By Patrick Corcoran on September 9, 2010
A new study has elaborated on how the pharmaceutical company Wyeth allegedly paid a team of ghostwriters to write medical journal articles that minimized a dangerous potential side effect — increased risk of breast cancer — from hormone replacement treatments.
The study’s author, Georgetown University Medical Center’s Dr. Adriane Fugh-Berman, cited dozens of ghostwritten reviews and commentaries ... Read more »
Posted in News & Notes, Pharmaceutical Industry
By Elise Craig on September 7, 2010
Questionable marketing campaigns by pharmaceutical companies are a major source of worry for the Food and Drug Administration, but the agency is ill-equipped to alter the path drug makers have taken, Reuters reports.
While drug companies say they are engaged in patient education, patient advocates and some lawmakers complain that their aggressive campaigns often feature misleading claims or push medicines people might not need–while adding to skyrocketing ... Read more »
Posted in News & Notes, Pharmaceutical Industry
By Elise Craig on September 2, 2010
Doctors are increasingly prescribing antipsychotic drugs to treat young children, even infants, for conditions that some psychiatric experts say rarely warrant such strong treatment, The New York Times reports.
More than 500,000 young children and adolescents take antipsychotic medication, according to a 2009 study by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
In another study, researchers at Columbia ... Read more »
Posted in Food and Drug Safety, News & Notes, Pharmaceutical Industry
By Elise Craig on September 1, 2010
Botox maker Allergan Inc. agreed to pay $600 million and plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge to settle a federal investigation of its marketing practices, AFP reports.
The company will pay the government $375 million for illegally marketing Botox to treat headaches, pain, muscle stiffness, and juvenile cerebral palsy between 2000 and 2005. None of those uses ... Read more »
Posted in Food and Drug Safety, News & Notes, Pharmaceutical Industry
By Elise Craig on September 1, 2010
Robitussin and Tylenol Cough could eventually go the way of nasal decongestants — behind the pharmacist’s counter. Increasing signs of abuse and injuries among adolescents have prompted U.S. regulators to consider dispensing restrictions for the over-the-counter cough syrups, Bloomberg reports.
Non-medical use of dextromethorphan, a cough suppressant that has been on the market since 1958, led ... Read more »
Posted in Food and Drug Safety, News & Notes, Pharmaceutical Industry
By Elise Craig on August 31, 2010
In the 1990s, so-called drug cocktails produced major results in the treatment of AIDS. Now researchers are working a new generation of combination medicines to fight cancer. In response, U.S. drug regulators are rewriting the rules for drug approval to help usher in better treatments and cut development time Bloomberg Businessweek ... Read more »
Posted in Food and Drug Safety, News & Notes, Pharmaceutical Industry
