Latest Project News

• Project Manager Nicole Dubowitz wrote a brief article on Low-T marketing and how exposure to testosterone products may affect women and children for the National Research Center for Women and Families website.
   
• We released our 2013 Annual Report, available here.
   
• Dr. Fugh-Berman was an invited speaker at the 2013 FDA/CMS Summit for Biopharma Executives in D.C. on December 11-12. Dr. Fugh-Berman took part in the "Beyond the 'Label': Promotion in the Facebook Era" panel  with Mit Spears, Executive VP and General Counsel to the Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and Coleen Klasmeier, Partner at Sidley Austin LLP. About 300 representatives from industry and government attended.
   
• Dr. Fugh-Berman also spoke on "Promoting Profitable Drugs" to the Canadian Agency on Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH)  in Ottawa. CADTH is an independent, not-for-profit agency that is funded by Canada’s federal, provincial, and territorial governments to provide evidence-based information to health care leaders.
   
• Dr. Fugh-Berman was quoted in Financial Times' December 27 article, "Ethics: End of the Hard Sell?", on increased scrutiny of pharmaceutical industry marketing.

PharmedOut's Resource of the Month: In 2014, make sure all your CME comes from unbiased sources. PharmedOut rounds up plenty of free online options on our website.

Physicians: Keep sending us your trash! PharmedOut collects and archives marketing materials from industry, including sales rep "leave-behinds", reprints (mailed or hand-delivered), advertisements, and invitations to CME events or promotional talks. So please don't throw them away; send them to us!
 

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News Round-up 
(for more, please follow @pharmed_out on Twitter!)

December: Pew Charitable Trusts released their "best practices" on conflicts of interest in academic medical centers http://www.pewhealth.org/uploadedFiles/PHG/Content_Level_Pages/Reports/COI-Best-Practices-Report.pdf

December 4: The New York Times Opinionator: "To Make Hospitals Less Deadly, a Dose of Data" http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/04/to-make-hospitals-less-deadly-a-dose-of-data

December 4: New York Times "Well" blog: "Muscle Aches From Statins? Drug Interactions May Play a Role" http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/04/muscle-aches-from-statins-drug-interactions-may-play-a-role/

December 5: StarTribune: "U faculty calls for review of controversial drug study" http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/234681271.html

December 7: Boston Business Journal: "An effective eye drug is available for $50. But many doctors choose a $2,000 alternative." http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/an-effective-eye-drug-is-available-for-50-but-many-doctors-choose-a-2000-alternative/2013/12/07/1a96628e-55e7-11e3-8304-caf30787c0a9_story.html

December 10: Medscape: "Nobel Prize Winner Blasts Leading Science Journals" http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/817597

December 14: New York Times: "The Selling of Attention Deficit Disorder" http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/health/the-selling-of-attention-deficit-disorder.html

December 17: New York Times: "Glaxo Says It Will Stop Paying Doctors to Promote Drugs" http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/17/business/glaxo-says-it-will-stop-paying-doctors-to-promote-drugs.html

           > In response, on December 17: ProPublica: "GlaxoSmithKline to Quit Paying Doctors for Promotional Talks" http://www.propublica.org/article/glaxosmithkline-to-quit-paying-doctors-for-promotional-talks

           > December 17: NPR: "Why Glaxo Won't Pay Doctors To Sell Its Drugs Anymore" http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/12/17/251965775/why-glaxo-wont-pay-doctors-to-sell-its-drugs-anymore

December 18: New York Times: "Hypertension Guidelines Can Be Eased, Panel Says" http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/19/health/blood-pressure-guidelines-can-be-loosened-panel-says.html

December 18: MedPage Today: "Antidepressant Dressed Up For Menopause" http://www.medpagetoday.com/Endocrinology/Menopause/43478

December 24: Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News: "High-Testosterone Men Have the Weakest Immune Responses" http://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-highlights/high-testosterone-men-have-the-weakest-immune-responses/81249287/

December 26: NewsInferno: "Study: Hip Device Regulatory Review Found to be “Entirely Inadequate” http://www.newsinferno.com/study-hip-device-regulatory-review-found-to-be-entirely-inadequate/
 

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