FDA Smoke & Mirrors Musical Chairs Wed, 16 Feb 2005 Amidst widespread public criticism of the FDA’s role as facilitators in the marketing of lethal drugs that killed thousands of people, the Administration made several announcements incorporating terminology (such as: “we’re in an era of openness” “transparency”). But politically correct…
More than 100 top regulatory officials represented industry as lobbyists, lawyers… – Denver Post Mon, 24 May 2004 To understand why government policies affecting healthcare, drug safety, food safety and the environment appear to promote industry interests at the expense of public safety and health, the Denver Post has investigated…
Suspended Chief Medical Officer of Medicare reassigned to AHRQ Wed, 21 Sep 2005 An example of how little the federal government cares about professinal standards or the integrity of high ranking medical offficers. Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav 212-595-8974 Daily Health Policy Report Kaiser Network Suspended CMS Chief Medical Officer Tunis…
FDA Regulators Accused of Trying to Quash Testimony About Cardiac Risks of Painkillers – NYT Sat, 12 Feb 2005 A New York Times front page report announces that President Bush will veto any limits on the Medicare prescription drug giveaway. The administration is adamant about transfering $724 billion in taxpayer…
Credibility Crisis:Survey FDA Scientists – Death in NIH-AIDS Trial – Tauzin Moves to PhRMA Thu, 16 Dec 2004 A credibility crisis in medical research is smoldering: like the Enron accounting scandal, the prescription-drug debacle is a matter of systemic corruption, including gross and widespread failure by the regulatory process. Unlike…
Doctor Chides Medical Societies to Take Action – GSK Fined $150 Million in Medicare Fraud Wed, 21 Sep 2005 The latest in a series of fraud settlements, GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to pay $150 million to settle fraud allegations over inflating price of Zorfran and Kytril (nausea drugs) when billing Medicare…
Universities Misappropriate Federal Grants – Cornell Doctor Blows Whistle Alleging Phantom Studies – WSJ Wed Aug 17, 2005 Scott Fitzgerald’s opener to The Great Gatsby, “the rich are different from you and me…” is most aptly applied today to an elite corps of rich academic scientists. Academia once symbolized a…
Big Pharma’s Dirty Little Secret Mon, 27 Dec 2004 Dr. Peter Rost, Vice-President marketing, Pfizer, has taken a principled stand by speaking out against his industry’s “drity little secrets:” “Our dirty little secret is that the drug industry already sells its products, right here in the U.S., at the same…
The Facts about Medicare “Wider Choices in Drug Benefits" Thu, June 16, 2005 The New York Times reports: “The expansion of Medicare to cover prescription drugs is President Bush’s most significant achievement in domestic policy. He plans to emphasize it at two events this week, on Thursday in Washington and…
Pfizer Fires a Vice President Who Criticized Company’s Sales Practices Fri, 2 Dec 2005 Word of the day: “The Department of Justice simply does not have enough lawyers and investigators to handle the volume of false claims act suits coming its way. There are right now 150 cases under seal…
Grassley Calls for Safety Review /Unsafe Drugs Marketed to Consumers / FDA Lacks Leadership Sun, 19 Dec 2004 “We expect the FDA to not put a drug on the market that’s not safe. And you can’t compromise safety, regardless of how much pressure there is to get more drugs on…
Philadelphia Daily News Pharma Influence: Penn Psychiatrist Files Whistleblower Lawsuit – Investigtion Confirms Medicare Chief Lied to Congress Wed, 7 Jul 2004 “Drug companies not only write checks to hospitals, they write checks to politicians…They write checks to both sides of the aisle.” Two separate news reports provide a glimpse…
