Here’s an interesting story that describes how the rising cost of healthcare forced more than 500,000 Americans last year to seek medical care from overseas. The story talks about three Americans who saved $140,000 (even after travel expenses) by having their surgeries in New Delhi.
This same group of uninsured and underinsured has also […]

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As expected, Pfizer’s failed attempt to bring torcetrapib to market has led the pharmaceutical industry to argue that overpriced drugs are necessary to lessen the blow of R&D setbacks. However, at Pharma Marketing Blog, John Mack says the reported $800 million in R&D for torcetrapib is probably inflated:
If Pfizer really spent $800 million on […]

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Check out this Pfizer rip at PharmaGossip. Maybe Pfizer can start developing a pill that will reduce the length of its nose.

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From the Daily Kos:
When it comes to healthcare in America, the first question you should frequently ask yourself is: Cui Bono–who benefits?
There is an unholy alliance between the FDA, which is supposed to protect us, and the medical device and pharmaceutical industries. Indeed, there is growing evidence, that your safety and mine has taken […]

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Despite a recent downturn in Merck’s sales, cost-cutting has offset the effects of slowing revenues from Merck’s blockbuster drug Vioxx and recent growth in the generic market. Merck posted a five percent rise in profits and met the expected $0.81 a share.
Merck has reportedly cut back on television ads and focused on more […]

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This excerpt from the documentary “Big Bucks, Big Pharma” details how drug companies thwart attempts to rein in skyrocketing prescription drug costs through false claims that regulation will hinder the research and development of essential new drugs. These PR campaigns by the pharmaceutical industry are simply designed to frighten the public, and have little […]

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From the Kaiser Family Foundation:
Pfizer on Saturday announced it has ended clinical trials and development of its experimental cholesterol drug torcetrapib after an independent monitoring board said participants in a large trial who took the medication had an increased risk of death, the Washington Post reports (Stein, Washington Post, 12/4). Torcetrapib is a new […]

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If you want to read something that will make you sick, try this column in the Boston Globe, “What’s good for pharma is good for America.” The author, an academic named Richard Epstein, has experience as a Big Pharma consultant (although this is only mentioned at the end of the piece.)
The headline reminds of […]

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Josh Rosenau of Thoughts in Kansas has this to say about Medicare bargaining for lower drug prices:

A big part of the 6 for ‘06 agenda that Nancy Pelosi proposed as the agenda for the incoming Congress was allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices. Forbidding that simple expedient was by far the most foolish thing (among […]

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From Jesus’ General:
Pharmaceutical companies run lots of ads claiming that drug prices today pay for the research for the next generation of drugs, but that’s tough to swallow when the marketing and advertising budgets for these companies are higher than their R&D budgets. I think most people would be willing to pay more to fund […]

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