pharma industry
ALSO NOTED: Kindred sells 11 nursing homes; Getting buy-in for disease management; and much more...
> Kindred Healthcare has agreed to sell 11 unprofitable nursing homes for $78 million. Article
> A pharma industry study has found that disease management and patient adherence programs work better when providers use market-driven research to get patient buy-in. …
... Read more...Editor's Corner
This week's news was dominated by last Friday's verdict in the Vioxx case that was either a decisive blow against the evils of capitalism or the end of Western civilization as we know it, depending on your point of view. The Vioxx case is perhaps a sentinel event. It could be what's needed to spur big pharma, the FDA, the medical profession and the public into a new compact. In this …
FDA expected to announce review of DTC ads
The Food and Drug Administration is poised to formally initiate a review of its policies regarding drug company ads, and an announcement to that effect may come as early as today, The Wall Street Journal reports. The review would be the first look the regulatory body has taken at DTC ads in the 10 years since the government opened up the airwaves to advertising by drug companies. Analysts do not expect major changes, such as the all-out ban on ads which some pharma industry …
... Read more...Kennedy thimerasol article provokes debate
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. reignited the debate over the now largely discontinued use of thimerasol as a preservative in children's vaccine. An article by Kennedy, which appears in this month's Rolling Stone and is also published online at Salon.com, alleges a massive conspiracy involving major pharma companies, federal authorities and other powerful groups to cover up a link between autism and mercury content in vaccines.
The article's publication led to immediate calls from …
... Read more...National Institutes of Health weighs funding clinical trials
The National Institutes of Health says it will fund clinical trials on drugs the pharma industry isn't interested in pursuing, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal this morning. The agency is considering funding early stage trials for new drugs designed to treat conditions for which there are few effective medicines available. The NIH program is already underway, with government money already having gone to help fund an early stage trial for a Schizophrenia drug …
... Read more...FDA panel recommends BiDil for African-Americans
A key Food and Drug Administration advisory panel said it is recommending approval for BiDil, a heart-failure drug specifically designed to treat African-Americans. The drug is made by NitroMed, a Lexington, Massachusetts-based company. A study last year found a 45 percent drop in mortality rates among African-American heart failure patients who took the drug, a finding which raised eyebrows in the medical community.
The FDA panel voted unanimously to recommend approval, although …
... Read more...Editor's Corner
After the deal on filibusters and Newt and Hillary's unlikely pairing on health IT, politics resumed more or less as usual this week in Washington. That wasn't necessarily good news for the pharma industry. The "safe" choice for the FDA, Lester Crawford, finds his confirmation still on hold despite apparently not being a naughty boy on the taxpayer's dime. FDA gadfly David Graham won …
