PHARMA PHRAUD MAY HAVE INCLUDED BRIBES TO SADDAM
GUARDIAN, UK - The Serious Fraud Office has launched an investigation
into allegations that a number of major UK-based firms paid bribes to
Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. The firms being targeted include the
drug giants Glaxo Smith Kline, Astra Zeneca and Eli Lilly. The
international oil traders and UK bridge-builders Mabey and Johnson are
also to be investigated. They are on a long list of international
companies accused in a UN report of paying kickbacks under the
discredited oil-for-food sanctions regime, which enabled Saddam to
illicitly amass an estimated $1.8bn. Ministers have agreed to fund the
investigation with £22m over three years.
The investigation - the first official inquiry into the oil-for-food
scandal - was urged on the British government by Paul Volcker, a former
chairman of the US Federal Reserve, who compiled a UN report, delivered
two years ago, into abuses of the program. . .
Mr Volcker said the kickbacks were disguised by various subterfuges.
Contracts were inflated, usually by 10% to cover so-called "after-sales
services" fees. More than 2,200 companies were listed, using evidence
drawn from banking records and Iraqi government documents.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/oil/story/0,,2012458,00.html
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WHY YOU DON'T WANT TO RUSH TO MAKE A VACCINE MANDATORY
REUTERS - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it was notifying
health-care providers and consumers about reports of some 28 cases of
infants suffering a serious bowel condition after receiving Merck & Co's
new vaccine against the Rotavirus. The FDA said it was not immediately
clear how many of the 28 reported cases were caused by the vaccine. It
said the condition, known as intussusception, can occur in the absence
of vaccination. Some 3.5 million doses of Merck's Rota Teq have been
distributed in the United States since its approval last February, the
FDA said.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyid=
2007-02-13T212633Z_01_WAT006958_RTRUKOC_0_US-MERCK-FDA.xml
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PREVIOUSLY UNREPORTED SIDE EFFECT OF THE DAY
PRESS WATCH - Canadian researchers have indicated that older people
taking antidepressants such as Prozac and Seroxat are twice as likely to
break bones. A study involving a group of people over the age of 50 who
had been prescribed treatments from a class of antidepressants known as
selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors indicated that the greater the
dose, the greater the risk of fractures. The findings, published in
Archives of Internal Medicine, were unable to definitively decide
whether SSRIs weakened bones or caused problems with balance.
http://www.presswatch.com/health/#4
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
DIABETES IS ONE SWEET MARKET
DANIEL YI, LA TIMES - "Diabetics are not just patients, they are
consumers," Steinberg said of the appeal of his show, "D Life - For Your
Diabetes Life," which claims nearly half a million viewers.
Steinberg is among a growing number of diabetics - including celebrity
endorsers, magazine publishers and an investment advisor - who are
finding business opportunities in marketing to others with the chronic
disease. "From a business perspective, diabetes is the perfect disease,"
said David Kliff, a diabetic and investment analyst who specializes in
diabetes-related ventures. Diabetics "consume tons of disposable
products, and there is no cure. It is a license to print money."
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-
diabetes21jan21,0,3784004,full.story?coll=la-home-headlines
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
THE TRUE COST OF PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE
DAVID DYSSEGAARD KALLICK, FISCAL POLICY INSTITUTE, BUFFALO NEWS - The
current [health] insurance system just isn't working. There are 2.8
million New Yorkers who don't have insurance. For people who do have
insurance, health care is too expensive; no item in the family budget is
rising faster.
As important as the effect on families, though, is the effect on
economic growth. The convoluted way we finance health care is one of our
nation's biggest job-killers. Responsible companies that pay for health
care are being crushed by the rising cost of insurance.
The best solution would be a national single-payer plan. But if
Washington doesn't move, New York should look into a state-based
single-payer system.
Virtually all of the world's advanced economies have universal coverage.
There are models that integrate choice of doctor, private insurance on
top of the basic government plan and the ability to pay to skip ahead of
a queue.
Can we afford it? The United States spends about 16 percent of gross
domestic product on health care. Compare that with 7.7 percent in the
United Kingdom, 7.9 percent in Japan and 9.9 percent in Canada.
Universal insurance is much less expensive.
It's encouraging to see states like Massachusetts and California moving
forward on universal coverage. But their models cost billions more,
while a single-payer system would cost billions less than current
spending. According to one estimate, cutting out administrative costs
would allow a single-payer system in New York to reduce spending by 19
percent, a savings of $23 billion.
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20070129/1039189.asp
http://www.fiscalpolicy.org
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PHARM PHRESS MOVEMENT CHALLENGES THE ABRAMOFFS OF DRUG INDUSTRY
MARY ENGEL, LA TIMES - Casey KirkHart was in many ways a typical medical
student. . . Unlike many of his peers, however, he routinely passed up
the lunch that accompanied a weekly lecture, even though the food was
everything a student could want: tasty, convenient and, thanks to the
pharmaceutical company that catered it, free. After getting "weird
looks" from peers and instructors alike, KirkHart, then at the New York
College of Osteopathic Medicine, put together a Power Point presentation
to explain why. Using charts and graphs, he cited studies showing that
about 90% of the drug industry's $21-billion marketing budget went to
physicians and that all those mugs, meals, drug samples and speakers'
fees influenced doctors' prescription decisions. . .
The "pharm-free" movement he championed is spreading around the country
in the wake of an article in the Journal of the American Medical Assn.
challenging academic medical centers to ban drug industry freebies. . .
In 2002, the industry group and the American Medical Assn. responded to
rising criticism by issuing voluntary ethics guidelines. Such lavish
gifts as fishing trips, expensive football tickets and greens fees at
swanky golf resorts were out. Gifts had to be relatively small — pens,
pads, stethoscopes — and related to patient care. Drug reps, all 90,000
of them, were urged to deliver educational programs over modestly priced
lunches or dinners.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-me-pharma4feb04,0,55555.story?
coll=la-home-headlines
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
GUARDIAN, UK - The Serious Fraud Office has launched an investigation
into allegations that a number of major UK-based firms paid bribes to
Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. The firms being targeted include the
drug giants Glaxo Smith Kline, Astra Zeneca and Eli Lilly. The
international oil traders and UK bridge-builders Mabey and Johnson are
also to be investigated. They are on a long list of international
companies accused in a UN report of paying kickbacks under the
discredited oil-for-food sanctions regime, which enabled Saddam to
illicitly amass an estimated $1.8bn. Ministers have agreed to fund the
investigation with £22m over three years.
The investigation - the first official inquiry into the oil-for-food
scandal - was urged on the British government by Paul Volcker, a former
chairman of the US Federal Reserve, who compiled a UN report, delivered
two years ago, into abuses of the program. . .
Mr Volcker said the kickbacks were disguised by various subterfuges.
Contracts were inflated, usually by 10% to cover so-called "after-sales
services" fees. More than 2,200 companies were listed, using evidence
drawn from banking records and Iraqi government documents.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/oil/story/0,,2012458,00.html
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WHY YOU DON'T WANT TO RUSH TO MAKE A VACCINE MANDATORY
REUTERS - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it was notifying
health-care providers and consumers about reports of some 28 cases of
infants suffering a serious bowel condition after receiving Merck & Co's
new vaccine against the Rotavirus. The FDA said it was not immediately
clear how many of the 28 reported cases were caused by the vaccine. It
said the condition, known as intussusception, can occur in the absence
of vaccination. Some 3.5 million doses of Merck's Rota Teq have been
distributed in the United States since its approval last February, the
FDA said.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyid=
2007-02-13T212633Z_01_WAT006958_RTRUKOC_0_US-MERCK-FDA.xml
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PREVIOUSLY UNREPORTED SIDE EFFECT OF THE DAY
PRESS WATCH - Canadian researchers have indicated that older people
taking antidepressants such as Prozac and Seroxat are twice as likely to
break bones. A study involving a group of people over the age of 50 who
had been prescribed treatments from a class of antidepressants known as
selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors indicated that the greater the
dose, the greater the risk of fractures. The findings, published in
Archives of Internal Medicine, were unable to definitively decide
whether SSRIs weakened bones or caused problems with balance.
http://www.presswatch.com/health/#4
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
DIABETES IS ONE SWEET MARKET
DANIEL YI, LA TIMES - "Diabetics are not just patients, they are
consumers," Steinberg said of the appeal of his show, "D Life - For Your
Diabetes Life," which claims nearly half a million viewers.
Steinberg is among a growing number of diabetics - including celebrity
endorsers, magazine publishers and an investment advisor - who are
finding business opportunities in marketing to others with the chronic
disease. "From a business perspective, diabetes is the perfect disease,"
said David Kliff, a diabetic and investment analyst who specializes in
diabetes-related ventures. Diabetics "consume tons of disposable
products, and there is no cure. It is a license to print money."
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-
diabetes21jan21,0,3784004,full.story?coll=la-home-headlines
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
THE TRUE COST OF PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE
DAVID DYSSEGAARD KALLICK, FISCAL POLICY INSTITUTE, BUFFALO NEWS - The
current [health] insurance system just isn't working. There are 2.8
million New Yorkers who don't have insurance. For people who do have
insurance, health care is too expensive; no item in the family budget is
rising faster.
As important as the effect on families, though, is the effect on
economic growth. The convoluted way we finance health care is one of our
nation's biggest job-killers. Responsible companies that pay for health
care are being crushed by the rising cost of insurance.
The best solution would be a national single-payer plan. But if
Washington doesn't move, New York should look into a state-based
single-payer system.
Virtually all of the world's advanced economies have universal coverage.
There are models that integrate choice of doctor, private insurance on
top of the basic government plan and the ability to pay to skip ahead of
a queue.
Can we afford it? The United States spends about 16 percent of gross
domestic product on health care. Compare that with 7.7 percent in the
United Kingdom, 7.9 percent in Japan and 9.9 percent in Canada.
Universal insurance is much less expensive.
It's encouraging to see states like Massachusetts and California moving
forward on universal coverage. But their models cost billions more,
while a single-payer system would cost billions less than current
spending. According to one estimate, cutting out administrative costs
would allow a single-payer system in New York to reduce spending by 19
percent, a savings of $23 billion.
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20070129/1039189.asp
http://www.fiscalpolicy.org
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PHARM PHRESS MOVEMENT CHALLENGES THE ABRAMOFFS OF DRUG INDUSTRY
MARY ENGEL, LA TIMES - Casey KirkHart was in many ways a typical medical
student. . . Unlike many of his peers, however, he routinely passed up
the lunch that accompanied a weekly lecture, even though the food was
everything a student could want: tasty, convenient and, thanks to the
pharmaceutical company that catered it, free. After getting "weird
looks" from peers and instructors alike, KirkHart, then at the New York
College of Osteopathic Medicine, put together a Power Point presentation
to explain why. Using charts and graphs, he cited studies showing that
about 90% of the drug industry's $21-billion marketing budget went to
physicians and that all those mugs, meals, drug samples and speakers'
fees influenced doctors' prescription decisions. . .
The "pharm-free" movement he championed is spreading around the country
in the wake of an article in the Journal of the American Medical Assn.
challenging academic medical centers to ban drug industry freebies. . .
In 2002, the industry group and the American Medical Assn. responded to
rising criticism by issuing voluntary ethics guidelines. Such lavish
gifts as fishing trips, expensive football tickets and greens fees at
swanky golf resorts were out. Gifts had to be relatively small — pens,
pads, stethoscopes — and related to patient care. Drug reps, all 90,000
of them, were urged to deliver educational programs over modestly priced
lunches or dinners.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-me-pharma4feb04,0,55555.story?
coll=la-home-headlines
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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