Health

Doctors Addicted To Freebies

A study published in the Internal Medicine Journal reveals that many Australian medical specialists seek gifts from drug companies. The study of 823 specialists, Melissa Fyfe writes in the Sydney Morning Herald, "found that personal gifts offered to doctors were valued up to $40,000 and included wine, flowers, a 'spa' dinner, harbour cruises, tickets to the movies, the circus, concerts, opera and sporting events." Six specialists sought funding for the salaries of nurses, one for A$80,000 (US$60,000).

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Reynolds Tobacco Fills Front Groups' Coffers

Reynolds American, the parent company of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, is spending approximately $40 million in an attempt to defeat anti-smoking ballot initiatives to be voted on in November. Part of the tobacco industry campaign involves having front groups promoting alternative measures to those proposed by tobacco control groups.

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Junk Food Ads Dominate In Television Food Advertising

A survey (pdf) by the Cancer Council of New South Wales has found that 81% of all food being advertised on television in Australia was for junk food. The study, which has been published in Health Promotion International journal, recorded 645 hours of television between 7am and 9pm on both weekdays and weekends in four different locations. It found that 31% of all ads were for food, with fast food and takeaway foods being the most common.

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Long Island Drug Bust

In March this year Dr. Peter Gleason, a Maryland psychiatrist, was arrested by the FBI at a Long Island train station and later charged for promoting off-label use of Xyrem, a prescription drug manufactured by Jazz Pharmaceuticals. The New York Times reports that federal prosecutors allege that "at hundreds of speeches and seminars where he was rewarded with generous fees, Dr.

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Medical Journal Bats On After Three Strikes

For the third time in two months, Catherine DeAngelis, the editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), has been embarrassed by revelations that articles published in the journal have not included full disclosure by authors of their drug industry funding. The latest edition of JAMA includes a study which links severe migraines to heart attacks in women.

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