Author: Peter

....the FDA may put some label limits on PCSK9 cholesterol drugs. But if word from doctor surveys is any indication, those limits won't put a huge damper on sales.

'With all that data, there's very little intelligence coming our way'..."By 2020, there will be 200 times more data than any physician can absorb," said Chang, a practicing pediatric cardiologist. "And its doubling every two years."The long term solution ..... is "Intelligence-as-a-Service," a network that could make it possible for doctors to tap into knowledge from specialists anywhere when they encounter a medical situation that is not responding to treatment.

Sanofi ruffles feathers in Morocco with travelers' diarrhea ad. Moroccans are offended by an ad campaign for Sanofi's  over-the-counter intestinal remedy, Bioflorin: "Don't spend your vacation in the bathroom,"...."I protest against this type of advertising which is destroying the image of a mythical site in order to promote a medication,"..

After years of battling the Veterans Affairs Department for health care and compensation for illnesses related to Agent Orange exposure from aircraft flown after the Vietnam War, a group of up to 2,100 Air Force personnel and reservists finally will receive service-connected benefits.

Mallinckrodt Plc’s Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc. faces a multistate antitrust investigation, according to a Texas attorney general’s office letter revealing that state’s participation in the probe…. Medicaid fraud unit of the Texas attorney general’s office asked for information for an investigation into potentially inflated prices of drugs,….

Merck & Co Inc has agreed to pay $5.9 million to resolve claims that a former unit fraudulently promoted a drug used to treat pink eye for unapproved purposes, U.S. authorities announced on Wednesday……promoted its drug AzaSite to healthcare providers for uses the Food and Drug Administration had not approved as safe and effective.

It's a difficult time to be a pharma rep, with patent losses triggering salesforce cuts and doctors increasingly closing their doors to sales visits. Pharma reps' salaries are floundering, too, with their biotech peers collecting much larger pay packages, according to a recent report….

California health officials failed to ensure that more than 9 million residents enrolled in Medi-Cal (Medicaid)managed care plans had access to doctors when they needed them, the state auditor said in a stinging report Tuesday. Health officials might have learned about those problems from calls to an ombudsman’s office – but thousands went unanswered every month.

Pharma ad spending soared to $4.5 billion in 2014, backing branded drugs in levels not seen since the recession, with particular emphasis on blockbusters--and wannabes. Drugmakers poured $3.4 million into advertising spending on the top 10 drugs, which accounted for 75% of the total spent on all advertising of pharmaceuticals, according to Nielsen data...

CVS drugstores that quit tobacco sales last year are now getting health and beauty makeovers to attract customers who want more than just a prescription refill. The nation's second-largest drugstore chain is adding fresh foods, healthy snacks and expanded beauty options to many of its locations.