Free Republic

WASHINGTON — The pens, pads, mugs and other gifts that drug makers have long showered on doctors will be banned from pharmaceutical marketing campaigns under a voluntary guideline that the industry is expected to announce Thursday. The industry’s Code on Interactions with Health Care Professionals will ask the chief executives of large drug makers to certify in writing that “they have policies and procedures in place to foster compliance with the code.” The code was written by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the industry’s trade association. But the code provides no definite limits on the millions of dollars...

It seemed an ideal marriage, a scientific partnership that would attack mental illness from all sides. Psychiatrists would bring to the union their expertise and clinical experience, drug makers would provide their products and the money to run rigorous studies, and patients would get better medications, faster... --snip-- An analysis of Minnesota data by The New York Times last year found that on average, psychiatrists who received at least $5,000 from makers of newer-generation antipsychotic drugs appear to have written three times as many prescriptions to children for the drugs as psychiatrists who received less money or none. The drugs...

Federal prosecutors are investigating Indian generic drugmaker Ranbaxy for allegedly falsifying records that resulted in the production and sale of generic medicines that did not meet federal standards. The government alleges officials at Ranbaxy's northern India plant used raw pharmaceutical chemicals from unapproved sources, fabricated in-house test data to meet FDA standards and attempted to conceal the ruse. The "pattern of systemic fradulent conduct," left an untold portion of the tablets and capsules too weak, too potent or lacking the advertised shelf life, said government papers filed in US District Court, Maryland.

The nation’s pediatricians are recommending wider cholesterol screening for children and more aggressive use of cholesterol-lowering drugs starting as early as the age of 8 in hopes of preventing adult heart problems. The new guidelines were to be issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics on Monday. The push to aggressively screen and medicate for high cholesterol in children is certain to create controversy amid a continuing debate about the use of prescription drugs in children as well as the best approaches to ward off heart disease in adults. But proponents say there is growing evidence that the first signs...

...the pharmaceutical industry has become a lightning rod for critics. For example, Marcia Angell, former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, blasted the drug industry in a much-publicized 2004 book, accusing it of profiteering and having become "a marketing machine to sell drugs of dubious benefit." She maintained the pharmaceutical industry's reputation for innovation is a myth, that it "feeds off the NIH" and that new drugs "nearly always stem from publicly supported research." ...Mr. Zycher and his colleagues concluded that scientific contributions of the private sector were essential for the discovery and/or development of virtually all the...

Academic Morning After Profits by: Bethany Stotts, July 02, 2008 This June the New York Times broke the story that two Harvard Professors, Dr. Joseph Biederman and Dr. Timothy Wilens, had only belatedly reported their considerable external financing from drug makers to their University. The evidence, revealed during a congressional investigation, may also cast suspicion on the dramatic increase in prescribed antipsychotics. As AIA has documented, some groups remain skeptical of the expansive definitions surrounding Attention Deficit Disorder diagnoses. Others are concerned by the rapid expansion of the use of psychotropic drugs among children. The investigation of the Harvard doctors,...

I flushed my pills down the toilet. The prescription had expired. I had a queasy impulse to jettison the medicine this way because of some vague understanding that expired medicine could be dangerous. It may, but not in the way I imagined. Scientists are now finding a vast array of pharmaceuticals, from sex hormones, to anti-convulsants, to mood stabilizers, in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, the Associated Press found recently. The drugs get there via people like me, blithely tossing drugs into the water system — and through the natural metabolic practices of a country...

Reuters Health Wednesday, June 25, 2008 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Use of cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins rose by 156 percent between 2000 and 2005, with spending jumping from $7.7 billion to $19.7 billion, the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reported on Wednesday. "The number of people purchasing statins nearly doubled when comparing 2000 and 2005, rising from 15.8 million people to 29.7 million people," the AHRQ report reads. The total number of outpatient prescriptions for statins rose from about 90 million in 2000 to nearly 174 million in 2005. Each individual spent $484 a year on average on statins...

Three Harvard psychiatrists facing a US Senate inquiry got a vote of confidence from their hospital as "beloved and trusted by thousands of grateful children and families." Senator Charles Grassley is looking into the doctors' failure to report payments of more than a million dollars in consulting fees from drug makers from 2000 to 2007. A memo from top officials at Massachusetts General Hospital obtained by the Globe praised Drs. Joseph Biederman, Timothy Wilens, and Thomas Spencer as "pioneers in the field of child mental health" while also endorsing "closely managed" collaboration with industry and promising a review of conflict-of-interest...

June 10, 2008, 6:00 a.m. Drug Resistance Is DeadlyPharmaceutical knock-offs may threaten our ability to treat malaria. By Roger Bate Thai government officials, led by commerce permanent secretary Siriphol Yodmuangcharoen, will meet with their Washington counterparts on June 10, hoping to persuade the U.S. Trade Representative to remove Thailand from its “Priority Watch List.” Thailand is one of nine countries listed, earning its place because of intellectual property-rights violations by the previous Bangkok government — which broke patents on AIDS and heart drugs, undermining its trade relationship with the U.S., and harming foreign investment. While the U.S. will continue...

The Walgreen Co, which operates Walgreens drug stores, has agreed to stop altering prescriptions without physician approval as part of a multi-state agreement to settle allegations of improper billing, according to Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper. Walgreens was accused of switching the dosage forms on three medications commonly prescribed for Medicaid patients without doctor approvals in order to boost profits. This resulted in Medicaid programs nationwide paying much more for the medications than they normally would have, according to a press release by the attorney general’s office. Walgreen Co. agreed to comply with state and federal laws on the matter,...

President Bush is asking Congress to work with his administration to end illegal sales of highly addictive prescription drugs on the Internet to stem a rising number of people dying of overdoses. Bush used his weekly radio address to highlight his administration's 2008 national drug control strategy, which the White House is releasing Saturday. The president said that while an estimated 860,000 fewer young people are using drugs today than in 2001, the abuse of prescription drugs is a growing problem. "Unfortunately, many young Americans do not understand how dangerous abusing medication can be, and in recent years, the number...

West Virginia replaces Tennessee as No. 1 in prescription drug useby The Associated Press Wednesday February 6, 2008 CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- A report shows Tennessee has lost the top national ranking of per capita prescription drug use to West Virginia. The report by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee shows West Virginia took the lead, with 17.4 prescriptions per capita in 2006, compared with 16.9 prescriptions per person in Tennessee. The report uses data from drug company Novartis' most recent Pharmacy Benefit Report. Tennessee's rates dropped 6.6 percent from 18.1 prescriptions in 2004. The drug use rates remain well above...

Heath Ledger's death on Jan. 22 was due to an accidental mixture of prescription drugs, the Office of Chief Medical Examiner for the City of New York has concluded. "Mr. Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine," said an announcement released Wednesday morning by office spokesperson Ellen Borakove. Oxycodone is a pain medication, hydrocodone is a cough suppressant, diazepam is commonly called Valium, temazepam treats anxiety or sleeplessness, alprazolam is known as Xanax, and doxylamine is a sedating antihistamine.

favorite target of some politicians has always been the Pharmaceutical Industry. Every year there are stories and speeches by candidates for President or Congress about how drugs cost too much (gives you insight into their desire for price controls, which would destroy research and development of new drugs, by the way) and promises by candidates that they will “Stand up to the drug industry,” to paraphrase Hillary Clinton from the debate last Saturday night. Well, those evil bastards are at it again, this time finding a promising treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. A pilot study carried out by U.S. researchers found...

John McCain on Saturday said he wants to again allow the importation of prescription drugs from Canada as a way to bring health care costs under control. By Associated Press CANAAN, Vt. - Republican presidential contender John McCain on Saturday said he wants to again allow the importation of prescription drugs from Canada as a way to bring health care costs under control.

Counterfeit prescription drugs are a $35 billion-a-year business, and it's growing; by some estimates, 50 percent of prescription drugs in Africa, including those used to treat AIDS and malaria, are fake. Americans have long considered themselves immune, but a huge proportion of the prescription medications and devices used in the United States are now manufactured overseas, and the risks are escalating for Americans, too. It's no surprise; last year alone Americans spent $275 billion on their prescriptions. Consider: • Last fall, counterfeit diabetes test strips from China flooded the U.S. market. The fake blood glucose monitoring strips first came to...

CAPE CORAL - Publix supermarket chain said today it will make seven common prescription antibiotics available for free, joining other major retailers in trying to lure customers to their stores with cheap medications. The oral antibiotics, representing the most commonly filled at the chain's pharmacies, will be available at no cost to anyone with a prescription as often as they need them, Publix CEO Charlie Jenkins Jr. said. Fourteen-day supplies of the seven drugs will be available at all 684 of the chain's pharmacies in five Southern states. The prescription antibiotics available under the program are amoxicillin, cephalexin, penicillin VK,...

For Immediate Release Media review copies and interviews available on request Contact: Fred Baughman, MD fredbaughmanmd@cox.net Author: The ADHD Fraud: How Psychiatry Makes "Patients" of Normal Children http://www.trafford.com/4dcgi/view-item?item=9628 Is your child taking Ritalin? Is there a plague of psychiatric diseases in children? This is a true story. On March 21, 2000, fourteen-year old Matthew Smith was having a good time skateboarding with two of his cousins. Suddenly, he collapsed to the floor and started turning blue. His cousins called 911 but the paramedics couldn’t revive him. At the hospital he was pronounced dead from a heart attack – a heart...

Is it safe? Nobody knows.More and more, parents at wit's end are begging doctors to help them calm their aggressive children or control their kids with ADHD. More and more, doctors are prescribing powerful antipsychotic drugs. In the past seven years, the number of Florida children prescribed such drugs has increased some 250 percent. Last year, more than 18,000 state kids on Medicaid were given prescriptions for antipsychotic drugs. Even children as young as 3 years old. Last year, 1,100 Medicaid children under 6 were prescribed antipsychotics, a practice so risky that state regulators say it should be used only...