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NEWS FEED

News and Commentary Archive

2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006

Unpublished Clinical Trials with Sumatriptan
Drug less effective Lancet (read commentary)

In House, Many Spoke With One Voice: Lobbyists’
Ghostwritten remarks underwritten by Genentech NYT

Health-Bill Disclosure Rule Is Resisted
CME funding at issue WSJ

Generic-Drug Makers Protest Supply Limits
FTC examines pharma practices
WSJ

At Top Schools, More Than Half the Profs Have Industry Ties
50 NIH-funded institutions surveyed WSJ Health Blog (read study and comments)

Drugmakers Place Caps On Speaker Fees
Varies from $10,000 to $100,000/year Pharmalot (read summary)

FDA Issues Warning for Diabetes Drug
Byetta may cause kidney failure HealthDay News

Researchers Question Anemia Drug Benefits
Performs no better than placebo Boston Globe

Drugmakers' Payments Draw Heat
DOJ probes pharma kickbacks BusinessWeek

University Doctors Got Paid in Drug's Sales Campaign
14 docs paid $400,000 for Vytorin talks Chron of Higher Ed

Regulators Reject Merck's Proposed Combo
Lipitor/Zetia pill nixed AP

Costs Surge For Medical Devices
Scant data on benefits NYT

Seroquel Promoted as Superior to Haldol
Company knew it wasn't BNET

FDA Slow to Debar Doctors Who Commit Crimes
Felons oversee trials WSJ read GAO report)

Pfizer Demands DNA of Trovan Victims
Delays Compensation BNET

Bitter Pills
Harvard and Pharma Boston Globe

Drug Makers Are Advocacy Group’s Biggest Donors
Grassley requests disclosures from NAMI NYT

Steps to Greater Accountability in Medical Education
ACCME to reveal commercially biased courses NYT

Pfizer Pays Record $1.3 Billion
Criminal fines for off-label Bextra promotion Bloomberg

AstraZeneca Offers Buyouts to its Entire Sales Force
Up to 6,000 reps affected Pharmalot

Commercial CME Loses Funding from Second Drug Firm
GSK joins Pfizer
American Med News

AstraZeneca Promoted Seroquel as ‘Weight Neutral’
Company knew drug increased weight Bloomberg

Speaking Fee Ban Riles UW Doctors
Device talks allowed, drug talks prohibited Journal Sentinel

Government Orders Columbia to Tell Patients ‘True Nature’ of Drug Study
Blood expanders increased bleeding risk Huffington Post

Doctors Fail to Report $12 Million in Industry Fees at Meeting
1 of 3 orthopods didn't disclose Bloomberg (read NEJM study)

New Pharma Guidelines: No Ghostwriting
Voluntary guidelines released WSJ Blog

AstraZeneca Denied Drug’s Diabetes Link
Seroquel documents unsealed Bloomberg

Former Drug Executive Convicted of Wire Fraud
Press release encouraged off-label use NYT

Prempro Caused Woman’s Cancer, Jury Decides
Wyeth faces over 9,000 lawsuits Bloomberg

Payments to Doctors Going Online
Merck to post list
The Star (Canada)

Wyeth Ghostwriting Documents Added to DIDA
Indexed version available Pharmagossip (read Prempro documents)

Medical Editors Push for Ghostwriting Crackdown
Should guest authors be punished? NYT

Ghostwriting Is Called Rife in Medical Journals
NEJM--10.9%, JAMA--7.9% NYT

Document Details Plan to Promote Costly Drug
2,000 docs gave 15,000 marketing lectures in a year NYT (read Lexapro marketing documents)

Pfizer Pays $2.3 Billion to Settle Marketing Case
"Recidivism" justifies criminal fines NYT (read Corporate Integrity Agreement, read more)

Medical Papers by Ghostwriters Pushed Therapy
Reviews promoted “HRT” NYT (view ghostwriting documents on PLoS Med website)

Rep in $3B Procrit Case
"80% of my sales were Medicare fraud" BNET (read legal complaint)

UW Linked to Ghostwriting
"Nothing dishonest about it" Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Senator Moves to Block Medical Ghostwriting
Will NIH and universities crack down on "authors"? NYT (read letter to NIH)

Drug Chief at the FDA is Accused of Conflict
Are officials too friendly to industry? WSJ

Probing Doctors' Ties to Industry
Continued push for payment disclosures WP

Medical Groups Promoted HPV Vaccine Using Funds Provided by Drugmaker
Educating docs or repeating marketing messages? WP (read more)

FDA Warns Johnson on Antibiotic Drug
Hired unqualified investigators in ceftobiprole trials NYT

Surgeon Tied to Bone Product Inquiry Resigns
Accused of falsifying study on GIs NYT

Vermont Acts to Make Drug Makers’ Gifts Public
Free meals banned NYT

Physician Found Money, Acclaim Seductive
Former thought leader repents Journal Sentinel

Doctor Falsified Study on Injured GIs
Infuse success rate questioned NYT (read update)

Top 15 Big Pharma Paychecks of 2008
J&J CEO tops list at $29.4M Fierce Pharma

29 Percent of Cancer Studies Report Conflict of Interest
Industry funding common Science Daily (read press release; read study abstract)

Merck Paid for Medical ‘Journal’
Elsevier Published 6 Fake Journals NYT (read The Scientist)

The Next Phase in Industry-Funded Medical Education
“Product theater” at APA meeting Carlat Psych Blog (read more)

A Celebrity Patient's Backing Turns Sour for Drug Company
Controversy surrounds Abilify WSJ (read commentary)

Partners Curbs Doctors' Drug Industry Ties
“No” to gifts, meals, consultant fees, but “yes” to CME Boston Globe (read commentary)

FDA Easing Access to ‘Morning After’ Pill
Lowers age from 18 to 17 NYT

Rare FDA Meeting to Discuss Complaints on Device Approval
Scientists say patients at risk NYT

ACCME Weighs Pharma-free Labeling
“Good Housekeeping Seal” for CME? MM&M (read commentary)

Just the Facts, Pharma, Say Docs and Patients
Skip emotional appeals in ads Fierce Pharma

Drug Makers, Hospitals Raise Prices
Anticipating health care reform WSJ (see chart)

Atypical Antipsychotics: Too Hard a Sell?
Use for depression questioned LA Times

Johns Hopkins Bans Free Drug Samples, Gifts
No more sham consulting WSJ Blog

After Falling for Fake Study, IRB Steps Aside
Government sting snags company WSJ Blog

Quest to Pay $302 Million
Pleads guilty to misleading marketing of PTH test AP

Doctors Urge End to Corporate Ties
Medical groups should shun funds NYT (read commentary)

Researchers Square Off On Disclosure
JAMA rebukes whistleblower NYT

Stanford to Disclose More
Will list docs with industry conflicts online WSJ Blog

Authors of Psych Guidelines Funded by Drug Makers
90% had at least one financial tie WSJ Blog

Med Schools Pressed To Cut Drug-Firm Ties
Students push for change NPR

Attention Drug Reps - Form An Orderly Line for Back Pay
CT says reps not salespeople Pharmagossip

Sting Operation Exposes Gaps in Clinical Trial Oversight
IRBs under scrutiny WSJ (read commentary)

Debate Over Drugs For ADHD
No long-term benefits; possible growth stunting WP

Medical Journal Decries Public Airing of Conflicts
Editor Calls Critic a ‘Nobody and a Nothing’ WSJ Blog

Slumdog Clinical Trials
FDA defends overseas oversight Pharmagossip

Crackdown on Doctors Who Take Kickbacks
Surgeons targeted NYT

Seroquel Studies ‘Buried’
Risks suppressed Bloomberg

Sex for Studies
Seroquel research director and Redacted BNET Pharma

Ranbaxy Plant Falsified Data, Results
Generics firm scrutinized WSJ

Group Drops Event, Says Doc-gift Rules Too Strict
AAAAI cancels Boston convention Boston Herald

New Rules On Doctors And Medical Firms
Devices and disclosures NYT

Commentary (back to menu)

Study Says Drug Does Little
Aranesp ineffective, increases stroke risk Boston Globe

Keep Doctors Independent
Ban fees from drug makers Boston Globe

Get Off the Gravy Train
No payments for docs’ drug or device talks Journal Sentinel

Q&A with Thomas Sullivan
MECs don't deserve abuse Reporting on Health Blog

Ghostwriting: 'What's the Harm?'
Ethics and conflicts of interest The Star (Canada)

Ghostwriting
The dirty little secret PLoS Med

How Pharma Uses Medical Ghostwriters
Pushing brand-name drugs Unsilent Generation

Ghostwriting 101
Unsealed court documents reveal pharma tactics Speaking of Medicine (PLoS Blog)

Q&A with Dr. Adriane Fugh-Berman
Ghostwriting sneaks past most journal editors Reporting on Health Blog

New Drugs Have Allure, Not Track Record
Older drugs can be more effective NYT (read more)

Swine Flu
Who will bring home the bacon? Unsilent Generation

JAMA COI Controversy Continued
Study protocol changed after NIH approved BMJ Rapid Response

Bipolar Disorder and its Biomythology
An interview with David Healy Psych Today Blog (more comments)

Editing Ethics: JAMA’s New Conflict of Interest Policy
Bullying researchers Bioethics Forum

The JAMA Imbroglio
Editors’ response: Gag whistleblowers Bioethics Forum

"The Bipolar Child is a Purely American Phenomenon"
Interview with Philip Dawdy Psychology Today Blogs

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