Roche's Cancer Front Group Flounders
Submitted by Bob Burton on
Cancer United, a cancer patient group created and launched by the PR firm Weber Shandwick with funding from the drug company Roche, has got off to a rocky start.
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Pharmaceuticals
Ex-FDA Commissioner Turned Lobbyist Pleads Guilty
Submitted by Bob Burton on
The former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Lester Crawford, has pleaded guilty to breaching conflict of interest rules. Crawford and his wife held between $188,000 and $336,000 in shares in four companies that he was required to have sold, under FDA rules.
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Legal Chill Worries Drug Bulletin
Submitted by Bob Burton on
The case of a judge granting an injunction to prevent a group of medical professionals publishing a critical review of the herbal drug Tebonin has the editor of a major drug bulletin worried. The editor of Australian Prescriber, John Dowden, notes that in two other instances where drug companies sued drug bulletins, the judgements favoured the publishers.
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Drug Ads Debate Heats Up in Europe and New Zealand
Submitted by Bob Burton on
A coalition of European health groups, including the International Society of Drug Bulletins and the Medicines in Europe Forum, is alarmed at a renewed campaign by the drug industry to lift the ban on direct-to-consumer advertising in Europe.
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European Drug Pushers
Submitted by Bob Burton on
The drug industry is hopeful that it will succeed in watering down the European Union's ban on direct to consumer advertising (DTCA) of pharmaceuticals. Draft proposals from a working group, which includes members of the European Commission and the drug industry, have proposed a public-private partnership to provide patient "information" on prescription medicines.
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Merck Unconvincingly Clears Execs of Vioxx Wrongdoing
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Although the pharmaceutical company Merck spent $21 million on a 20-month investigation led by a former U.S. district judge, the report's conclusion that "executives at Merck had not knowingly put Vioxx patients in cardiovascular danger" may not boost the drugmaker's sagging reputation. "Some critics say the report is not credible because of Merck's board's involvement" and point out that Debevoise & Plimpton, the firm whose lawyers carried out the study, has a "pro-corporate" reputation.
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Saudi Arabia's PR Firm on Drugs
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
The major industry lobby group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) has retained Qorvis Communications "for a national PR campaign to educate the public about the good work done by drug companies and the important role they play in developing n
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Scary Evidence
Submitted by Bob Burton on
British Columbia's Deputy Minister of Health, Gordon Macatee, ordered a lunchtime presentation on disease mongering cancelled until a drug industry speaker could be added.
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Medical Journal's Spin Doctors Promote Controversial Studies
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Writing on her blog "Honest Medicine," Julia Schopick points out that the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) used video news releases (VNRs) to promote two studies that later proved controversial, because the authors had neglected to disclose their financ
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Stanford Bans Drug Company Freebies
Submitted by Bob Burton on
Under a tough new code of ethics all staff and students at Stanford University's medical school, hospitals and clinics will not be able to accept any gifts from drug company representatives. The new policy comes into effect on October 1.
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