The Health Care Blog

The other Michael Jackson mega-mix

By Matthew Holt Never ones to be shy with an interesting view into celebrity pharmacology (and truth be told responding to a little tickle from me) the inventive folks at PharmaSurveyor have added Michael Jackson to their celebrity drug cocktail...
July 6, 2009 in Health 2.0, Pharma, pharmaceuticals | Permalink | Comments (1)

My forecast: a sad conclusion to the health care bubble...

Brian Klepper and David Kibbe have written a terrific piece on how and why health care is in a handbasket and wondering where it’s going. But as we ex-futurists know, there’s lots of luck required to make a good forecast....
March 12, 2009 in Health Plans, Matthew Holt, Pharma, Policy, Policy/Politics | Permalink | Comments (12)

Should the FDA relax in the search for new cures?

By Matthew Holt Over at DiabetesMine #1 health blogger Amy Tenderich has very important post. She and several fellow travelers are appealing to the FDA to strike a balance between safety and progress in allowing new diabetes treatments. The FDA...
January 9, 2009 in e-patients, FDA, Health 2.0, Patient Safety, Pharma, pharmaceuticals | Permalink | Comments (1)

A me-too strategy for me-too drugs

By DAVID E. WILLIAMS AstraZeneca appears set to follow Merck into the market for “bio-similars.” (See AstraZeneca may join generic rush.) Congress and the media tend to portray biosimilars are analogous to generic chemistry-based pharmaceuticals, and therefore believe that they...
January 4, 2009 in David E. Williams, Pharma | Permalink | Comments (1)

Weighing in on the New FDA Commissioner

By MERRILL GOOZNER Patient advocacy groups, most of them drug industry-funded, have asked President-elect Barack Obama to appoint a Food and Drug Administration commissioner who won't cave in to pressure from lawmakers or the news media, according to the Wall...
December 21, 2008 in Pharma | Permalink | Comments (1)

Who should Obama pick for FDA Commissioner?

By John Mack It seems like everyone in the Pharma Blogosphere and the press is recommending who president-elect Barack Obama should nominate as the new FDA Commissioner to replace Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach. A few weeks ago, I created the...
December 10, 2008 in FDA, Pharma | Permalink | Comments (8)

Big pharma has big problems

By David Williams Big pharma has big problems. The root cause is a lack of research and development productivity, which means a dearth of new products to make up for looming patent expirations. Something near half of big pharma’s revenues...
November 19, 2008 in Economics, Pharma | Permalink | Comments (3)

Researchers question publishing ethics of leading economics journal

By Sarah Arnquist Update: The Harvard Health Policy Review site is back up with an apology and disclaimer for not seeking a response from the JHE editors. A Harvard Health Policy Review article that details two researchers' account of unethical...
October 21, 2008 in Pharma, Policy | Permalink | Comments (1)

Stanford Med School rejects industry funding for continuing education

By Sarah Arnquist Stanford University's medical school announced this week new restrictions on educational contributions by drug and medical device companies, which turn out to be among the strictest in the nation. The rules are an effort to limit industry...
August 28, 2008 in Medical Devices, Pharma, Sarah Arnquist, The Industry | Permalink | Comments (4)

Flacks peddle false "reality"

By Matthew Holt Such a pity that the NY Times has been so beaten up by the commies amongst us that it actually now feels that it has to point out where Peter Pitts and Janet Trautwein get their money....
August 15, 2008 in Hillary Clinton, Matthew Holt, Pharma, Policy, Policy/Politics | Permalink | Comments (3)

Viagra prescribed more safely online than in regular practice?

By Matthew Holt Really? Can this be true? Well so says a bunch of academics writing in the Mayo Clinic’s journal. They looked at records of questionnaires taken and prescribing decisions made by a licensed, regulated online pharmacy called KwikMed...
August 8, 2008 in Consumers, e-patients, Health 2.0, Pharma, pharmaceuticals, Technology | Permalink | Comments (7)

Drug advertisements annoying and possibly misleading

By Sean Neill Sean Neill is a South African-born, British-trained anesthesiologist, who recently relocated to Midwestern USA. He blogs regularly at OnMedica about his cross-cultural experience, frequently pointing out oddities of American health care. Watching television in America takes some...
June 30, 2008 in Consumers, International, Pharma, The Industry | Permalink | Comments (8)

Happy Birthday, Viagra!

By Jane Sarasohn-Kahn It's the drug that raised the profile of medicine in popular culture. It's been hawked by a prominent politician and has been the butt of jokes on late-night TV. It's Viagara, and it's turning 10 today. The...
March 27, 2008 in Pharma | Permalink | Comments (2)

TECH: Drugs & technology--Allscripts and SafeMed

To finish off the last but not least of my HIMSS interviews, here are two companies that both announced being part of the Google ecosystem on the Thursday of HIMSS. One is well known and a leader in ePrescribing and...
March 2, 2008 in Pharma, Podcasts, Technology | Permalink | Comments (3)

PHARMA: The ACP does the right thing

In 1937 marijuana was banned by Congress. The only question asked was, "what's the position of the American Medical Association?". It actually was in favor of keeping marijuana legal for medical purposes. But the response given to Congress by whoever...
February 19, 2008 in Pharma, Physicians | Permalink | Comments (2)

PHARMA: The statin backlash (or WSJ later than THCB by 5 years!)

Yesterday the THCB hit meter went off the charts. not sadly because of some new genius posting on THCB, but because the WSJ has this article about Lipitor causing memory loss and Google searches are bring up an article from...
February 14, 2008 in Pharma | Permalink | Comments (2)

PHARMA: Finally, a drug site that everyone can approve of!

Yup, they really are cashing in on the Placebo Effect.
February 13, 2008 in Pharma | Permalink | Comments (0)

PHARMA: Reprieve for Amgen looking doubtful

In a story titled somewhat cryptically Medicare chief stands by anemia move (do they mean he’s trying to become anemic?) Reuters reports that CMS is not backing down from its decision to radically cut payments for anti-anemia drugs for chemotherapy...
February 8, 2008 in Pharma | Permalink | Comments (1)

PHARMA: Stunt doubles in pharma DTC?

I’m sure (well I’m not sure but I’ll cheerfully and casually postulate) to keep you all amused on a Friday) that there are many possible overlooked problems with Lipitor and the statins. I’ve heard of severe muscle pain, even amnesia....
February 8, 2008 in Pharma | Permalink | Comments (1)

POLICY/PHARMA: DEA's insane persecution of pain patients continues

Just in case you needed to be reminded that the DEA is a refuge of evil scumbags and needs to be abolished, here's another exhibit (from the good people at DRCNet): Federal agents arrested Dr. Stephen Schneider, operator of the...
February 1, 2008 in Pharma, Policy | Permalink | Comments (4)

PHARMA/TECH: Drug interaction checkers and more

I'm up over at the Health 2.0 Blog talking about my favorite drug interaction checker. Meanwhile if you (yes, that means you) want to write on the Health 2.0 Blog, please email me and let me know.
January 17, 2008 in Health 2.0, Pharma, Technology | Permalink | Comments (0)

PHARMA: Talking of gotcha's...

Schering Plough is coming under multo criticism the last two days for sitting on data for up to a year that shows that the anti-cholesterol drug Zetia, when combined with Merk’s Zocor in the combo drug Vytorin, not only didn’t...
January 16, 2008 in Pharma | Permalink | Comments (3)

BLOGS: Diabetes Year in Review

Our friend and colleague Amy Tenderich has a just excellent Diabetes Year in Review up at DiabetesMine. It covers Health 2.0 (of course) but also drugs devices, design, and the growth of people with diabetes as a social force. Amy...
December 18, 2007 in Consumers, Health 2.0, Pharma | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Pipeline: Vaccines v.s. Antibiotics by Dov Michaeli

In 1796 Dr. Edward Jenner performed an experiment that today would have got him expelled from his Medical Society, and maybe even landed them in jail. He vaccinated a boy against smallpox by pricking his arms with pus taken from...
December 5, 2007 in Pharma | Permalink | Comments (3)

PHARMA: Shocking revelations

Says here (“here” being a long mea culpa article by a psychiatrist and former agent of Wyeth in the NY Times) that some doctors get paid by drug companies to give talks to other doctors about drugs, and that not...
November 26, 2007 in Pharma | Permalink | Comments (0)

PHARMA: Health Business Blog interviews Genentech about Avastin

This is a pretty good example of a smart consultant using his blog to explain something complex. David Williams at the Health Business Blog got an on the record interview from Genentech about Avastin and Lucentis. If you know the...
November 2, 2007 in Pharma | Permalink | Comments (5)

PharmaSURVEYOR in a capsule By Erick Von Schweber

THCB frequently spotlights Health 2.0 startups that are using Web 2.0 technology in new and innovative ways to solve healthcare challenges. Today we feature Erick and Linda Von Schweber, the developers of a new web-based system that allows consumers to...
October 25, 2007 in Pharma | Permalink | Comments (1)

HEALTH2.0: Sermo, Pfizer: Big Pharma puts big toe in social networking waters

You can’t trust those Brits. I get a super exclusive on the Sermo-Pfizer deal and those damn Brits at the FT break the press embargo. So much for “honour” amongst journalists! This is the latest version of Big Pharma’s experiment...
October 15, 2007 in Health 2.0, Pharma | Permalink | Comments (9)

PHARMA/QUALITY: Merrill Goozner has dug into "The Most Costly Earmark in S-CHIP"

GoozNews: The Most Costly Earmark in S-CHIP Increased risk of death. No benefit. Higher costs for taxpayers. The ongoing Epo saga, whose latest chapter is being written on Capitol Hill, is a perfect example of why our health care outcomes...
August 27, 2007 in Pharma, Quality | Permalink | Comments (1)

OMNI: The Oncology Metrics National Index - Brian Klepper

An innovative Ft. Worth consulting firm comprised of experienced oncology professionals, Oncology Metrics, has linked private oncology practices throughout the country in a collaborative, knowledge-sharing enterprise, called the Oncology Circle. The first round of information brought together 22 practices containing...
August 20, 2007 in Brian Klepper, Pharma, Physicians, Quality, Technology, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (6)

PHARMA: Great history and analysis of the FDA

From Emily Friedman at HHN. It's called Happy Tails, Jake Leg, and the Food and Drug Administration and unusually for a mainstream publication it notes that Prohibition is stupid.
August 9, 2007 in Pharma | Permalink | Comments (2)

PHARMA: Time to get Shakespearean at big Pharma? by The Industry Veteran

The Industry Veteran has been busy this summer, but luckily for those missing his unique view of the pharma world, he’s ba-ack. And in his purview this time is the whole issue of why Big Pharma is filling its top...
August 7, 2007 in Pharma | Permalink | Comments (2)

PHARMA: HealthDot Pharma Report 04

The ScribeMedia guys bring you the HealthDot Pharma Report 04. Unusual and perhaps the future? UPDATE: Link fixed.
June 27, 2007 in Pharma | Permalink | Comments (0)

PHARMA/PHYSICIANS/HOSPITALS/QUALITY: Busy busy busy

My correspondents have sent me lots of articles today. All worth a read— When Is a Pain Doctor a Drug Pusher? Basically never as far as I can tell but in the DEA’s view any time the DEA feels that...
June 22, 2007 in Hospitals, Pharma, Physicians, Quality | Permalink | Comments (7)

PHYSICIANS/PHARMA: Klepper on oncology

Brian Klepper has an excellent piece on the mess in oncology called The cognitive dissonance of conflicted care (over at Pat Salber's blog The Doctor Weighs In).
June 20, 2007 in Pharma, Physicians | Permalink | Comments (6)

PHARMA/POLICY: Crackpots at Hoover

The NY Times gives an op-ed to a crackpot called Henry Miller who used to be a minor official at FDA and is now with the other loonies at Hoover. It’s called Crackpot Legislation in which he goes after those...
June 18, 2007 in Pharma, Policy | Permalink | Comments (2)

PHARMA: Two interesting articles on Avandia

Both from Pat Salber’s blog. One on “How did we get into this mess” by Dov Michaeli and the other by Pat herself, called Truth and Consequences.
June 15, 2007 in Pharma | Permalink | Comments (0)

PHARMA: I guess Crawford's lucky he's not Chinese

Lester Crawford's incredibly undistinguished tenure at the FDA ended in weird pseudo disgrace. on the other hand these guys think that his fate could have been much worse.
May 31, 2007 in Pharma | Permalink | Comments (0)

PHARMA/POLICY: War on drugs a loser

A major Canadian paper is saying something rather sensible--"War on drugs a loser".
May 29, 2007 in Pharma, Policy, Policy/Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)

PHARMA: What the Zubillaga affair may suggest, by The Industry Veteran

We haven’t spent much time over here talking about the “buckets of cash” scandal that’s been keeping the pharma-focused bloggers very busy, and even less comment on the apparently expensive and rather bizarre purchase of MedImmune. Both concerning AstraZeneca. But...
May 10, 2007 in Pharma | Permalink | Comments (5)

PHARMA/PHYSICIANS: ESRD centers having the curtain pulled back

The NY Times shows that apparently doctors owning ESRD centers and others running chemo-infusions centers reap millions for Anemia drugs . Who knew? OK, anyone reading THCB for the past few years knows all about this, but now that it’s...
May 9, 2007 in Pharma, Physicians | Permalink | Comments (9)

PHARMA/POLICY: DEA insanity continues--Dr. Hurwitz Convicted

I’m a little late as this happened last week, but it has to be reported even though it makes me very angry. The DEA and its poodles in the DOJ have succeeded in getting Dr. William Hurwitz Convicted on 16...
May 7, 2007 in Pharma, Policy | Permalink | Comments (2)

PHYSICIANS/PHARMA: Fool me once-shame on you. Fool me twice.....er won't get fooled again? by The Industry Veteran

So there’s been a fair amount of fuss about a new paper by two academics, one a former drug rep, about the tricks big Pharma uses to “fool” physicians when it details them. You may not be impressed and may...
May 1, 2007 in Pharma, Physicians | Permalink | Comments (3)

PHARMA: Fard on Pharma-Non-Profit Cause Alliances

Fard Johnmar at Envision Solutions has another report out. This one is about the public’s view of disease specific non-profits, such as the American Diabetes, Heart, Cancer, et al Associations/Societies and their alliances with drug companies. Neither side looks too...
April 26, 2007 in Pharma | Permalink | Comments (0)

PHARMA/POLICY: Is the drug war nearing an end?

It's Friday and I'm up over at Spot-on with a rather too hopefully titled piece called, Is the drug war nearing an end?. Come back here to comment.
April 6, 2007 in Pharma, Policy | Permalink | Comments (1)

PHARMA/POLICY: John Tierney covers the Hurwitz Trial

John Tierney, who sadly gave up his libertarian op-ed column in the NY Times reports on the William Hurwitz trial. Regular THCB readers will remember how appalling the DEA is in its draconian persecution of pain doctors, and how they...
April 4, 2007 in Pharma, Policy | Permalink | Comments (2)

PHARMA: 60 Minutes on the MMA

60 Minutes on Sunday had an entertaining story about the Medicare drug bill’s passage in late 2003. Not exactly new news, but a fun retelling of how Tom Delay, and PhRMA rammed the bill through literally by holding the vote...
April 3, 2007 in Pharma | Permalink | Comments (4)

PHARMA: Ecstasy commercial

Ecstasy commercial — great parody (at Kevin, M.D)
March 30, 2007 in Pharma | Permalink | Comments (0)

PBM/PHARMA: The Group Guy

The Group Guy: new blog from a benefits broker who is not too impressed with PBMs or the average knowledge level of his customers about generics.
March 28, 2007 in PBMs, Pharma | Permalink | Comments (2)

PHARMA/PYSICIANS: United is getting grumpy at the oncology-industrial complex

While I’ve been focusing on pricking egos in the HBS common room, Greg Pawelski has been keeping vigil on our friends over in the wonderful world of chemo. The main recent development is the FDA issuing a warning about overuse...
March 27, 2007 in Pharma, Physicians | Permalink | Comments (6)