Drug prices continued: Innovation?
Pharmaceutical manufacturers claim that they need patent protection and marketing exclusivity so they can charge high prices to recoup the costs of drug development and clinical trials. There are a few things wrong with this argument, but they add up to the general fact that the system does not serve the public interest. Drug companies care about one thing only, that is profit. And the pursuit of profit does not serve the interests of public health or social welfare.One obvious mismatch between the goal of public health and the goal of profit is that a relatively cheap drug that you can take once or for a week or so, that ...
Source: Stayin' Alive - January 23, 2024 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
TAB ’ s July 2021 update
TAB wrote his update as a comment to the post I wrote about him back in 2012, but I decided that this update should be turned into a post, as follows…
TAB’s Update 7/9/2021
Smoldering 20 years, progression 2 years, Velcade for 4 months = complete remission.
My journey with IgA Lambda Multiple Myeloma has been a long one. At age 80 I am finally in complete remission. During the first 20 years I took only over the counter supplements which in my opinion kept the beast at bay. I plotted the results of my blood tests using Excel and relied on the trend lines to keep track of how I was doing. After a few years of supple...
Source: Margaret's Corner - July 19, 2021 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll Source Type: blogs
Celegene REMS Has An App
It’s been a while since I took Pomalyst or Revlimid. I used to have to make a call to Celgene to take a survey. The purpose of the survey is just to make sure patients are aware of the safety concerns. I just got a call from the cancer center pharmacy that I can pick …
The post Celegene REMS Has An App first appeared on Beth Morgan Multiple Myeloma Treatment Blog. (Source: beth's myeloma blog)
Source: beth's myeloma blog - June 21, 2021 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Beth Tags: Myeloma Treatment pomalidomide Pomalyst celgene Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, January 13th 2020
In this study, we investigated the link between AF and senescence markers through the assessment of protein expression in the tissue lysates of human appendages from patients in AF, including paroxysmal (PAF) or permanent AF (PmAF), and in sinus rhythm (SR). The major findings of the study indicated that the progression of AF is strongly related to the human atrial senescence burden as determined by p53 and p16 expression. The stepwise increase of senescence (p53, p16), prothrombotic (TF), and proremodeling (MMP-9) markers observed in the right atrial appendages of patients in SR, PAF, and PmAF points toward multiple inter...
Source: Fight Aging! - January 12, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Suppression of Neuroinflammation as a Treatment for Neurodegenerative Disease
There is a growing focus on inflammation in the brain as an important factor in the progression of neurodegenerative disease. One result is greater thought given to therapeutic strategies involving the suppression of inflammatory signaling, akin to the approaches used to control inflammatory autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. I would wager that this is probably not as good a strategy as removing senescent glial cells in the brain, and thus removing their sizable contribution to inflammatory signaling, given the animal data in support of that approach, but it will certainly be attempted in the years ahead.
...
Source: Fight Aging! - January 8, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Treat so-called “ high-risk ” smoldering myeloma … Yes or No?
My (predictable) answer is “NO, absolutely NOT.” Not until you begin having CRAB symptoms. But first things first…
I began writing this post last week, then I just had too many things to do so I didn’t finish my draft. Then, yesterday morning, before going to work, I came across an article by Dr. Brian Durie (I don’t think I need to explain who he is!) making some of the points I had already made in my draft, BUT from the point of view of a world-famous hematologist.
So I decided to cut my draft in half and give you the link to Dr. Durie’s piece: http://bit.ly/2WWwsX9
But, of course, I ...
Source: Margaret's Corner - November 7, 2019 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll HR SMM lenalidomide Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, May 20th 2019
Fight Aging! provides a weekly digest of news and commentary for thousands of subscribers interested in the latest longevity science: progress towards the medical control of aging in order to prevent age-related frailty, suffering, and disease, as well as improvements in the present understanding of what works and what doesn't work when it comes to extending healthy life. Expect to see summaries of recent advances in medical research, news from the scientific community, advocacy and fundraising initiatives to help speed work on the repair and reversal of aging, links to online resources, and much more.
This content is...
Source: Fight Aging! - May 19, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Is α-synuclein, Like Tau, Driven to Aggregate by the Activities of Inflammatory Microglia?
What are the important steps in the progression of neurodegenerative diseases characterized by the presence of protein aggregates? These aggregates are misfolded or otherwise altered proteins that precipitate to form solid deposits. This means α-synuclein in the case of Parkinson's disease, or amyloid-β and tau in the cause of Alzheimer's disease, to pick the best known examples. A growing body of evidence is pointing to dysfunction and inflammation in the immune cells known as microglia, a type of macrophage resident in the central nervous system. Like macrophages elsewhere in the body, microglia are responsible for cha...
Source: Fight Aging! - May 17, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
Last Month in Oncology with Dr. Bishal Gyawali: November 2018
By BISHAL GYAWALI MD
Keynote speech
There was a very sobering piece in NEJM by the FDA last month in which the authors try to explore what went wrong with the Keynote-183, Keynote-185 and checkmate 602 trials testing PD-1 inhibitors combinations with pomalidomide or lenalidomide and dexamethasone in multiple myeloma. Interim analysis of Keynote 183 and 185 revealed detrimental effects on overall survival (OS) with hazard ratios of 1.61 and 2.06, not explained by differences in toxicities alone. The checkmate 602 trial was also halted in light of these findings and also showed higher mortality in the nivolumab combina...
Source: The Health Care Blog - December 17, 2018 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: matthew holt Tags: Pharmaceuticals Physicians Bishal Gyawali Cancer drugs cancer immunotherapy Clinical Trials FDA Oncology PD-1 inhibitors Source Type: blogs
Out in the cold
I just read an article mainly about the cost of Revlimid in the U.S.A. and the “games” that Celgene, the maker of Revlimid, has been playing in order to prevent it from becoming a generic drug.
The article tells the story of Pam Holt, a myeloma patient and retired educator, who pays $640 a month in order to take Revlimid: http://goo.gl/LHa5Jn
Having myeloma is hard enough, but being forced to go into debt in order to have conventional treatments is simply OUTRAGEOUS.
The greed of these big drug companies has to be stopped…
I consider myself extremely lucky to live in a country (Italy) where nobody has to...
Source: Margaret's Corner - February 8, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll Celgene myeloma Pam Holt Revlimid Source Type: blogs
“The bone-marrow niche in MDS and MGUS: implications for AML and MM.” Part 2.
Back to the Dana-Farber study that I wrote about a couple of days ago.
The section titled “Therapeutic opportunities” is interesting. How to prevent progression, that is. As you can imagine, the chef’s daily special consists only of conventional treatments. For example, the authors make a reference to the Spanish study (Mateos et al) that I have repeatedly condemned here on the blog. The Spanish researchers–some with strong ties to the big pharmaceutical companies (hello???)–tested lenalidomide and dexamethasone on a group of SMM patients. The study claims to have prolonged progression-free survival and e...
Source: Margaret's Corner - January 31, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll The bone-marrow niche in MDS and MGUS: implications for AML and MM. Dana Farber high risk myeloma SMM Source Type: blogs
Latest Legal Settlements Suggest Hazards of Making Pharmaceutical Regulation More Lenient, as is Apparently Favored by New FDA Leader
DiscussionAll the cases discussed above were of behavior that could have harmed patients. Many of the companies involved had records of previous ethical misadventures. While a few cases resulted in corporate guilty pleas (to misdemeanors), none resulted in monetary penalties that would have much impact on the companies ' finances, and none resulted in any negative consequences for people who enabled, authorized, directed or implemented the bad behavior.These, just the latest in the march oflegal settlements by large health care organizations, again demonstrate how often and how seriously pharmaceutical companie...
Source: Health Care Renewal - October 1, 2017 Category: Health Management Tags: adulterated drugs Celgene crime deception FDA impunity legal settlements market fundamentalism Novo Nordisk revolving doors thalidomide Source Type: blogs
Taking Center Stage - Washington State ’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the False Claims Act and Celgene
On July 26, 2017, the Washington State Attorney General (“AG”) Bob Ferguson (“Ferguson”) announced one of the State’s largest recoveries against the Pharmaceutical Company Celgene (“Celgene”) for allegations involving violations of the Medicaid False Claims Act, in particulars claims related to the company’s off-label marketing, fraudulent billing and providing kickbacks to doctors. The Washington State AG recovery represents a pivotal point in life science compliance, where State AGs similar to Seattle, are actively seeking recoveries against companies ...
Source: Policy and Medicine - September 27, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
Celgene Settles Whistleblower Suit for $280 Million
Late July 2017, Celgene Corp., a manufacturer of pharmaceuticals, agreed to pay $280 million to settle fraud allegations related to the promotion of two cancer treatment drugs for uses not approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The settlement resolves allegations brought in a “whistleblower” lawsuit that Celgene promoted two cancer drugs – Thalomid and Revlimid – for uses that were not approved by the FDA and not covered by federal health care programs. The allegations included the use of false and misleading statements about the drugs, and paying kickbacks to physicians to induce them t...
Source: Policy and Medicine - September 8, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
Celgene Settles Cancer Drug Whistleblower Suit
Celgene Corporation has settled a whistleblower lawsuit for $280 million, alleging that the pharmaceutical company committed fraud promoting Thalomid, a cancer drug allegedly promoted for uses not approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The settlement will be broken up between the United States and twenty-eight states and Washington, D.C. California will receive the largest state sum, $4.7 million.
The payment is equivalent to about two weeks’ worth of sales of Revlimid, which generated $6.97 billion in revenue for Celgene last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The settlement, ini...
Source: Policy and Medicine - August 3, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
