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Scientia Est Experentia

Chad Orzel has a post up on the two halves of physics, and about how people tend to forget one of them: the experimentalists. I think he’s right, and the problem is the glamorous coating that began to stick to theoretical physics in the early 20th century (and has never completely flaked away)

Scientia Est Experientia

Chad Orzel has a post up on the two halves of physics, and about how people tend to forget one of them: the experimentalists. I think he’s right, and the problem is the glamorous coating that began to stick to theoretical physics in the early 20th century (and has never completely flaked away)

Slogging Through Blogging as a Highly Regulated Industry – Some Thoughts for Pharma in the Blogosphere

Kenyan court sentences 2 TB patients to 8 months (AP)

AP – A court has sentenced two tuberculosis patients who skipped their medications to spend eight months in prison to avoid spreading the deadly disease among the public, a senior health official said Saturday.

The FDA and drug companies: Too cozy a relationship ?

There is an interesting article in this weeks Time Magazine on Avandia and the FDA.  At best it paints a picture of an agency too cozy with drug companies, at its worst it suggests that GSK knew the risks of Avandia and was more interested in sales than patient safety. Here are some excepts from the article: The most recent studies of Avandia, the GSK officials told the FDA, had “yielded information that is inconsistent with an increased risk of myocardial ischemic events,” according to sealed court proceedings obtained by TIME

Industry Funded Clinical Trials & Biased Publication

A new study finds that clinical trials funded by the pharmaceutical industry are more likely to report a positive outcome, but less likely to be published shortly after completion than trials funded by other sources, such as the federal government, non-profit groups or academia. Unlike previous studies on this topic, the researchers say their study broadens the debate because they made a point of examining 546 trials that were registered on ClinicalTrials.gov and involved five widely used classes of meds for treating depression, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heartburn and schizophrenia. All of the trials occurred between 2000 and 2006.

Patients Ask HHS To Break Patent On Genzyme Drug

Frustrated by the ongoing shortage of Genzyme’s Fabrazyme medication for Fabry’s disease, three patients have petitioned the US Department of Health and Human Services to override the use patents held by the troubled biotech. Their hope is to find a way to produce the drug, which is the only such treatment currently available for a rare, inherited disorder that causes kidney and heart problems. The move comes after a year of turmoil at Genzyme, which recently agreed to pay $175 million as part of a consent decree for a raft of manufacturing problems, including viral contamination and even bits of trash found in some products

Patients Seek To Break Patent On Genzyme Drug

Frustrated by the ongoing shortage of Genzyme’s Fabrazyme medication for Fabry’s disease, three patients have petitioned the US Department of Health and Human Services to override the use patents held by the troubled biotech. Their hope is to find a way to produce the drug, which is the only such treatment currently available for a rare, inherited disorder that causes kidney and heart problems

A little drug problem: perception

For every million people who take a statin for high cholesterol, there are 50,000 fewer angioplasties, surgeries, heart-attacks, strokes, and CV deaths, studies have shown.  In the past 15 years, drugs have transformed AIDS from a death sentence into a managed disease.   A life saved or transformed because of the drug industry.

FTC Denies Abusing Power In Watson Investigation

Last week, a federal judge ruled there is a “strong possibility” the Federal Trade Commission abused its power in attempting to stop a pay-for-delay deal. Specifically, Watson Pharmaeutical ceo Paul Bisaro claimed the FTC harassed his company and used confidential FDA info to force Watson to strike a deal with Apotex, another generic drugmaker, to sell a version of Cephalon’s Provigil, a sleep-disorder drug. The FTC is challenging a 2005 deal between Cephalon and several generic drugmakers that were paid $300 million by arguing the payments bought market exclusivity.