Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

July 25, 2008 1:11:05 PM CDT

Learn about Newser Points »

Stories related to: drug companies

Stories

19 Stories

  • July 2008

    • FDA Orders Urgent Warning About Cipro

      newser  |  Associated Press  |  Jul 8, 08 3:09 PM CDT

      FDA Orders Urgent Warning About Cipro

      The FDA today mandated urgent “black box” warning labels on Cipro and other antibiotics of the powerful flouroquinolone family of drugs. The antibiotics carry a risk of tendinitis and tendon rupture, which could leave patients severely disabled, the AP reports. Particularly vulnerable are those over 60 and patients who have undergone heart, lung, or kidney transplants. More »

      Tags

      FDA  • drug companies  • antibiotics

  • May 2008

    • Study: Drug Ads Misleading. No, Really.

      newser  |  Time  |  May 18, 08 12:18 PM CDT

      Study: Drug Ads Misleading. No, Really.

      Drug ads are multiplying on TV, and manufacturers are starting to advertise medical equipment used in invasive procedures, so now might be a good time to wonder what the spots are telling us. Not as much as they should, Time reports. An independent researcher has found drug companies are using distractions, fast-talking, and tricks gleaned from neuroscience to downplay negative side-effects. More »

      Tags

      advertising  • FDA  • consumer  • prescription drugs  • drug companies  • side effects  • TV advertising

    • 'Experts' Too Often Feeding From Industry Troughs

      newser  |  Slate  |  May 8, 08 6:41 PM CDT

      'Experts' Too Often Feeding From Industry Troughs

      Media consumers, beware: that assertive, well-versed, trustworthy "expert" may in fact be an industry shill, Shannon Brownlee and Jeanne Lenzer write on Slate. Journalists across the board, and even some radio hosts, are failing to disclose financial ties to various industries—drug companies being a prime example—fudging the line between considered opinion and paid advocacy. More »

      Tags

      drugs  • journalism  • antidepressant  • drug companies  • radio advertising

    • Congress to Probe 'Misleading' Drug Ads

      newser  |  Wall Street Journal  |  May 8, 08 3:10 AM CDT

      Congress to Probe 'Misleading' Drug Ads

      A congressional panel will examine three ad campaigns as part of a move to tighten regulations on drug companies' direct-to-consumer marketing, the Wall Street Journal reports. The committee will focus on ads for cholesterol drugs Vytorin and Lipitor, and anemia drug Procrit, which has been promoted as an anti-fatigue drug despite FDA demands not to do so. More »

      Tags

      drugs  • advertising  • Merck  • drug companies  • congressional Democrats  • Pfizer  • Johnson and Johnson  • Lipitor  • Schering Plough  • Vytorin  • Bart Stupak

  • April 2008

    • Some Docs Snub Handouts From Drug Firms

      newser  |  New York Times  |  Apr 15, 08 10:43 AM CDT

      Some Docs Snub Handouts From Drug Firms

      Academic scientists are retreating from their traditional cushy advisory roles with drug and medical companies or doing work pro bono, the New York Times reports. Researchers offered fees for advice once didn't think twice. “People thought they were suckers if they didn’t,” one med school professor says. But now, many cite concerns over ethics or reputation as reason to give up the cash. More »

      Tags

      medical research  • drug companies  • health research

    • Insurers Quietly Hike Rx Costs

      newser  |  New York Times  |  Apr 14, 08 9:47 AM CDT

      Insurers Quietly Hike Rx Costs

      Pricey prescription drugs are getting pricier, and, the New York Times reports, insurance companies are asking patients to shoulder more of the burden. Insurers are quietly phasing out traditional drug plans, which charge a fixed co-pay of $20 or $30 to fill a prescription, in favor of so-called Tier 4 plans, which squeeze patients who need certain expensive drugs for as much as a third of their cost—which can run to thousands of dollars a month. More »

      Tags

      health care  • prescription drugs  • insurance  • drug companies  • insurance companies  • co-pays

    • Doc: Merck Fudged Minutes of Meeting

      newser  |  Bloomberg  |  Apr 12, 08 9:33 AM CDT

      Doc: Merck Fudged Minutes of Meeting

      Merck's "minutes" of a meeting of heart doctors discussing cholesterol drug Vytorin were created a month after the meeting and distorted the viewpoints of the experts, one panel member changes. The drug company submitted the document to congressional investigators probing its two-year delay in releasing a report saying the drug didn't work any better than a much cheaper generic one, Bloomberg reports. More »

      Tags

      pharmaceutical companies  • Merck  • drug companies  • clinical trials  • cholesterol lowering drug  • Schering Plough  • Vytorin

    • Blood Test May Predict Dementia 6 Years Early

      newser  |  Daily Mail (UK)  |  Apr 7, 08 1:42 PM CDT

      Blood Test May Predict Dementia 6 Years Early

      A new blood test can warn of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases six years before symptoms appear, its makers say. The assessment, set to launch this summer, could allow patients to begin fighting the ailments early with through dietary changes, exercise and drugs, the Daily Mail reports. But some worry advance knowledge of the illnesses could cause inflated insurance premiums. More »

      Tags

      health insurance  • Alzheimer's  • dementia  • drug companies  • Parkinson's disease  • blood tests

    • Firms Hid Bad News on Heart Drugs 2 Years: Doc

      newser  |  New York Times  |  Apr 1, 08 10:49 AM CDT

      Firms Hid Bad News on Heart Drugs 2 Years: Doc

      A scientist hired by two drug companies to conduct trials of cholesterol-lowering drugs accused the firms of deliberately delaying release of the results, the New York Times reports. The results for the Vytorin and Zetia trials—which showed the drugs don't work to reduce plaque in arteries—were not released until almost two years after the medical trials wrapped up.  More »

      Tags

      Merck  • cholesterol  • drug companies  • clinical trials  • cholesterol lowering drug  • Schering Plough  • Vytorin  • Zetia

  • February 2008
  • December 2007

    • Quaids Sue Drug Firm Over OD

      newser  |  Chicago Tribune  |  Dec 5, 07 9:00 AM CST

      Quaids Sue Drug Firm Over OD

      Actor Dennis Quaid and his wife filed a lawsuit against Baxter International, maker of the blood thinner Heparin, after their newborn twins nearly died of an overdose, the Chicago Tribune reports. The couple said Baxter was negligent because it packaged two different strengths of the drug, one a thousand times more concentrated than the other, in similar vials. More »

      Tags

      lawsuit  • drug companies  • Heparin  • Baxter International  • drug overdose  • infants  • Dennis Quaid  • medical errors

    • Cancer Still Winning War ...on Cancer

      newser  |  Boston Globe  |  Dec 2, 07 5:35 PM CST

      Cancer Still Winning War ...on Cancer

      Nixon declared war on cancer in '71, but $69 billion in funding and claims of near victory are yet to slow it down, the Boston Globe reports. No one knows what makes it spread—and trigger 90% of cancer deaths—and a drop in deaths is due to lifestyle changes and early diagnosis, not better drugs. Yet one expert claims that progress is being made, quietly, behind closed doors. More »

      Tags

      cancer  • drugs  • Boston  • cancer research  • drug companies  • medical treatment

  • October 2007

    • FDA Advisers Reject Cold Meds for Kids

      newser  |  Associated Press  |  Oct 19, 07 5:17 PM CDT

      FDA Advisers Reject Cold Meds for Kids

      Over-the-counter cold medicines are dangerous for children under 6 and should not be used, a panel of health advisers reported to the FDA today. Many popular medicines, including Dimetapp, Triaminic, and Pediacare, have never been sufficiently tested on children under 12, the committee concluded. “The data that we have now is they don’t seem to work,” said one FDA expert. More »

      Tags

      FDA  • parents  • drug companies  • common cold  • cold medicine  • pediatrics  • pediatricians

  • July 2007

    • Feds OK Alzheimer's Skin Patch

      newser  |  Associated Press  |  Jul 9, 07 4:58 PM CDT

      Feds OK Alzheimer's Skin Patch

      A patch to treat symptoms of Alzheimer's disease cleared its final federal hurdle today, offering new hope to patients with the memory-sapping disorder—and the caretakers who worry about whether they're taking their meds. Exelon, which treats mild to moderate dementia, enters the bloodstream directly, regulating dosage and reducing the side effects associated with the medication in capsule form. More »

      Tags

      FDA  • Alzheimer's  • pharmaceutical companies  • dementia  • drug companies  • Novartis

  • May 2007

    • Psych Drugs Drove Kid Crazy

      newser  |  Salon  |  May 18, 07 9:44 PM CDT

      Psych Drugs Drove Kid Crazy

      The careless prescription of anti-psychotic drugs, often by psychiatrists who draw pay checks from the companies who make them, has drawn attention in the New York Times recently. Now Ann Bauer, writing in Salon , draws an intimate portrait of the effects of such carelessness on one autistic teenager, who turned from shy chess nerd to psychotic bruiser. More »

      Tags

      health  • drugs  • medicine  • doctor  • pharmaceutical companies  • drug companies  • psychiatry  • schizophrenia  • pharma  • antipsychotic drugs

    • Use of Antipsychotics For Kids Soars

      newser  |  New York Times  |  May 10, 07 10:23 AM CDT

      The Times tackles the growing use of antipsychotic drugs in children, contentious because the drugs are risky and have no approved use for minors. But the trend is also questionable because it coincides with increasing payments to psychiatrists by the companies that market the drugs. In Minnesota, these payments rose sixfold from 2000 to 2005. More »

      Tags

      children  • medicine  • safety  • drug companies  • psychiatry  • antipsychotic drugs

    • FDA Given New Muscle To Monitor Drugs

      newser  |  New York Times  |  May 10, 07 5:41 AM CDT

      FDA Given New Muscle To Monitor Drugs

      The Food and Drug Administration would be given sweeping new powers to order drug recalls, regulate advertising and mandate changes in labels under a bill passed by the Senate yesterday. The bill signals a fundamental shift in the FDA's role, the New York Times reports, requiring the agency to track drugs after, as well as before, approval. More »

      Tags

      drugs  • FDA  • safety  • recall  • drug companies  • Vioxx

    • Doctors Paid Millions To Use Anemia Drugs

      newser  |  New York Times  |  May 9, 07 8:34 AM CDT

      Doctors are paid millions of dollars by drug companies to give their patients anemia medicine which regulators now say may be dangerous. Spurred by competiton between several similar drugs, companies reward doctors with rebates, which allow them to make a significant profit, the New York Times reports. More »

      Tags

      health  • medicine  • FDA  • doctor  • safety  • pharmaceutical companies  • Medicare  • drug companies  • Johnson and Johnson  • Amgen  • Anemia

19 Stories

Today's Most Popular

Loading...

What is Newser?

2008 Codie Finalist

Newser gives you more news in less time. We search for the best and most important stories all over the web, read them for you, and deliver concise and sharp summaries—along with links to the full text. Newser provides a way to stay on top of an ever-expanding horizon of news and opinion—politics, sports, business, trends, technology, personalities, crimes, and controversies. Newser keeps you not just better informed, but, with our signature graphic interface and smart condensed format, more enjoyably informed.

Learn more »