Word: pharma
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...Pfizer's move is a dramatic one, but it's also an important one-and not just for Big Pharma's balance sheets. In the wake of the Vioxx withdrawal, many arthritis sufferers have turned to drugs in the ibuprofen and naproxen families, such as Advil and Aleve. But earlier this year the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that those drugs may also carry cardiovascular risks; in any event, for some people they just don't pack the same pain-relieving punch. Others patients are relying on oxycontin and morphine-based medications, which may not endanger the cardiovascular system...
...Junior World Rowing Championships, rowing in the Great Britain 8. Favorite childhood toy: Legos. Fave part about Harvard: The people. Describe yourself in three words: Euro, athletic, intense. In 15 minutes you are: Writing my Justice paper. In 15 years you are: Working for a pharma company making (good) drugs...
...aimed at convincing doctors and the public that a remarkable new drug is in their midst. "Once upon a time drug companies promoted drugs to treat diseases," Angell writes. "Now it is often the opposite. They promote diseases to fit the drugs." To create new markets, she argues, big pharma has been complicit in pathologizing a host of minor complaints. A spot of heartburn used to be a nuisance most of us put up without a thought of reporting it to our doctor. Now, writes Angell, it's called "gastroesophageal reflux disease ... and marketed, along with the drugs to treat...
...pharma couldn't get away with a lot of what it does without help, says Angell, who describes a world in which researchers are all too eager to align themselves with industry in order to make money from their discoveries, and who accept industry funding to conduct, and interpret the results of, trials of drugs in which they may have a financial stake. Then there are the doctors who, seduced by the standard three-pronged charm offensive of drug company sales reps - food, flattery and friendship - respond by prescribing certain drugs with a frequency they wouldn't otherwise have contemplated...
...change industry practices before regulations do. The flow of new drugs is slowing to a trickle, patents on many blockbuster drugs are close to running out, and falling profits are being further eroded by legal costs incurred fighting allegations of dubious practices. Her hope is not that big pharma collapses, but that it returns to the business of trying to produce better medicines. For the companies, would that really be such a bitter pill to swallow...