Health

Drug-Free Medical Education For Doctors

by Bob Burton — January 10, 2007 - 11:05pm

Medical researchers at George Washington University have launched a new website, PharmedOut, which is designed to help doctors "identify and counter inappropriate pharmaceutical promotion practices." It also provides links to over 100 continuing medical education (CME) courses that have been developed without drug industry funding.

Main Source: 
PharmedOut, January 2007

Philip Morris’s Project Sunrise: Wake Up and Smell the Efforts to Undermine Public Health

by Anne Landman — January 10, 2007 - 7:24pm

An article published in the medical journal Tobacco Control reveals Philip Morris' "Project Sunrise" (1995-2006), a long-term plan to bolster the social acceptability of smoking and ensure the company's future.

Main Source: 
Tobacco Control, Issue 15

Survey Finds Drug Ads Drive Prescribing

by Bob Burton — January 9, 2007 - 8:54pm

A survey of 39,090 patients and 335 primary-care physicians reveals the power of direct-to-consumer advertising of drugs.

Main Source: 
Consumer Reports, February 2007

Oregon Health Officials' Rocket Science

by Diane Farsetta — January 9, 2007 - 6:10pm

In 2004, Oregon health officials began investigating whether perchlorate, a rocket fuel chemical present in some of the state's water wells, "might be creeping into the breadbasket region's produce and dairy milk." Their conclusion, based on "limited food sampling," is that "perchlorate doesn't pose a health danger to area residents." But records obtained by The Oregonian reveal that the Northwest Food Processors Association "urged top state health administrators to kill the food study," claiming

Main Source: 
The Oregonian, January 7, 2007

Industry-Funded Studies Say Drink Up (Their Stuff)

by Jonathan Rosenblum — January 9, 2007 - 1:28pm

Studies of the health benefits of beverages are four to eight times more likely to support the studied drink if industry fully paid for the research than if it didn't, according to a newly-published article in the science journal PLoS Medicine. The study reviewed 206 journal articles that drew conclusions about the health effects of a beverage. About half of those revealed their funding sources.

Main Source: 
Associated Press, January 8, 2007

The Diagnostic 'Epidemic'

by Bob Burton — January 8, 2007 - 4:26am

Three doctors warn of an epidemic of medical diagnoses fostered by the "medicalization of everyday life", improvements in medical technology and an increasing emphasis on identifying those at 'risk' of a disease. "Perhaps most worrisome is the medicalization of childhood. If children cough after exercising, they have asthma; if they have trouble reading, they are dyslexic; if they are unhappy, they are depressed; and if they alternate between unhappiness and liveliness, they have bipolar disorder.

Main Source: 
New York Times, January 2, 2007

One Hand Gives, The Other Takes Away

by Bob Burton — January 8, 2007 - 2:53am

One of the projects funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been to immunize children living in Ebocha, Nigeria. But at the same time the foundation owns shares in the French oil company, Eni, that pollutes the residents air and water by the open air burning of gas considered to be waste.

Main Source: 
Los Angeles Times, January 7, 2007

Medical Journal Pulls Column Critical of Patient Group

by Bob Burton — December 27, 2006 - 4:29am

In November, the New England Journal of Medicine pulled an opinion column by Dr. Robert Steinbrook that was critical of ties between the National Kidney Foundation and drug companies.

Main Source: 
Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), December 26, 2006

How to Get Ahead in Drug Marketing

by Diane Farsetta — December 20, 2006 - 11:16am

According to internal marketing documents, "Eli Lilly encouraged primary care physicians to use Zyprexa, a powerful drug for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, in patients who did not have either condition." Under U.S. law, companies can't promote "prescription drugs for conditions for which they have not been approved ...

Main Source: 
New York Times, December 18, 2006
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