In Boston, docs to use direct action to #protest the #price of #insulin

11/19 update: Audio from the event. Activist docs argue that people are dying for lack of access to insulin. Tomorrow -- Friday -- the Right Care Alliance will take that complaint to the Sanofi offices in Cambridge. More here from STAT, including a company statement noting that it provides free medications for some low-income, uninsured …

Advertisement

Is the US setting the bar too low for new CF drug? Canada says it’s not worth it

From The Globe and Mail: Canadian governments should not pay for a $250,000-a-year cystic fibrosis medication because it is not clear the drug actually improves patients’ health, according to a fresh review that has devastated some with the potentially fatal lung disease.... In a report released on Thursday, the CADTH’s expert panel said its review …

Alzheimer’s drug promising? Page 1. Alzheimer’s drug not so promising? Page B12

Not sure how STAT played this on their site. In the the print version of The Boston Globe, it ran it on A1 Thursday Hopes rise again for a drug to slow Alzheimer’s disease The follow-up in today's print edition ran on B12, with this headline: Interpreting an Alzheimer's trial. Have yet to find in on …

Should #STAT take ads from drug industry lobbyists at #PhRMa?

While acknowledging the quality of the reporting at STAT -- and the search for new revenue  to support good journalism -- Health News Review wonders why The Boston Globe life science spin-off has to take ads from the pharmaceutical industry's top lobbying group. Some STAT readers might see PhaRMa as a champion of just another health-related …

Two Boston meetings look at the role of patient advocates. They offer two very different perspectives.

Pharmaceutical manufacturers often  look to patient advocates for help winning approval for new drugs. Their most recent success in this area was the FDA’s approval of a new drug for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. That decision came despite recommendations against approval from FDA staff. In an editorial, the Boston Globe questioned the FDA’s move while noting …

Boston news from #BIO2015: Will old labs make good housing? Do expensive drugs reduce health costs?

Over here in Kendall Square, pharma has invested a lot of money in buildings that look like they were designed by Ikea. If this bubble is about to burst, as suggested below, the city could use some nice low-rise housing. This story also includes the argument that pricey drugs save the system money by, for …

Kendall Square: Worker’s Paradise!

  Or East Cambridge as The People's Republic of Pharma A mural outside the Biogen Idec construction site.

In Massachusetts, lighter pharma gift ban may = higher costs for consumers #HCR #mapoli

As the Globe story below notes, "A longstanding ban against the coupons in Massachusetts — the last state to prohibit them — was lifted as part of the state budget signed by Governor Deval Patrick on July 8."This story is behind the pay wall, but here's the nut: "But some consumer advocates and analysts say …

Boston docs on debate over cholesterol screening for kids

A couple of Boston-area docs weigh in on charges of industry influence in the debate over whether to test kids for cholesterol.  From the Globe: CHICAGO — Should all US children be tested for high cholesterol? Doctors are still debating that question months after a government-appointed panel recommended widespread screening that would lead to prescribing …

The side effects of romantic comedies

Slightly off topic but fun: Globe movie reviewer Ty Burr uses a drug insert format --  including a list of side effects -- to write about the film ”Love and other Drugs.” (FYI, he gives it two and a half stars.) WARNING: Prolonged exposure to “Love & Other Drugs,’’ a romantic comedy-drama about the ups and …