Pharmaceuticals

"Citizen" Pharmaceutical: Petitioning the Government to Pick Your Pocket?

by Jonathan Rosenblum — July 18, 2006 - 3:43pm

A bipartisan Senate inquiry into Food and Drug Administration generic drug reviews suggests that Big Pharma's abuse of so-called "citizen petitions" is costing consumers tens of millions of dollars each month.

Main Source: 
Washington Post, July 4, 2006 (sub req'd)

Free Trip Drug Zones: Paris and Budapest

by Bob Burton — July 8, 2006 - 10:54pm

The world's third largest drug company, Sanofi-Aventis, sponsored a tour to Budapest and Paris for a "parliamentary and stakeholder working group" including representatives from British patient groups. The tour included "optional attendance" at lectures at the European Association of Cancer Research conference in Budapest and a presentation in Paris on cancer drugs used in France but not yet approved in Britain.

Main Source: 
The Observer (UK), July 2, 2006

Victims of Our Own Advertising, Claims Drug Industry Boss

by Bob Burton — June 29, 2006 - 1:43am

The CEO of Pfizer, Hank McKinnell, says that a priority for the drug industry is regaining public trust. "We’ve done considerable research on this.

Main Source: 
Chief Executive, June 2006

The Tangled Web of Doctors, Drug Companies and Charities

by Bob Burton — June 29, 2006 - 1:40am

"Around the country, doctors in private practice have set up tax-exempt charities into which drug companies and medical device makers are, with little fanfare, pouring donations — money that adds up to millions of dollars a year," Reed Abelson reports in the New York Times.

Main Source: 
New York Times, June 28, 2006

Drug Companies Fail Transparency Test

by Bob Burton — June 27, 2006 - 5:27am

A report by Consumers International, a global federation of consumer organisations, examined the corporate social responsibility policies of 20 major drug companies to test what information they disclose about sponsoring patient groups, funding disease awareness campaigns and offering hospitality to medical experts.

Main Source: 
Consumers International, June 26, 2006

CanWest Pushes Drug Ads in Canada

by Bob Burton — June 24, 2006 - 11:32pm

The Canadian government has until the end of June to respond to a legal action by CanWest MediaWorks, which wants to overturn the ban on direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs. CanWest MediaWorks, which owns a national television network in Canada, lodged the claim in December 2005.

Main Source: 
British Medical Journal (sub req'd), June 24, 2006

Obesity Task Force Grows Fat With Drug Company Cash

by Bob Burton — June 19, 2006 - 5:07am

Ray Moynihan reports in the British Medical Journal that the drug companies Roche and Abbott Laboratories provide approximately two-thirds of the funding of the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF), which has over £1m in cash reserves. Roche makes the anti-obesity drug Xenical while Abbott Laboratories makes Reductil. Dr.

Main Source: 
British Medical Journal (sub req'd), June 17, 2006

Antibiotic Trial Continues Despite Reported Threat to Children

by Jonathan Rosenblum — June 9, 2006 - 12:01pm

A new antibiotic that has been found to cause four times the average rate of acute liver failure in adults continues in a trial for more than 900 children worldwide, despite criticism from a U.S. Food and Drug Administration official and a study consultant. The drug, Ketek (internationally known as Telithromycin) is manufactured by Sanofi-Aventis, a French pharmaceutical firm with U.S.

Main Source: 
The New York Times, June 8, 2006 (reg req'd)

Not a PR Job for the Faint of Heart

by Diane Farsetta — May 31, 2006 - 10:36am

"APCO Worldwide is supporting Merck's PR efforts for the controversial" -- and deadly -- "arthritis drug Vioxx, which was found to increase heart attack risk in patients," reports O'Dwyer's.

Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub req'd), May 31, 2006
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