Pharmaceuticals

Drug Company SLAPP's Over Lindane For Lice

by Bob Burton — September 4, 2006 - 6:38am

The specialty drug manufacturer Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals has filed a legal suit against the Ecology Center of Ann Arbor, Michigan. The drug company is upset at the Center's opposition to the continued use of lindane as a fallback treatment for head lice.

Main Source: 
Metro Times (Michigan), August 23, 2006

FDA Goes, Hat in Hand, To the Drug Industry

by Diane Farsetta — September 1, 2006 - 12:19pm

"Regulators usually don't negotiate their budgets with the industries they oversee," writes Anna Wilde Mathews, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does. In the early 1990s, drug companies started paying the FDA millions of dollars in user fees, to speed the drug approval process.

Main Source: 
Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), September 1, 2006

Roche PR Spins Straw into Golden Cure

by Diane Farsetta — August 18, 2006 - 5:57pm

Pat Thomas writes that the breast cancer drug Herceptin "prolongs a few lives for an average of four months at a cost of £400,000 per life extended, and for the majority of women for whom it does not work there is an increased risk of severe heart damage and the spread of their cancer to the central nervous system." Yet, the British press has declared it a "miracle cure," thanks to savvy PR.

Main Source: 
The Ecologist (UK), July / August 2006

Drug Company's Hearing Too Sensitive For Criticism

by Bob Burton — August 17, 2006 - 6:36pm
  • Topics: Activism, Democracy, Health, International, Marketing, Pharmaceuticals, Science

    • One of the marketing success stories in the world of herbal pills is the hype and advertising that has made Tebonin one of the big-time sellers. If you believe the ads, popping a Tebonin pill a day will relieve tinnitus (the ringing sound some people have in their ears), dizziness and even improve mental alertness. The promoters claim the drug, which is based on a patented extract from the ginkgo biloba tree, improves "impaired micro-circulation," reduces "free radicals" and "promotes optimum cell function."

    According to the German manufacturer, Dr. Willmar Schwabe GmbH & Co KG, eight million pills are consumed every day. Schwabe, like so many companies in the herbal supplements sector, trades on its feel-good image. "From Nature, For Health," its website claims. That's the story the company wants you to hear. However, when a small group of Australian doctors and pharmacists, AusPharm Consumer Health Watch, drafted a report raising doubts about the benefits of Tebonin, they discovered a company that was not so warm and fuzzy. Soon after sending a copy of their draft report to the company, they were hit with a writ seeking an injunction that may bury their critical assessment forever.

    Restless Drug Promotion

    by Bob Burton — August 11, 2006 - 3:10am

    GlaxoSmithKline breached the British drug industry's own self-regulatory code of conduct by promoting ropinirole to treat restless legs syndrome before the drug had been approved for that use.

    Main Source: 
    The Sunday Times (UK), August 6, 2006

    Patient Lobbying

    by Bob Burton — August 8, 2006 - 6:04am

    Drug company funding for the Mental Health Council of Australia to run lobbying and disease awareness campaigns, The Age reports, raises "questions about whether the agendas of a consumer group and that of a multinational drug company are the same." Some of the companies that have funded the council include Pfizer, Janssen-Cilag, Eli Lilly

    Main Source: 
    The Age (Australia), August 8, 2006

    Doctors Addicted To Freebies

    by Bob Burton — August 4, 2006 - 3:33am

    A study published in the Internal Medicine Journal reveals that many Australian medical specialists seek gifts from drug companies. The study of 823 specialists, Melissa Fyfe writes in the Sydney Morning Herald, "found that personal gifts offered to doctors were valued up to $40,000 and included wine, flowers, a 'spa' dinner, harbour cruises, tickets to the movies, the circus, concerts, opera and sporting events." Six specialists sought funding for the salaries of nurses, one for A$80,000 (US$60,000).

    Main Source: 
    Sydney Morning Herald, August 4, 2006

    Drug Companies Directed to Reveal Funding Of Doctors' Events

    by Bob Burton — July 27, 2006 - 3:56am

    Australian drug companies have been directed to disclose details of their funding of 'educational' events for doctors.

    Main Source: 
    Australian Broadcasting Corporation, July 26, 2006.

    Long Island Drug Bust

    by Bob Burton — July 26, 2006 - 6:49am

    In March this year Dr. Peter Gleason, a Maryland psychiatrist, was arrested by the FBI at a Long Island train station and later charged for promoting off-label use of Xyrem, a prescription drug manufactured by Jazz Pharmaceuticals. The New York Times reports that federal prosecutors allege that "at hundreds of speeches and seminars where he was rewarded with generous fees, Dr.

    Main Source: 
    New York Times, July 22, 2006

    Investigation Sought Into Campaign Against Drug Whistleblower

    by Bob Burton — July 21, 2006 - 5:20am

    Iowa Republican Senator Charles Grassley has written to the inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services seeking an investigation into whether the Food and Drug Administration and Merck collaborated to try and discredit

    Main Source: 
    Newsday, July 19, 2006
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