AstraZeneca Pleads Guilty in Criminal Cancer Medicine Scheme Sun, 22 Jun 2003 AstraZeneca agreed to a $355 million settlement in civil and criminal charges. Government prosecutors found that AstraZeneca reported to the government that the average wholesale price for a monthly dose of the prostate cancer drug, Zoladex, was about…
Drugmakers Go Furthest to Sway Congress: 1,274 Lobbyists – USA Today Tue, 26 Apr 2005 USA Today provides a glimpse into the way the pharmaceutical industry controls health care policy by buying influence at the highest level of government, and underwriting professional and lay healthcare organizations whose spokespersons parrot industry’s…
DHHS Report: Contradicting itself on drug imports – OpEd Peter Rost Wed, 5 Jan 2005 Dr. Peter Rost, a Pfizer Vice-President of Marketing knows about the financial underpinnings of drug pricing. He has taken a consciencious public position (unsusual in that industry) because he believes the American public has a…
UK: Drugs firms ‘creating ills for every pill / US ‘Bioshield’ Drug-Patent Plan Draws Fire Mon, 04 Apr 2005 Following the public revelations about the concealed safety hazards of antidepressant drugs whose risks of violence, drug dependency, and suicide, were hidden from physicians and the public, a committee of Parliament…
Serono to pay $704 million for Illegal Marketing AIDS drug and “voodoolike” clinical trials – NYT Thu, 20 Oct 2005 Another scandal involving corrupt criminal marketing by a bio-pharmaceutical company that illegally marketed an AIDS test and drug by enlisting physicians to prescribe its drug. The New York Times reports…
A Serious Drug Problem – The Medicare Prescription Bill of 2003 – Krugman Fri, 6 May 2005 New York Times columnist, Paul Krugman, hits the nail on the head when he points out who the beneficiaries of the Medicare law really are: Why it’s Big Pharma and those this industry…
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…
"The drugs most commonly used to soothe agitation and aggression in people with Alzheimer’s disease are no more effective than placebos for most patients, and put them at risk of serious side effects, including confusion, sleepiness and Parkinson’s disease-like symptoms, researchers are reporting
today."
