pharma companies

The American Society of Hypertension is the latest professional group to face unpleasant media publicity following a report in the New York Times questioning the drug industry's sponsorship of ASH events. Critics say a round of dinners at Ruth's Chris Steakhouses across the country may have influenced the group's position on a new definition for hypertension. Not everybody agrees on the wisdom of the new guidelines, which lower the threshold for Stage I hypertension. By lowering …

The New York Times reports on compliance programs that are designed to get patients to stick to their drug regimens. These are both good for the patients' health and for pharmaceutical company profits, as many patients do not take all their prescribed drugs properly--especially for conditions for which symptoms are not obvious such as high-blood pressure. Several companies like McKesson and subsidiaries of manufacturers such as Pfizer Health Solutions have call centers …

Last week FierceHealthcare reported on surveys from Kaiser FF and Harris/WSJ which showed that confusion is rife about the new Medicare plan. Sunday's New York Times reported that many seniors are totally bewildered by the choice of plans offered. There are at least four variables between the plans: premium level, drugs covered, pharmacies covered and co-insurance and co-pay amounts. In addition, premiums increase if recipients delay in selecting a plan, and there …

> Boston Scientific scored a legal victory in its fight with Johnson & Johnson over the drug eluting stent market when a Dutch court ruled in its favor. Article

> Bad numbers though, for Natick, MA-based Boston Scientific, which reported a loss of $269 million for the third quarter due to declining sales of its Taxus stent and a $598 million legal settlement.  …

Despite the fact that many analysts see Medicare Part D as the biggest thing to happen to the pharmaceutical industry in years, pharma companies have been reluctant to talk about how much they stand to gain. Some even argue that in the end the benefit will end up hurting manufacturers more than it helps as customers move over to low-cost generics. Not many people buy that argument. Some analysts think the winners are likely to be companies like Sanofi-Aventis, Roche, Johnson & Johnson …

The potential for an avian flu pandemic remains a major national story. President Bush today meets with pharma company representatives to discuss ways to increase production. Unconfirmed reports suggest the administration is making plans to raise the nation's stockpile of Tamiflu from 12 million doses to 81 million doses. Critics say the move comes too late as other countries have already placed major orders with Roche, the antiviral's manufacturer. According to some estimates, the …

U.S. spending on medical research has doubled over the past decade, rising to about $98 billion a year, according to a new report. Researchers say 57 percent of funding for medical research in this country comes from the pharmaceutical industry. The government provides another 23 percent through the National Institutes of Health. The study, which appears in a special issue of JAMA devoted to the state of medical research, was conducted by Alerion Institute, a group which follows trends in …

A study by pharmacy benefits manager Medco has found that prescriptions for attention-deficit disorder drugs have soared over the past four years, trailing only hot-selling rheumatoid arthritis drugs in the marketplace. The number of prescriptions written to treat ADHD more than doubled between 2000 and 2004, according to the pharmacy benefits manager. Some analysts say the trend reflects a growing feeling among doctors that the condition is not just a childhood problem. Others warn the …

Pharmacy benefits manager Caremark RX said it has agreed to pay a $137.5 million settlement to the Department of Justice in a whistle-blower case involving rebates paid to AdvancePCS two years ago. Caremark bought AdvancePCS nearly two years ago and said that it had set aside reserves to pay the forthcoming claim. Three former AdvancePCS employees filed the lawsuit in 2002 under the False Claims Act, charging that the company characterized "rebates," which were payments from …

Two top organizations in the fight against diabetes said they doubt that a condition known as metabolic syndrome exists. The American Diabetes Association and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes said that doctors should not diagnose patients with the condition until more evidence is available. The announcement is a blow for pharma companies, such as Sanofi-Aventis, hoping to increase sales by marketing treatments for the condition. Metabolic syndrome is commonly said to be …