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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: drug companies

drug companies stories: 54 news summaries

21 - 40 of 54 Stories | << Prev 1 2 3 Next >>

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China Bans Actors From Medical Commercials

Health Ministry calls drug commercials misleading

Feb 18, 09 2:06 PM CST
(Newser) - Stung by the appearance of a single actor playing four different medical experts, the Chinese government has prohibited actors from portraying doctors or patients in commercials, Variety reports. The outrage stemmed from a Beijing Times article that also revealed one actress had posed as someone suffering from lung, liver, kidney,... More »

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China • drug companies • commercials • ban • actor • acting

ANALYSIS

DNA Tests Can Improve Health—and Ruin Privacy

Testing labs can sell genomes to Big Pharma

Feb 17, 09 6:22 PM CST
(Newser) - Genetic testing is quickly becoming cheaper and widely available, prompting questions of whether the privacy of this most personal data can be ensured, writes Peter Dizikes for Salon. Companies such as 23andMe and Navigenics can study your genes for $399 or so to determine if you're at risk for a... More »

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drug companies • DNA • genome • regulation • pharmaceutical • Personal Genome Project

Glaxo to Cut Drug Prices
in Developing World

No. 2 pharma firm will open 'patent pool' to outside scientists

Feb 14, 09 11:25 AM CST
(Newser) - GlaxoSmithKline’s new boss has proposed a radical rethinking of big pharma in developing countries: He plans to cut prices, offer portions of profits to hospitals, and loosen his firm’s grip on patents that keep prices up, the Guardian reports. “I think it's absolutely the kind of thing... More »

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drug companies • GlaxoSmithKline • price • developing countries • pharmaceutical industry • patent

updated

FBI Searches
Home of Tylenol Killings Suspect

Case of seven deaths in 1982 poisoning remains unsolved

Feb 4, 09 3:37 PM CST
(Newser) - FBI agents are searching the former residence of a suspect in the deaths of seven people who took cyanide-laced Tylenol in 1982, the Boston Globe reports. The case has never been solved, and agents say they are reviewing all related evidence. James W. Lewis lived in the Boston-area apartment after... More »

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Chicago • crime • Boston • drug companies • poison • Johnson and Johnson • tainted • Tylenol

 Pfizer in Talks to Buy Wyeth  




Sources say drug maker plans $60B acquisition of rival Wyeth

Jan 23, 09 5:49 AM CST
(Newser) - Pfizer is seeking to create a Big Pharma behemoth with the acquisition of rival Wyeth, insiders tell the Wall Street Journal. The deal, expected to be worth around $60 billion, would make Pfizer—already the world's biggest drug company—big enough to redraw the map of the industry, although sources... More »

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pharmaceutical companies • drug companies • mergers and acquisitions • merger • Pfizer • Wyeth • research and development • pharmaceutical industry

 Pfizer to Can 800 Researchers 

Company must cut R&D spending ahead of Lipitor patent expiration

Jan 13, 09 12:19 PM CST
(Newser) - Pfizer will eliminate the jobs of up to 800 researchers in 2009, starting today, the Wall Street Journal reports. The pharmaceutical giant is attempting to cut costs ahead of a $30 billion reduction in revenue expected in 2011 when its patent on the popular cholesterol drug Lipitor expires. But the... More »

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layoffs • pharmaceutical companies • drug companies • Pfizer • research • generic drugs • Lipitor • pharmaceutical industry

Drug Companies Agree
to Stop Docs' Free Goodies

Critics charged stacks of free trinkets were attempt to influence doctors' decisions

Dec 31, 08 7:20 AM CST
(Newser) - The piles of freebies drug companies lavish on doctors will go the way of the VHS tape as of tomorrow, the New York Times reports. The industry, facing criticism that it is trying to unduly influence doctors' decisions, has voluntarily decided to stop handing out pens, stethoscope holders, bandages, T-shirts,... More »

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pharmaceutical companies • drug companies • physician • doctor • gift • pharmaceutical industry • doctors

Money or Your Life? Brits Weigh Drug Cost Vs. Benefit

With its restrictions forcing companies to lower prices, some see 'workable paradigm' for US

Dec 3, 08 11:38 AM CST
(Newser) - A British government institute that approves drugs based on cost-benefit analysis is coming under fire at home even as other countries are seeing it as a model for bringing down costs, the New York Times reports. Though the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence often balks at expensive life-prolonging... More »

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health care costs • drug companies • universal health care • prescription drugs • cancer treatment • Britain • cost-benefit analysis

 Cleveland Clinic 
 First to Divulge 
 Docs' Drug Ties 

Research center strives for complete disclosure on potential conflicts of interest

Dec 3, 08 4:35 AM CST
(Newser) - One of America's leading medical research centers will reveal all links its doctors and scientists have to drug companies and makers of medical devices, the New York Times reports. The move by the Cleveland Clinic—stung by conflict-of-interest accusations when cozy relationships between staff and suppliers have been discovered—is... More »

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drug companies • health care industry • medical research • doctor • Cleveland Clinic • conflict of interest

OPINION

Latest US Drug Overdose: Hormones for Short Kids

Prevalence of 'lifestyle drugs' when some have no healthcare indictment of system

Oct 31, 08 1:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - Since 2003, when the FDA relaxed restrictions on the use of growth hormone (GH) for children, more parents have been looking to give their shortest offspring a leg up in the world. But while many health professionals agree that taller kids may have higher self-esteem, dosing the short ones may... More »

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growth hormones • drug companies • children • height • children's health care • lifestyle drug

 Non-Profit Pharma 
 Puts Cures Over Cash 

Institute for OneWorld Health finds cheap, new uses for partially developed meds

Oct 24, 08 7:04 PM CDT
(Newser) - Combating diseases that afflict only the poor doesn't plump the profit margins of pharmaceutical companies; now comes one that sets out to do just that as a non-profit, Good Magazine reports. Using grants to look at long-forgotten compounds, fund clinical trials, and distribute affordable meds to the world’s poorest... More »

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pharmaceutical companies • malaria • drug companies • nonprofit • infectious diseases • pharmaceutical industry • Institute for OneWorld Health

FDA May Strengthen Chantix Label

Anti-smoking drug linked to more seizures, accidents

Oct 22, 08 5:25 PM CDT
(Newser) - The FDA may beef up its warning for the anti-smoking drug Chantix after an increase in the number of serious incidents linked to the drug, the Wall Street Journal reports. A drug-safety group tallied 1,001 reports of patients suffering seizures, blackouts, and loss of motor control—some while driving—... More »

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FDA • drug companies • Pfizer • smoking cessation • side effects • Chantix

Profanity, Tobacco Cases Top Court's New Term

Judges to decide on consumers' right to sue drug, tobacco companies

Oct 6, 08 8:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Supreme Court and its Bush-era conservative additions launch a second term today, set to consider "pre-emption" cases that determine whether federal regulation makes drug and tobacco companies immune from state-level lawsuits. Other cases will determine penalties against profanity on radio or TV, a major sexual harassment question, and... More »

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drug companies • consumer protection • immunity • Wyeth • tobacco companies • US Supreme Court • federal cases

 Combo Heart Pills 
 Enter Trials in London 

The cheap drugs could halve deaths from
heart attack, stroke

Sep 29, 08 8:16 AM CDT
(Newser) - Trials begin this week in London on a cheap "polypill" that could cut heart attack and stroke deaths in half worldwide, the Guardian reports. The pill combines four drugs—aspirin, a cholesterol-lowering statin, an ACE inhibitor, and thiazine to battle high blood pressure. The aim is to sell it—... More »

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medicine • drug companies • blood pressure • heart attack • statins • stroke • drug trials • aspirin

Scientists Still Question Popular Drugs Zetia, Vytorin

Much-prescribed cholesterol medicines may not reduce risk of heart disease, death

Sep 2, 08 10:26 AM CDT
(Newser) - Some cholesterol medicines have shown no indication they actually work—but that hasn’t stopped doctors from heavily prescribing them, the New York Times reports. Short trials of Zetia and Vytorin, known generically as ezetimibe, showed no evidence they reduced risk of heart attack or cardiovascular disease, while tests raised... More »

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Merck • drug safety • drug companies • cholesterol • cholesterol lowering drug • Vytorin • Zetia • Food and Drug Administration • Schering-Plough

FDA Orders Urgent Warning About Cipro

'Black box' caution on tendon rupture includes similar antibiotics

Jul 8, 08 3:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - 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... More »

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FDA • drug companies • antibiotics • Cipro • tendinitis

 Study: Drug Ads
 Misleading.
 No, Really. 

Big pharma uses tricks, distractions to veil harmful side-effects

May 18, 08 12:18 PM CDT
(Newser) - 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... More »

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

ANALYSIS

'Experts' Too Often Feeding From Industry Troughs

Press misses, ignores where funds come from

May 8, 08 6:41 PM CDT
(Newser) - 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... More »

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drugs • antidepressant • drug companies • journalism • radio advertising • front company • source

Congress
to Probe 'Misleading' Drug Ads

Cholesterol, anemia drugs in spotlight

May 8, 08 3:10 AM CDT
(Newser) - 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... More »

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

Some Docs Snub Handouts From Drug Firms

Researchers forgo consulting fees to protect reputations

Apr 15, 08 10:43 AM CDT
(Newser) - 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.... More »

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drug companies • medical research • health research • academic scientists

21 - 40 of 54 Stories | << Prev 1 2 3 Next >>


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