Hello, everyone, and how are you today? We hope the long weekend was relaxing and invigorating. Ours went reasonably well, but for a power failure. Now, though, the lights are back on and that all-too-familiar routine of meetings and deadlines has returned. And what better way to cope than to brew a delicious cup of stimulation? So please join us as we prepare to attack a long list of communiques and topics to research. To help you along, here are some tidbits. Hope your day goes well and do stay in touch...
NSAIDs Linked To Lower Risk Of Skin Cancer (MedPage Today)
Teva Decides Not To Market Generic Lipitor (Globes)
Merck Serono May Announce More Job Cuts (Dow Jones)
EPA Considers New Pharmaceutical Waste Rules (Solid Waste & Recycling)
Maalox Supplies Dwindle Across Canada (CTV)
Sanofi And Regeneron Move Cholesterol Drug To Phase III (Pharma Times)
Roche Tightens Credit For Clinics In Spain And Portugal (Bloomberg News)
Lundbeck Alzheimer's Drug Meets Study Endpoints (Pharma Times)
Ranbaxy Gets FDA OK For First Acne Treatment (Reuters)
AstraZeneca Wins Latest Ruling Over Iressa Deaths In Japan (Daily Yomuiri)
Indian Ministries Bicker Over Pharma Pricing Policy (Financial Express)
EU Clears Roche Cancer Drug After Contamination Scare (Reuters)
US Senator Probes Obama Health Reform Deal With PR Firm (Pharma Times)
Some Canadians Unhappy With Vioxx Settlement (Herald News)
FDA Warns About Hospira Injectables (InPharma Technologist)
Pakistani Drugmakers Want Transparent Pricing Mechanism (Pakistan Today)
EDITOR'S NOTE: Please check this post for updates
sunrise pic thx to benimoto on flickr
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The Associated Press (AP), in giving an account of maneuverings by ASCO in its attempt to preserve its lucrative chemotherapy concession, stated that Public Interest Watch (PIW) called on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to open a formal investigation of its contract with Ketchum Communications to promote reforms to Medicare.
According to AP, Ketchum was HHS' principal contractor in its $87 million public campaign to gain acceptance of recent changes to Medicare. In its report, it also noted that Ketchum simultaneously was under contract with ASCO to scuttle some of the very changes HHS was paying it to promote.
PIW Interim Executive Director Lewis Fein stated, "Ketchum's conduct in this matter appears to be so blatantly unethical that it defies explanation. It is literally working both sides of the same issue and millions of taxpayer dollars are being wasted."
Fein also noted, "We believe the American Society of Clinical Onoclogists is just as at fault as Ketchum. ASCO's decision to retain Ketchum appears to be nothing more than a premeditated attempt to corrupt to legislative process and to waste millions in public funds in the process."
ASCO has run into trouble before in the course of its campaign against Medicare reform. The New York Times criticized "angry doctors" for terrorizing their patients" into believing that a reformed Medicare drug reimbursement plan would force them to turn cancer patients out to less convenient and less comfortable hospitals for chemotherapy treatment.