Blog Profile / PharmaGossip

US doctors paid $1bn by top drug companies

A dozen leading drug companies paid US doctors a total of more than $1bn last year, according to fresh data revealing the extent of links between the pharmaceutical industry and prescribers. The figures, compiled by the consultancy PharmaShine...Show More Summary

Pass me the Soma

Corporates cashing in on mental-health diagnosis Are you a disruptive person? Are you occasionally reluctant to part with possessions? Is your child defiant, or prone to temper tantrums? Are you grieving from the death of a close friend? Well, don’t worry; you can get drugs for all of this soon. Show More Summary

Would you take a sleeping pill that gives you suicidal thoughts?

The FDA says an experimental Merck drug, suvorexant, helps patients fall asleep but has worrisome side effects, including suicidal thinking. The FDA said company trials showed the pill consistently worked better than a placebo. But patients taking higher doses had an eight-fold increase in daytime drowsiness that interfered with driving. Show More Summary

Before consenting to any clinical trial ask: " can you guarantee the results will be published?"

http://www.pharmatimes.com/Article/13-05-21/NIHR_says_“it_s_OK_to_ask”_about_clinical_research.aspx?

In my humble opinion

This blog is a "must read", http://1boringoldman.com/

Breaking Up is Hard to Do: Lessons Learned from a Pharma-Free Practice Transformation

http://www.jabfm.org/content/26/3/332.full.pdf PORTLAND, Ore. – A new report suggests that improved health care and significant reductions in drug costs might be attained by breaking up the age-old relationship between physicians and drug company representatives who promote the newest, more costly and often unnecessary prescription drugs. Show More Summary

Actavis to Buy Warner Chilcott in $8.5 Billion Stock Deal

Published: Monday, 20 May 2013 | 8:11 AM ET By: Reuters With CNBC.com Generic drugmaker Actavis, which has been the subject of intense takeover speculation, said on Monday that it had struck a deal to buy specialty pharmaceuticals company Warner Chilcott for $8.5 billion in stock. Show More Summary

Ketamine Associated With Rapid Antidepressant Effect In Largest Clinical Trial To Date

Also Included In: Pain / Anesthetics Article Date: 20 May 2013 - 1:00 PDT Current ratings for: Ketamine Associated With Rapid Antidepressant Effect In Largest Clinical Trial To Date Patient / Public: Healthcare Prof: Patients with treatment-resistant...Show More Summary

Thalidomide - The Real Story & The First Seal Bab By James Linder Jones, M.D., M.H.A., FACEP

http://www.healthworldnet.com/articles/the-best-of-the-best/the-first-seal-baby-the-real-story-of-thalidomide.html Thalidomide, despite its sordid past is undergoing a sort of renaissance and is being manufactured and used worldwideShow More Summary

Why French Kids Don't Have ADHD

In the United States, at least 9% of school-aged children have been diagnosed with ADHD, and are taking pharmaceutical medications. In France, the percentage of kids diagnosed and medicated for ADHD is less than.5%. How come the epidemic...Show More Summary

Wealth but not health in the USA

The Lancet Last week, American people, health-care workers, and policy makers received shocking news. Despite spending more on health care per person than other high-income countries, Americans die sooner, are least likely to reach the age of 50 years, and have higher rates of disease or injury. Show More Summary

Royal College of Physicians support AllTrials

Royal College of Physicians statement The Council of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has agreed to support the principles of the ‘All trials registered, all trials reported’ campaign. This reflects the RCP’s commitment towards delivering greater transparency for the benefit of patient care. Show More Summary

Sweden's drug testing industry plummets

Sweden's once flourishing pharmaceutical testing industry has been decimated in recent years, suffering an 85-percent drop according to new figures that industry experts describe as "deeply troubling". AstraZeneca hit by steep drop in...Show More Summary

Oz Court rejects Merck deal over Vioxx

A Federal Court judge has refused drug company Merck's $540,000 settlement with Australians who claim its drug Vioxx caused them a heart attack, labelling the deal an "obvious injustice". More than 1700 people joined a class action against...Show More Summary

The Outcomes Era

Pharma must provide convincing evidence of drug value The pharmaceutical industry has now entered the Outcomes Era where compounds must supply convincing evidence of a new drug’s value, with proof of the best possible health outcomes...Show More Summary

Bayer buying

(Reuters) - Germany's largest drugmaker Bayer said it agreed to buy privately held Steigerwald Arzneimittelwerk GmbH, a maker of herbal treatments. Bayer said on Thursday that Steigerwald, based in Darmstadt, Germany, generated sales of 61.3 million euros ($78.8 million) in 2012 with 180 staff. Show More Summary

How Drug Companies Keep Medicine Out of Reach - The Atlantic

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/05/how-drug-companies-keep-medicine-out-of-reach/275853/? Reuters For almost a decade, the United States has been standing in the way of an idea that could lead to cures for some of the world's most devastating illnesses. Show More Summary

Medical Humor

Ranbaxy pleads guilty and agrees to $500 million penalty

Prosecutors say guilty plea by Ranbaxy is largest financial penalty against a generic drug company Washington: A subsidiary of India’s largest pharmaceutical company has agreed to pay a record $500 million (Dh1.83 billion) in fines and...Show More Summary

Ve haf vays of making you guinea pigs!

Leading Western pharmaceutical companies paid millions of pounds to former Communist East Germany to use more that 50,000 patients in state-run hospitals as unwitting guinea pigs for drug tests in which several people died, it was revealed today. Show More Summary