its stock price, has agreed to drop its claim again Dave Maris (that’s him to the left) and his employer, Banc of America Securities, The New York Post reports. What’s more, Biovail also agreed to pay the firm $2 million in legal fees, according to a person familiar with the proceedings. The lawsuit alleged that Maris intentionally published misleading research on Biovail so that a hedge fund client, a unit of SAC Capital Advisors, could profit from a decline in its stock price. Though Biovail’s former chairman, Eugene Melnyk, was supposedly confident about his case against Maris, the paper writes that Biovail’s evidence wasn... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=856913 Mon, 10 Sep 2007 11:23:30 +0100 856913