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medicine
Glaxo Buys Aging Retardation Drug Company
GlaxoSmithKline is buying a U.S. biotechnology company that is researching resveratrol, the chemical compound found in red wine that may retard the aging process. The CEO of the company says that "drugs that mimic resveratrol, by activating enzymes called sirtuins, could 'treat in a safe, natural new way, many of the major killers of western society.'" We can't wait to see the commercials that GSK puts out for this one. More »
big pharma
Johnson & Johnson is waiting to hear whether or not a judge in Ohio will allow any lawsuits over its Ortho birth control patch to move forward, and the New York Times says lawyers on both sides think there's a good chance he may find in the company's favor based on the doctrine of pre-emption. The argument goes that it's the FDA's responsibility to monitor the safety and labeling of drugs that go to market, and therefore if something goes wrong, it's the agency's fault and not the pharmaceutical company's.
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Pre-Emption Doctrine Would Make FDA Responsible For All Drug Problems, Shield Big Pharma From Lawsuits
Johnson & Johnson is waiting to hear whether or not a judge in Ohio will allow any lawsuits over its Ortho birth control patch to move forward, and the New York Times says lawyers on both sides think there's a good chance he may find in the company's favor based on the doctrine of pre-emption. The argument goes that it's the FDA's responsibility to monitor the safety and labeling of drugs that go to market, and therefore if something goes wrong, it's the agency's fault and not the pharmaceutical company's.
More »
settlements
11 Drug Companies Agree To Pay $125 Million For Fixing Prices
The Prescription Access Litigation (PAL) coalition filed suit against 11 drug companies in 2002 for artificially inflating the average wholesale price, or AWP, of certain drugs, including ones used to treat serious illnesses such as cancer and HIV. This week, PAL announced that the companies have agreed to pay $125 million to settle—82.5% of the amount will be used to compensate third-party payor's claims, and the remaining 17.5% will be used for consumer claims. Here's a list of the drugs involved, and after the jump is a quick guide to see whether you'll qualify for a claim, pending the judge's approval of the settlement. More »
drugs
Former Amgen Sales Reps Say They Were Encouraged To Illegally Access Patient Records
Two former sales reps for the pharmaceutical company Amgen are suing "for lost wages and other compensation after refusing to participate in improper promotion of the company's blockbuster psoriasis drug Enbrel." They claim that Amgen encouraged them to "illegally access patient records to induce insurance carriers to pay for the pricey drug," according to their attorney. Amgen promptly responded that the suits were without merit, and then handed out blister packets of popular drugs, branded desk calendars, and free t-shirts, so everything's cool. More »
big pharma
Congress Asks Pfizer: Why Is Dr. Jarvik Qualified To Pitch Lipitor?
Dr. Robert Jarvik is the inventor of the Jarvik artificial heart, right? You know that because he's the pitch-man for Lipitor, a heavily advertised cholesterol drug. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why inventing an artificial heart qualifies the man to pitch a drug? More »
drugs
Pfizer Launches Campaign To Warn Users Away From Generic Competitor
Pfizer is in panic mode about its rapid decline in Lipitor sales—in the last 18 months, it has dropped from 40% of the market for cholesterol-lowering drugs to 30%, and likely to drop further—so it's launched a big media-blitz to convince people not to switch to simvastatin, the generic version of its name-brand competitor, Zocor. Zocor was more expensive than Lipitor, so Pfizer had nothing to worry about for years—but then Zocor lost its patent protection last year, and now doctors are switching patients from Lipitor over to Zocor's generic twin to save money. More »
health risks
Lilly Caves, Agrees To Add Warnings To Schizophrenia Drug
Zyprexa, Lilly's best-selling drug to treat schizophrenia, has been shown to cause "cause weight gain, high blood sugar, high cholesterol and other metabolic problems," but until now, the company has refused to add any warnings about these side effects to the label. Now, sparked in part by lower sales, Lilly has announced that Zyprexa will warn consumers that it can cause high blood sugar. The American Diabetes Association claims that Zyprexa causes diabetes, but this isn't addressed on the new warning labels. More »
news from the swamp
Liveblogging The House Energy And Commerce Committee Hearing On Food Safety
Starting today at 10 a.m., the powerful Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, John Dingell (D-MI), will hold a hearing on H.R. 3610, The Food and Drug Import Safety Act of 2007, or, as we have dubbed the bill, The Poison-Free Food Act. The bill would dramatically alter the FDA's handling of imported foods, empowering the agency to:
- Issue mandatory recalls;
- Limit food imports to ports clustered near FDA inspection labs;
- Require a country of origin labels for food, drugs and medical devices;
- Subject exporters to a strict certification program administered by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Start hitting refresh at 10 a.m. for up-to-the-minute coverage of overly politicized opening statements and excessively verbose questioning.
(Photo: Associated Press)
9:40: Video Link
10:07: And we're off! Chairman Dingell must be sleeping in - Frank Pallone of New Jersey has taken over his seat.
9:40 AM on Wed Sep 26 2007
By Carey
1,928 views,
6 comments
Latest by N/A: I think you are confused on what former Congressman Dooley was trying to say. He was comparing two different products: more »
A U.S. federal appeals court today invalidated the patent on Altace, a widely prescribed drug to treat high blood pressure. This clears the way for low-cost generic versions of the drug to hit the market immediately. King Pharmaceuticals, the company that makes Altace, is asking for a rehearing, but in the meantime it may lose its window of opportunity to "upgrade" Altace patients to a reformulated (and newly patented) version it was it planning on introducing in 2008. [Reuters]
big pharma
