Pharmaceuticals
The FDA has issued new guidance for drug companies in an effort to provide better information on the “indications and usage” part of a drug’s labeling. The potential changes are to help health care providers select the best treatment option for their patients. The agency is aiming to provide more-understandable…
A new study published in JAMA has found that prescription drug use among adolescents has dropped. The use of antibiotics, antihistamines and upper respiratory combination medications saw the biggest decline. Researchers identified and examined 38,277 adolescents, aged 10 to 19 years, who participated from 1999-2014 in the National Health and…
About half of US doctors have received payments of some type from pharmaceutical and/or medical device companies amounting to $2.4 billion in 2015. The results is that it encourages doctors to prescribe expensive drugs and medical devices peddled by sales representatives. Researchers analyzed data from Open Payments, a federal program…
Drug companies, politicians and patient groups are clamoring for faster approval of drugs. But doing so could bring potentially harmful drugs to market. Why NOT rush a drug to market when it might save lives? Here are 2 reasons. First, it could harm more people than it helps. And second,…
Lawsuits filed by patients reveal how drugmakers use kickbacks to doctors and wrong information provided by sales reps at the expense of your safety. “Cancer patients only get one shot at first-line treatments,” the lawsuit said, “and defendants took that opportunity away.” The drug was Tarceva (erlotinib), the company was Genentech…
The conflict created by doctors selling the drugs they prescribe is self-evident — the temptation to over-prescribe can be too great for some doctors with human failings. But 150 years ago it was common practice for doctors to do just that. Lydgate, the doctor near the center of the story…
From a consumer’s point of view, clinical trials seem abstract, someone else’s concern. After all, isn’t it the FDA’s job to worry about clinical trials? Or the NIH or one of the government agencies? It is. Pharmaceutical companies run clinical trials on drugs for drugs that are being developed for…
$259,000 for a cystic fibrosis drug? High drug prices push up the cost of health insurance for all of us. There are at least 5 drugs that cost more than $175,000 for treatment according to Motley Fool. Since they are unique and save lives, insurance companies are forced to pay…
$259,000 for a cystic fibrosis drug? High drug prices push up the cost of health insurance for all of us. There are at least 5 drugs that cost more than $175,000 for treatment according to Motley Fool. Since they are unique and save lives, insurance companies are forced to pay…
Ben Goldacre, the author of Bad Science, has turned his eye toward the world of medicine, and in Feb. 2013 will publish Bad Pharma. What pointed him in that direction? One factor he notes in a Q&A with The Economist, is this: “For me, the key point is missing data. Doctors…
Forbes reports on an unexpected positive side effect of long-term statin use: lowers cancer mortality. According to the article, “Researchers in Denmark utilized health data from the entire population of the country and analyzed the information from nearly 300,000 patients who were diagnosed with cancer between 1995 and 2007. The authors note…
