Last November, the FDA ruled that tobacco manufacturers must include on their packaging graphic depictions of the horrors smoking can wreak. The new packaging was to take effect in autumn 2012. Five tobacco companies now have taken the FDA to federal court, challenging the regulations. Among other things, they claim that the depictions: would unfairly….
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Does a Drug Really Work? Why Numbers, Not Testimonials, Matter
Testimonials from satisfied customers sell products. Every marketer knows that. But testimonials from patients are the wrong way to decide if a drug deserves an endorsement worth billions in sales from the Food and Drug Administration. Why? Because, as a Virginia cancer doctor explains in a new article, the testimonials from happy cancer patients mask….
Continue ReadingSupreme Court hints that Vermont’s prescription data laws violate free speech
Several Supreme Court justices strongly suggested recently during oral arguments that Vermont’s attempt to restrict the use of drug prescription records for marketing purposes violates corporate free-speech rights. Vermont’s law is aimed at so-called data miners, companies that buy prescription records from pharmacies – minus patient identifying information – and sell them to drug makers…..
Continue ReadingMedical Malpractice Lawsuits in Washington D.C.: An Unusual Venue for a Patient Safety Message
A subway station might seem an unusual place to try to educate the public about protecting the rights of injured patients — but maybe not so much when that station is the nearest to the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., and is traveled by thousands of staffers who work on Capitol Hill. “Tell Congress to….
Continue ReadingMore on Those Glossy Ads for Cancer Treatment
Several thought-provoking letters appear in the New York Times responding to the recent piece about the cancer treatment industry’s advertisements. One letter was from Dr. James Rickert, of Bloomington, Ind., president of the Society for Patient Centered Orthopedics: To the Editor: As a cancer survivor who has faced recurrent bouts of disease, I agree that….
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