02/02/2010 by admin.

GlaxoSmithKline has announced that it will make the chemical structures of 13 500 compounds with potential antimalarial activity freely available on scientific websites to encourage research into new drugs for malaria.

For full article, http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/340/jan25_2/c465.

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02/02/2010 by admin.

 This study looks at the 50 top medical centres in the US and their policies on ghostwriting. The authors found that only 26% of institutions have policy on ghostwriting.

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000230

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27/01/2010 by OmarJ.

The idea that the Western world is somehow more ‘advanced’ when it comes to issues of medical ethics and professionalism has been completely destroyed by the news that the Indian Medical Council will be introducing sweeping reforms of the rules governing industry relations. So how binding are these new regulations? A swift glance at the abstract, conveniently discussed here by Howard Brody on his brilliant ‘Hooked’ blog, shows just how major these changes are:

• No more gifts. Full stop. No specification on the price of gifts, meaning even gifts as small as pens and post-it notes are covered. To those who think this might be overkill, I suggest you read about the fascinating topic of Cognitive Dissonance. (I know, it’s a Wikipedia article, but it’s a really good introduction to the topic.)
• No more grants. Full stop. It doesn’t matter what they’re being paid for, Indian doctors will no longer be allowed to receive money from the pharmaceutical industry.  Funding for medical research must be approved by the necessary institutions, and information on these transactions will be in the public domain.
• No drug endorsements. This has been in effect since 2002.
• Violation of any of these rules will be treated as ‘Misconduct’, which means they can be punishable with penalties and possible suspension.

All in all, this is a huge step in ensuring public trust in the medical profession in India is retained.

Thanks, India, for showing the rest of the world that it is possible to stand up to the self-serving logic that has perpetuated these unethical practices for so long. It’s time the Western World stood up and noticed.

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26/01/2010 by admin.

The marketing team sued over a drug’s alleged side effects tried to suppress key data, an ex-employee has claimed.

Seroquel’s former UK medical adviser told the BBC he was pressured to approve promotional material which said weight gain was not an issue.

Maker AstraZeneca, which faces fresh legal action next month, said it took concerns about its conduct seriously.

In the same programme, the British Medical Journal editor urged that the medicine licensing system be reviewed.

Dr Fiona Godlee said industry should no longer provide the evaluations of its own drugs which the licensing body considered.

For full article go to, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8478924.stm

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24/01/2010 by OmarJ.

The lawyers and settlements blog has a great article that gives a good little synopsis of the arguments against direct-to-consumer advertising in the US, or as we call it in Europe, information to patients. It strikes me as an odd source for a feature on this blog, but I won’t let that get in the way of my enjoying a well written, rational article.While I highly recommend you go there and read it, here are a few of the main points made in the article:

• Industry spending on marketing went up from $11 billion in 1996 to $30 billion in 2005
• Between 1999 and 2000, sales of advertised drugs increased by 24% (!!!), compared with just 4.3% for non-advertised drugs.
• Most interestingly, several states are proposing legislation that will curb direct to consumer advertising, or, at least, force pharmaceutical companies to be more open about their marketing practices. Good progress, I say.

It’s really easy to downplay the effects that marketing practices have. After all, how could a simple advert have such a profound effect on consumer practice? But the evidence speaks for itself, and companies wouldn’t be spending so much money on marketing if it didn’t work.The upside of that is, if marketing is the reason that some drugs do well, where does that leave evidence-based medicine?

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24/01/2010 by admin.

John Dalli, a former Maltese economy and social affairs minister, will have more influence over public health policy than any of his predecessors when he takes up his post as the European Union’s health commissioner next month.

Mr Dalli has set out his priorities. He will press ahead with two relatively non-controversial pharmaceutical proposals already on the table: stepping up measures against counterfeit drugs and improving pharmacovigilance.

But he expressed strong concerns about controversial plans to allow drug companies to communicate directly with the public by allowing companies, under certain conditions, to publish information on their products in newspapers and magazines.

“We will reassess the package on information and bring more patient perspective to the proposal,” he said, adding that the reassessment would include stronger demarcation between information and advertising. “You do not want a situation where people in a vulnerable position can be coerced to purchase a product that may not be good for them,” he said

For full article, go to http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/340/jan20_2/c353

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24/01/2010 by admin.

The European Commission is stepping up pressure on drug companies it suspects of using illegal sweetener deals to protect their patents and prevent cheaper generic drugs from entering the market.

Just three weeks before she is due to stand down as European Union Competition Commissioner, Neelie Kroes has asked several European companies to supply her staff with copies of their patent settlement agreements.

The commission did not divulge the identities of the companies it had targeted. But several confirmed they had been contacted and asked to provide documentation, including annexes, of all agreements with generic drug producers concluded between 1 July 2008 and 31 December 2009. These included AstraZeneca plc, GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis, and Roche.

For full article, go to http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/340/jan15_2/c268 

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21/01/2010 by admin.

On January 25 the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will launch an emergency inquiry regarding the influence of pharmaceutical companies on the global swine flu campaign.

The inquiry will focus on the drug industry’s influence on the World Health Organization (WHO).

The motion was introduced by Dr. Wolfgang Wodarg, head of health at the Council of Europe, who has accused the makers of flu drugs and vaccines of influencing the World Health Organization’s decision to declare a pandemic.

The motion has now been signed by 14 members from 10 countries sitting on the EU’s Health Committee, who are angry that nations all over the world, and particularly in Europe, have wasted scarce health funds on a contrived “pandemic.”

The investigation is listed on the EU’s draft agenda as “Request for Debate Under Urgent Procedure on ‘Faked Pandemics – A Threat for Health’.”

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15/01/2010 by admin.

Harvard University has tightened its regulations for doctors and scientists who consult for drug companies and medical device makers.

Ties between prominent doctors and drug companies have been scrutinised lately, especially by Senator Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican.

About two dozen of Harvard’s highest flyers, those who sit on the boards of drug companies, are most affected. Under the rules, introduced on 1 January, they can earn no more than $5000 (£3100; 3440) per 10 hour day for service on the board of a drug or device company and may not accept company stock in payment.

The rules also apply to about 6000 doctors, researchers, institutional officers, and other employees at Partners HealthCare, a Harvard affiliated healthcare group.

Read article at http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/340/jan12_2/c172

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15/01/2010 by admin.

England’s Department of Health has launched a consultation on proposals for automatic generic substitution, in which pharmacists could dispense generic forms of drugs instead of branded versions even if the prescribing doctor or nurse has written a prescription for a brand.

The consultation report outlines three options. The first is to keep the current arrangements, in which pharmacists are required to dispense exactly what is written on a prescription and cannot substitute a generic version for a brand name drug without prior agreement with the prescriber. The second would allow substitution of generic equivalents but would specify a list of exempt products. The third option, preferred by the health department, would allow generic substitution of a specified group of products.

Read article at http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/340/jan08_3/c135

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