at least, I think so
Continue Reading →Mixtard 30: Novartis gets it wrong
The Drugs and Therapeutics Bulletin is campaigning against Novartis’ decision to stop production of a particular type of insulin – one which has been around for years, is very reliable, and which is used by around 90,000 patients. Novartis say that the use of this insulin – Mixtard 30- is dropping: and that this type of insulin […]
Continue Reading →Medical professionalism in the USA
I’m most impressed at the unabashed and vigorous plea for ‘medical professionalism’ when it comes to doctors and their relationships with pharmaceutical and other commercial companies in the US. It’s in this report, just out, from the Association of American Medical Colleges. It places the need for clear information about potential financial and other biases in […]
Continue Reading →One size fits all: column
Wonder drugs are rare. Applying the criteria of effectiveness, usefulness and cost, I’d put paracetamol, morphine and penicillin high on my list. The number one position, however, would go to aspirin. Not only is it good for pain relief, as an anti-inflammatory and to reduce fever, it also works as a blood-thinning agent, to decrease […]
Continue Reading →Putting the emphasis on ‘sell’
My interviewee has asked for her surname and current place of work not to appear here. Louise is the perfect science pin-up girl: blonde, slim, and dressed in denim and boots when I meet her on campus. She works as a university teacher, facilitating medical students in “problem based learning” sessions. I have arranged to […]
Continue Reading →Free pens, free lunch, and drug reps
I may not have seen a pharmaceutical rep for over five years, but still the branded pens they gift to medics continue to infiltrate my house and my handbag. I conciously throw out the drug company pens I find, but they just seep back in: every time I lose my own plain biro, there is […]
Continue Reading →Making over the pharmaceutical industry
Or perhaps not so much a makeover, but a radical shift in how drug research is decided upon, performed and reported. The suggestions come from Sir Iain Chalmers, who is editor of the James Lind Library in Oxford, and Silvio Garattini, director of the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milan. Writing in the […]
Continue Reading →Drug Truths: just not getting it
I’ve been reading a brave book that I wanted to like but I don’t. It is called Drug Truths: Dispelling the Myths about Pharma R&D. The author is John L LaMattina, who is the retired president of Pfizer Global Research and Development. The pharmaceutical industry has had a bad press over the past couple of […]
Continue Reading →Taking a “Benylin day”. Or not.
Thank you to a correspondent for the link to this promotional website offering workers suffering from colds all manner of unnecessary things. There are suggested out-of-office email messages (“I’m taking a BENYLIN® day or two and will reply to your email as soon as I’ve recovered!”) , recommendations for DVDs (all fairly rubbish, in my opinion) for frittering […]
Continue Reading →“Professionals” in pay
“GlaxoSmithKline is to make public the level of advisory fees it offers to doctors and medical academics, and will strictly cap the payments they can receive in the US to $150,000 (£88,000) a year each. Andrew Witty, chief executive of the UK-based pharmaceutical company, said he was introducing tougher new rules to impose a cap […]
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