New law forcing pharmaceutical and device companies to disclose all payments to doctors look to be made in the US. The names of receiving doctors will be made accessible on the web, in an easily to understand format.
BMJ 2010, 340 (7748), pp671
There is an interesting article in this week’s BMJ regarding a letter that was written to the Times by various doctors warning against generic drugs and supporting branded ones. This letter was in response to a recent DH consultation on prescribing generics. However, it seems that this article was spearheaded by a small pharmaceutical company Norgine although conflicts of interest were not stated within the letter.
Read more at BMJ, 2010. 340 (7747), pp627.
A Swedish member of the European parliament, Christofer Fjellner, has acknowledged that he will be challenging many medical professionals in steering draft legislation through the parliament that would allow pharmaceutical companies to give more information to patients about prescription drugs. He said, “It is clear there are big cultural differences in Europe on the relationship between doctors and their patients. I will definitely challenge those who want doctors to retain a monopoly on information. But I will never challenge the doctor-patient relationship.”
He intends to change the thrust of the draft legislation, which was drafted by the European Commission’s industry department but which is now the responsibility of its public health directorate general. When I work with the text I feel it was written for industry. It talks about what companies may be allowed to disseminate. I would prefer that they be obliged to make information available on the principle of a patient’s right to know,” he explained. He insists that careful control of the information that drug companies may be allowed to give to patients will be needed.
BMJ 2010;340:c1368
AstraZeneca is to reduce its staff, shut operations, and cease research into several diseases as part of a wide ranging restructuring, unveiled at the start of March. The company will close some research centres in the United Kingdom, Sweden, and the United States and is set to cut 3500 posts in research and development by 2014. It will stop all future research into 10 diseases, including acid reflux, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. It warned that patent expiries in the next few years could put sharp pressure on sales
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/340/mar08_2/c1365
The March 2010 issue of Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (DTB) [volume 48,
number 3] contains an editorial and three articles. The editorial discusses
cardiovascular risk assessment tools. The first article is a review of the
cardiovascular safety concerns associated with NSAIDs. The second article
discusses managing asymptomatic primary hyperparathyroidism. The third
article reviews the use of body surface area to adjust drug doses. A
podcast outlining what is in the March issue is also available via our
website www.dtb.bmj.com.
Powered by WordPress