FDA Approves Combination Of Ezetimibe And Atorvastatin
The FDA has approved a new combination drug from Merck for lowering cholesterol. The drug, which will carry the brand name of Liptruzet, is a combination of two previously approved cholesterol-lowering drugs, ezetimibe and atorvastatin. Merck said the new drug (pronounced “LIP-true-zett”) would be commercially available starting next week. Liptruzet will be available as a once-daily tablet combining 10 mg of ezetimibe with either 10, 20, 40, or 80 mg of atorvastatin. In clinical trials Liptruzet lowered LDL cholesterol from 53% to 61%, depending on dosage. … Click here to read the full post on More…...
Source: CardioBrief - May 3, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: People, Places & Events Policy & Ethics Prevention, Epidemiology & Outcomes atorvastatin ezetimibe FDA food and drug administration Low-density lipoprotein Merck Merck & Co statins vytorin Source Type: blogs
Six ways Big Pharma manipulates consumers - Salon
This article originally appeared on AlterNet.
The blockbuster pill profit party is over for Big Pharma. Bestselling pills like Lipitor, Seroquel, Zyprexa, Singular and Concerta have gone off patent and sites which their ads sustained are withering on the vine. WebMD, for example, the voice of Pharma on the Web, with a former Pfizer exec serving as CEO, announced it would cut 250 positions in December.
But don’t worry, Wall Street. Pharma isn’t going to deliver disappointing earnings just because it has little or no new drugs coming online and has failed at the very reason for its existence. Here are six new Pharma ma...
Source: PharmaGossip - April 28, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Physician Payment Sunshine: Some Pharmaceutical Companies Reduced Meal Payments to Health Care Providers
Fox business news recently reported that two pharmaceutical companies reduced meal spending on doctors last year by double-digit percentages, “as greater transparency,” such as the Physician Payment Sunshine Act, and ProPublica, “shed light” on physician industry collaboration.
“Reduced spending on dinners and other events where drug makers pay expert doctors to give presentations to peers about certain drugs and diseases became a big source of the declines for Pfizer Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK). Also, layoffs of pharmaceutical-sales representatives and patent expirations for big-selling drugs have r...
Source: Policy and Medicine - April 22, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
Blood Sample Mismatch Leads ‘Anguished’ Authors To Retract Three Lipitor Papers
Three substudies of the influential TNT (Treating to New Targets) trial have been retracted after the sponsor of the trial, Pfizer, discovered that blood samples from the study had been matched to the wrong participants. The main results of TNT, published in 2005 in the New England Journal of Medicine, had a major impact on clinical practice and statin prescription patterns. The trial supported the increasingly aggressive use of statins and helped to solidify the enormous commercial success of atorvastatin (Lipitor, Pfizer). The 3 newly-retracted substudies do not appear to affect the main finding of TNT. Two paper...
Source: CardioBrief - April 16, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Uncategorized American Heart Journal atorvastatin journal of the american college of cardiology Lipitor Pfizer Source Type: blogs
Castlight president discusses new pharmacy and health plan offerings (transcript)
This is the transcript of yesterday’s podcast with Castlight Health President John Driscoll.
David E. Williams: This is David Williams from the Health Business Group. I’m speaking today with John Driscoll, president of Castlight Health. John, nice to speak with you today.
John Driscoll: Great to be with you, David.
Williams: John, we’re going to talk about two topics today. One is the new Castlight Pharmacy product and another is Castlight’s emergence in my home market of Massachusetts with its first health plan deal with Harvard Pilgrim.
Let’s talk abou...
Source: Health Business Blog - April 12, 2013 Category: Health Managers Authors: David E. Williams of the Health business blog Tags: Entrepreneurs Health plans Pharma Podcast Source Type: blogs
Some Drug Makers Cut Payments, Meals Provided to Doctors | Fox Business
via foxbusiness.com wo pharmaceutical companies that are among the biggest payers of fees to doctors reduced such spending last year by double-digit percentages, as greater transparency sheds light on the hundreds of millions of dollars the industry pays physicians for marketing and research efforts. Reduced spending on dinners and other events where drug makers pay expert doctors to give presentations to peers about certain drugs and diseases became a big source of the declines for Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK). Also, layoffs of pharmaceutical-sales representatives and patent expirations for big-selling ...
Source: PharmaGossip - April 11, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Clopidogrel and statin releoad protects against early cerebral ischemic events
ARMYA-9 CAROTID study [Patti G et al. Strategies of Clopidogrel Load and Atorvastatin Reload to Prevent Ischemic Cerebral Events in Patients Undergoing Protected Carotid Stenting: Results of the Randomized ARMYDA-9 CAROTID (Clopidogrel and Atorvastatin Treatment During Carotid Artery Stenting) Study. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2013;61(13):1379-1387.] has concluded that a loading dose of 600 mg of clopidogrel and high dose atorvastatin in those undergoing carotid stenting protects against early ischemic cerebral events. The study involved over one hundred and fifty patients who underwent protected carotid stenting. Clopidogrel load...
Source: Cardiophile MD - March 31, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Prof. Dr. Johnson Francis MD, DM, FACC, FRCP Edin Tags: Angiography and Interventions Source Type: blogs
#183: Mixed messages on new bleeding data with dabigatran; "high-potency" statins linked to acute kidney injury; dabigatran might cut hospital days vs standard anticoagulants in new AF; US supermarket chain giving away atorvastatin
Mixed messages on new bleeding data with dabigatran; "high-potency" statins linked to acute kidney injury; dabigatran might cut hospital days vs standard anticoagulants in new AF; US supermarket chain giving away atorvastatin (Source: Blogs@theHeart.org)
Source: Blogs@theHeart.org - March 22, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: theheart.org Tags: This week in cardiology from heartwire Source Type: blogs
Lipitor of the Soul: One Man's Response to Society's Heart Problems
Dalai's Note: My son, Dalai, Jr., offers this response to my recent post...Recently, my father, Doctor Dalai, wrote an article entitled “Atherosclerosis of the Soul” in which he describes “a thickening, a coarsening of whatever it is that makes us, well, us.” As a Freshman at BigBucks University, a medium sized research institution in the Midwest known for its rigorous Pre Med curriculum, I have both witnessed and experienced this phenomenon first hand. I have seen behavior that those removed from the situation would call soulless, robotic, and callous. I have watched myself and my fellow students push oursel...
Source: Dalai's PACS Blog - March 18, 2013 Category: Radiologists Source Type: blogs
March Diabetes News Snippet Post
Here are all the news items posted in March: Jennysaid... People taking Byetta, Victoza, Januvia, and Onglyza had less heart failure than those not on these drugs. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130310164109.htmHowever, it is likely this is because Avandia and Actos CAUSE heart failure, rather than that these other drugs prevent it. People are rarely put on both families of drugs at once. It may also be because these GLP-1 related drugs are mostly prescribed to affluent, younger people with diabetes and good health insurance, while poorer people are put on the cheap sulfonylurea drugs which are now known to ...
Source: Diabetes Update - March 11, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: Jenny Source Type: blogs
Bad Pharma And The Statin Wars - Forbes
It’s been amusing to watch former Pfizer executive John LaMattina try to pick apart Ben Goldacre’s new book, Bad Pharma, a powerful indictment of the industry in which LaMattina used to work. This is not the occasion to get into the details of this battle, but as an aside let me just say that I would advise any representatives of the pharmaceutical industry to think very carefully before choosing to take on Goldacre. John LaMattina What I want to focus on here is an assertion, accepted by both Goldacre and LaMattina, that is simply mistaken. LaMattina’s latest post is a r...
Source: PharmaGossip - March 2, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Ranbaxy To Resume Generic Lipitor Production In US
Three months after halting production of generic Lipitor due to tiny glass particles found in some lots, the troubled drugmaker says production has resumed. The move, which Ranbaxy hopes will end yet another embarrassing episode, comes after weeks were spent working with the FDA and implementing “multiple corrective and preventive actions,” according to a statement.
As noted previously, the recall came at a delicate time for Ranbaxy, which early last year signed a consent decree for a permanent injunction that prevents the Indian drugmaker from making medicines for the US market until certain facilities meet U...
Source: Pharmalot - February 22, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Lipitor Ranbaxy Laboratories Source Type: blogs
Ranbaxy Slams Consumers For Seeking Lipitor Recall
Last November, Ranbaxy Laboratories recalled more than three dozen lots of generic Lipitor because some contained tiny glass particles and the generic drugmaker then halted all production of the cholesterol pill. Not surprisingly, the move prompted lawsuits, even though the FDA indicated the likelihood of patient harm appeared to be “extremely low” (back story here and here).
But several consumers are asking a federal judge to order a complete recall and Ranbaxy is arguing vociferously against such a move. And as part of its argument, the generic drugmaker – which is already operating under a consent decr...
Source: Pharmalot - February 21, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Consent Decree FDA Lipitor Ranbaxy Laboratories Source Type: blogs
