Disrupting Healthcare Through Science
During these last days of summer, we here at Disruptive Women are reflecting on posts from when we first launched—it’s fascinating to see how far we’ve come and where we still have to go—to push—to Disrupt. After all, a woman’s work is never done. We originally published this post on September 25, 2008.
Shortly after the passage of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, in the 110th Congress, a reporter asked me why I thought the bill was so important. I pondered the question briefly and replied, perhaps in a way she was not expecting, that I felt we now were poised with an informed congress who better...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - September 1, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Personalized Medicine Source Type: blogs
Branded as Well As Unbranded Vaccine Ads Are the Scariest!
WhenSTATnews reporter Rebecca Robbins (@rebeccadrobbins) interviewed me about what's behind ominous unbranded"disease awareness" ads, I opined that if you ’re a drug maker, “you don’t want to attach a dark image to the brand — so you’re attaching this dark imagery to a medical condition instead,” which leaves room for a branded ad that shows “the bright side: that there’s this product that can save the day” (Read"#Pharma'Disease Awareness' Ads: Are They'Stealthy' Fear Mongering Set Pieces?").That"conventional wisdom" or"rule" -- if it is one -- o...
Source: Pharma Marketing Blog - August 31, 2016 Category: Pharmaceuticals Tags: Gardasil GSK HPV Meningitis B Pfizer Trumenba Vaccine Source Type: blogs
“ Treat ” cholesterol, exorcise the bogeyman
Cholesterol panels are a source of constant confusion for many people. And most doctors are no help, having been brainwashed by marketing from the drug industry, who pass off clinical trials as “science,” studies bought and paid for by the pharmaceutical industry to drive statin drug sales, with exaggerated results reported via absurd statistical manipulations (e.g., reporting “relative risk” rather than absolute risk, a misleading way to play games with numbers, a topic to discuss in future).
Sandy shared her lipid panel 2 1/2 years into her Wheat Belly experience:
“Got some blood work done,...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - August 22, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Wheat Belly Lifestyle cholesterol gluten grains Inflammation LDL statin Weight Loss Source Type: blogs
Update: Well-targeted brain training might significantly reduce dementia risk
— M GLASSER, D VAN ESSEN/WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
Time for a new edition of SharpBrains’ e-newsletter. Happy reading!
New brain research
ACTIVE study: Well-targeted brain training might significantly reduce dementia risk
To improve brain health you need BOTH aerobic and cognitive exercise
A new era of brain cartography, powered by neuroimaging and machine learning
New tools for brain health and performance
Akili raises an additional $11.9M; brings Amgen, Merck, Pfizer and Shire to the digital medicine table
Shaping the Future of Human Enhancement
Is Mental Health ready to start transitioning towards measurable brain ci...
Source: SharpBrains - July 28, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Authors: SharpBrains Tags: Cognitive Neuroscience Education & Lifelong Learning Health & Wellness Technology Uncategorized brain Brain-Training dementia risk digital medicine exercise neuroimaging Source Type: blogs
Pfizer: Another Settlement Down
This article goes through the case, the settlement, and what it means for the future.
Our readers may remember the “agreement in principle” reached between Pfizer, Inc. and the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) to settle the qui tam case with Wyeth, LLC. That agreement was recently made official by the parties, with the settlement being signed, sealed, and delivered on April 27, 2016.
As a refresher, allegations were made by Lauren Kieff, a former hospital sales representative for AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, and William St. John LaCorte, a physician, that Wyeth engaged in healthcare fraud from 2001 to 2006...
Source: Policy and Medicine - July 21, 2016 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
Akili raises an additional $11.9M; brings Amgen, Merck, Pfizer and Shire to the digital medicine table
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Akili Adds Amgen Ventures and M Ventures* to Series B Financing, Increasing Round to $42.4 Million (press release):
“Akili Interactive Labs, Inc. (“Akili”), a digital medicine company developing novel, non-pharmacological therapeutics and diagnostics for cognitive disorders, today announced an $11.9 million expansion of its recent Series B financing. Merck Ventures BV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, a subsidiary of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany (known as M Ventures in the United States and Canada), and Amgen Ventures, the venture arm of Amgen, joined existing investors to bring the total Series B proceeds to $42...
Source: SharpBrains - July 21, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Authors: SharpBrains Tags: Attention and ADD/ADHD Cognitive Neuroscience Health & Wellness Technology Akili Akili Interactive Labs Amgen Ventures biopharma cognitive--disorders diagnostics digital medicine Merck Ventures neurodegeneration neurological no Source Type: blogs
Physician Recommends Against Quitting Smoking for Smokers Who Do Not Want to Use NRT or Cessation Drugs; Hides Conflict of Interest
An article in the Annals of Family Medicine argues that smokers who do not wish to use nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), varenicline, or other drugs should be counseled by their physicians not to quit smoking. Specifically, these patients should not be encouraged to try to quit using e-cigarettes. Moreover, the article scares physicians into thinking that if they do encourage smoking cessation via e-cigarettes, they are putting themselves into legal danger.According to the lead author - Dr. Adam Goldstein of the University of North Carolina - e-cigarettes are dangerous and have not shown to be helpful in smoking cessatio...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - July 19, 2016 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs
Insurers Can Reduce Drug Prices, If Policymakers Let Them
Whilst decrying rapid increases in drug spending and prices, elected officials have actually made it increasingly difficult for insurers to do anything about it. As payers, insurers are the only parties in the health care system who have both the means and the incentive to counter drug firms’ pricing power. For example, insurers have aggressively steered patients from branded to generic drugs, saving billions in the process. However, much of the growth in drug spending is attributable to new drugs that do not yet face generic competition.
In normal markets, monopolies face constraints on their pricing power. The higher t...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - July 14, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: David Howard Tags: Costs and Spending Drugs and Medical Technology Featured Medicare Big Pharma Eric Schneiderman Gilead Prescription Drugs reimbursement policy Source Type: blogs
Bad Apple or Bad Orchard? - A Narrative of Alleged Individual Research Misconduct that Sidestepped the Pharmaceutical Corporate Context
Conclusion So it seems that in this case a study which may not have been conducted according to research standards was likely a pharmaceutical sponsored, designed, and controlled Phase II trial done as part of an effort to seek approval for a new drug. Hence this case was not only about allegations of individual research misconduct, but about yet more problems with the implementation of commercially controlled human experiments designed to ultimately further marketing as well as science. Yet none of the public discussion so far of this case was about whether Pfizer had any responsibilities to assure the quality...
Source: Health Care Renewal - July 7, 2016 Category: Health Management Tags: anechoic effect clinical research integrity clinical trials New York University Pfizer pharmaceuticals Source Type: blogs
Pfizer agrees to truth in opioid marketing - The Washington Post
Pfizer, the world's second- largest drug company, has agreed to a written code of conduct for the marketing of opioids that some officials hope will set a standard for manufacturers of narcotics and help curb the use of the addictive painkillers.
Though Pfizer does not sell many opioids compared with other industry leaders, its action sets it apart from companies that have been accused of fueling an epidemic of opioid misuse through aggressive marketing of their products.
Pfizer has agreed to disclose in its promotional material that narcotic painkillers carry serious risk of addiction — even when used proper...
Source: Psychology of Pain - July 6, 2016 Category: Anesthesiology Source Type: blogs
What Is The Private Sector Doing To Help Fight Zika?
Golfer Rory McIlroy, from Northern Ireland and one of the top golfers in the world, stated this week that he would not be participating in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. According to USA Today, McIlroy explained that “even though the risk of infection from the Zika virus is considered low, it is a risk nonetheless and a risk I am unwilling to take.”
What is being done by the private sector to help not only Olympic athletes going to Brazil, but numerous other people affected by this virus in Brazil and other countries, including the United States?
According to a June 6 (updated June 8) whitehouse.gov blog p...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - June 24, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: Lee-Lee Prina Tags: Global Health GrantWatch Public Health Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Consumers Health Philanthropy Health Promotion and Disease PreventionGW Medicaid Politics Puerto Rico Zika virus Source Type: blogs
Pediatrics "Gateway" Article Author Hiding Conflicts of Interest with Big Pharma; Drug Companies Have Gotten More than their Money's Worth
Last week, I discussed an article published in Pediatrics which is going to deal a devastating blow to the vaping industry because it wrongly concludes that e-cigarettes are a gateway to smoking among youth. Evidence like this is the death knell to vaping, as perhaps it should be if it were true.The problem, however, is that as I explained, the Pediatrics study cannot conclude that e-cigarettes are a gateway to smoking because it measured only e-cigarette experimentation at baseline and was unable to document that a single nonsmoking vaper actually became addicted to vaping. Nor was the study able to document that a single...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - June 20, 2016 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs
Pediatrics " Gateway " Article Author Hiding Conflicts of Interest with Big Pharma; Drug Companies Have Gotten More than their Money's Worth
Last week, I < a href= " http://tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.com/2016/06/new-pediatrics-study-provides.html " > discussed < /a > an < a href= " http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2016/06/10/peds.2016-0379 " > article < /a > published in < i > Pediatrics < /i > which is going to deal a devastating blow to the vaping industry because it wrongly concludes that e-cigarettes are a gateway to smoking among youth. Evidence like this is the death knell to vaping, as perhaps it < b > should < /b > be < b > if it were true < /b > . < br / > < br / > The problem, however, is that as I explained, the < i > Pediatrics ...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - June 20, 2016 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs
2-Month Old Infant Suffered Apnea and Died Following 8 Vaccines
Conclusion
After watching their son get buried, Cash’s parents were thrown into a world they didn’t know much about. They were now another set of grieving parents who senselessly lost their child due to medical practices recommended under a doctor’s care.
Vaccines are being ignored when compiling infant mortality data. In 2013, Cash Dewayne Thomas was one of 23,440 babies who died in the United States before reaching their first birthday, according to the latest infant mortality data published in 2016. [19] About 11,300 newborns die within their first day of life, many soon after receiving their first hepatitis B vac...
Source: vactruth.com - June 16, 2016 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Augustina Ursino Tags: Augustina Ursino Human Top Stories apnea Cash Dewayne Thomas Jesse Dewayne Thomas newborn vaccines truth about vaccines Vaccine Death Whitney Hill Source Type: blogs
Social Media Pharma Company of the Year
Measuring influence – how we used the Healthcare Social Graph® Score to determine PM Society’s Digital Awards winner The PM Society’s 2016 Digital Awards took place last month in London, and we were again asked to do the analysis and present the winner of the Social Media Pharma Company of the Year award. In order for a company to have an effective social media presence it must know where the relevant conversations are taking place, the style of messaging that resonates among … Continued (Source: Connecting the dots in healthcare social media – Symplur)
Source: Connecting the dots in healthcare social media – Symplur - May 11, 2016 Category: Information Technology Authors: Audun Utengen Tags: Connecting the dots in healthcare social media AbbVie Bayer Boehringer Healthcare Social Graph Novartis Pfizer Pharma Social Media PM Society Source Type: blogs
