Pharmaceuticals

Lots of Opinion, Not Much Disclosure

by Bob Burton — March 31, 2009 - 11:34pm
  • Topics: Nuclear Power, Third Party Technique, Pharmaceuticals

    • The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) and Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) have more in common than being major industry lobby groups.

    Orrin Hatch's Drug Problems

    by Diane Farsetta — March 5, 2009 - 4:09pm

    "At the same time the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) was paying one of [Senator Orrin G. Hatch's] sons, Scott, to be its lobbyist in Congress," it and its drug company members were making major donations to a nonprofit organization that Senator Hatch helped found and actively supports.

    Main Source: 
    Washington Times, March 2, 2009

    This Is Your University, on Drugs

    by Diane Farsetta — January 30, 2009 - 10:15am

    In 2002, an independent study on hormone replacement therapy was halted, because the drugs were strongly linked to an "increased risk for breast cancer, heart disease, stroke and blood clots" in women. The same year, the University of Wisconsin-Madison began offering an online course, "funded entirely by a $12 million grant from Wyeth Pharmaceuticals," that "promoted hormone therapy, touted its benefits and downplayed its risks." Wyeth makes two hormone therapy drugs, Prempro and Premarin.

    Main Source: 
    The Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), January 25, 2009

    Patrick Moore on Drugs

    by Diane Farsetta — January 21, 2009 - 12:22pm

    It is "inevitable that a small amount of ingested pharmaceuticals will eventually show up at trace levels in wastewater," Greenpeace activist turned industry PR consultant Patrick Moore writes in an op/ed.

    Main Source: 
    The Seattle Times (Washington), January 20, 2009

    Eli Lilly Finally Pays for Drug Marketing Abuses

    by Diane Farsetta — January 16, 2009 - 5:03pm

    Eli Lilly will pay the largest fine "in a health care case, and the largest criminal fine for an individual corporation ever imposed in a U.S. criminal prosecution of any kind." The pharmaceutical company will pay $1.42 billion to settle criminal and civil charges related to the marketing of its anti-psychotic drug Zyprexa.

    Main Source: 
    Agence France Press, January 16, 2009

    How Wyeth Bought Science that Sells

    by Diane Farsetta — December 23, 2008 - 3:55pm

    According to internal documents, the pharmaceutical company Wyeth "paid ghostwriters to produce medical journal articles favorable to its female hormone replacement therapy Prempro." As early as 1997, Wyeth paid the "medical writing firm" DesignWrite to publish favorable journal articles about Prempro under academics' names.

    Main Source: 
    New York Times, December 12, 2008

    Pharma See, Pharma Sue

    by Sheldon Rampton — December 14, 2008 - 12:26am

    The Canadian Association of University Teachers has strongly condemned a new lawsuit by the Apotex pharmaceutical company against Dr. Nancy Olivieri. As a liver specialist at the University of Toronto, Olivieri first came under attack from Apotex in 1996 when she notified her patients that she had detected toxic side effects while conducting an Apotex-sponsored study of the company's drug, deferiphone.

    Main Source: 
    Canadian Association of University Teachers, December 1, 2008

    Drugmakers' Dollars, Doctors' Disclosure Disorders

    by Sheldon Rampton — December 9, 2008 - 8:47pm

    Doctors Frederick Goodwin and Joseph Biederman are counterattacking in an effort to defend their reputations following disclosures that they took millions of dolla

    Main Source: 
    BNET Pharma, December 8, 2008

    Good Money for Goodwin

    by Sheldon Rampton — November 22, 2008 - 10:19pm

    Psychiatrist Frederick K. Goodwin, who hosts a popular show on National Public Radio called "The Infinite Mind," earned "at least $1.3 million from 2000 to 2007 giving marketing lectures for drugmakers, income not mentioned on the program," reports Gardiner Harris.

    Main Source: 
    New York Times, November 21, 2008

    The Media Buries the Message: Tobacco Prevention vs. High-Cost Drugs

    by Anne Landman — November 10, 2008 - 4:42pm
  • Topics: Health, Pharmaceuticals, Tobacco

    • Cholesterol-reducing drugs called statins have been in the news lately following the release of a major medical study that found that statins can prevent heart disease and stroke in people with no previous history of heart disease.

    Statins are among the biggest-selling family of drugs of all time. Many articles about the study mentioned above, including one on the credible web site WebMD, also mention the specific drug used in the study: Crestor.

    The study has generated hundreds of articles, most of which repeat the same basic framing of the issue: if heart disease is the problem, a drug is the answer.

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