Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., at a press conference, Nov. 6, 1964; Photo: Library of Congress.In observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Health Blog will not publish today.
Say you’re sitting at your computer, typing away, and suddenly you see something — an ominous email from the boss, maybe — that makes you nervous. Your heart races, and you lose focus on your work. A minute later, a colleague IMs you and offers to lend a hand. Creepy? Useful? Both?We pose the question [...]
Last October, the Health Blog reported that researchers who are among the most vocal proponents of widespread lung cancer screening using CT scans also have business relationships that could benefit from an uptick in screening. Now comes The Cancer Letter, an influential chronicler of cancer research, with an in-depth look at the disclosure issues surrounding [...]
It looks like the Vioxx settlement train’s chugging along. At a status conference in federal court in the Big Easy this morning, lawyers representing Merck and plaintiffs announced that more than 57,100 of the estimated 60,100 Vioxx claimants had registered their cases for the settlement. It’s the first big step in pushing the deal through.Importantly, [...]
The U.S. Supreme Court will take on Wyeth’s challenge to a $6.8 million judgment awarded to a Vermont woman who lost part of an arm after being injected with a nausea drug sold by the company. Dow Jones Newswires reports the appeal is the latest in a series of cases the court has agreed to [...]
Pfizer, like many American companies, is in a long march out of the manufacturing business. In the latest step, Indian chemical maker Hikal has made a long-term deal to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients (or APIs in pharma lingo) for Pfizer, India’s Business Standard reported.APIs are where the magic happens; they’re key molecules that make drugs [...]
Believe it or not, there are some folks who make a living as professional guinea pigs in tests of experimental drugs. Some question whether testing that relies on frequent lab fliers takes advantage of poor people or compromises the quality of the data.In a recent issue of the New Yorker, bioethics professor Carl Elliot, from [...]
The kosher business is booming in China.Kosher certifications by rabbis in China have doubled in the past two years, Bloomberg reports. The country’s exporters are looking not only to get a piece of the U.S. kosher market, but also to get a rabbinical seal of approval that may ease the fears of non-kosher consumers worried [...]
A group of hospitals and clinics in northern Minnesota has banned the drug industry trinkets that fill the offices of many doctors, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Doctors at SMDC Health System in Duluth have turned in 18,700 pieces of swag, including clocks, mugs, surgical caps, calculators, tape dispensers, and a stress-relieving squeeze toy made [...]
Just in case Amgen’s anemia drug woes weren’t enough, the company is now under investigation for how it marketed its rheumatoid arthritis drug Enbrel.The New Jersey attorney general said yesterday she had subpoenaed the company, following allegations that Amgen violated patient privacy laws and marketed Enbrel for unapproved uses.Two former sales reps, one of whom [...]
