2007 Articles
- Fools on the Hill
PETER J. PITTS and ROBERT GOLDBERG, 12/26/2007
Politics triumphs over public health as a spending package blocks funding for newly-created foundation to advance drug development
- Innovation can't survive without ownership
Peter Pitts, 12/24/2007
If you wrote a book, would you be happy to see it published under someone else's name?
- VA health care
Robert Goldberg, 12/18/2007
- LA Times Health - The Unreal World - Aftermath of a stroke
Dr. Marc Siegel, 12/17/2007
'Diving Bell' tells the story of a man immobilized except for the blinking of an eye.
- Let the Doctors Decide
Peter Pitts, 12/15/2007
The article on the D.C. Council's SafeRx Act [Metro, Dec. 12] neglected to mention the Pharmaceutical Education Fund, a key component of the bill that would have a devastating impact on public health.
- If Rudy Giuliani were English, he might also be dead
Robert Goldberg, 12/5/2007
"I HAD prostate cancer, five, six years ago," Rudy Giuliani said in a radio spot that has aired in New Hampshire.
- Chinese drugs a cause for concern
Peter Pitts, 12/5/2007
Thirty years ago, "Made in Japan" was synonymous with "cheap." Japanese economy cars then might not have been glamorous, but they achieved popularity as reliable and efficient vehicles available at bargain-basement prices.
- LA Times Health - The Unreal World - Awake
Dr. Marc Siegel, 12/3/2007
Under but not completely out during surgery
- Killing Healthy Patents
Peter Pitts, 11/26/2007
Ah, the glorious patent -- such a simple concept, and yet so utterly essential to a properly functioning society.
- Keeping Medicine Personal
Peter Pitts and Robert Goldberg, 11/20/2007
As payers embrace new means to control the rising cost of healthcare, policies must be crafted to ensure treatments meet individual patient needs.
- Diagnosis in the heat of battle
Dr. Marc Siegel, 11/19/2007
An injury scene in 'The Unit' has a couple of holes you could have driven a Sherman tank through.
- HILL & ILLEGALS' HEALTH CARE
Robert Goldberg, 11/14/2007
IF you thought Hillary Clinton had trouble making up her mind about drivers licenses for illegal aliens, wait until someone tries to pin her down about health care for illegals.
- The prescription for high drug costs: Competition
Robert Goldberg, 11/14/2007
Lo and behold, competition works - even in health care.
- Fake prescription drugs are deadly, to consumer and scientific research (pdf)
Peter Pitts, 11/13/2007
People who rob banks only steal money. And they only steal it once. But when intellectual property is stolen, the rip-off is ongoing.
- The high price of cheap pills (pdf)
Peter Pitts, 11/7/2007
When was the last time you picked up a bottle of Bayer Aspirin and wondered whether it was authentic?
- Victim of MRSA and poor treatment.
Dr. Marc Siegel, 10/31/2007
THE much-publicized Oct. 14 death of 12-year-old Omar Rivera from a festering leg wound has led to too much focus on the so-called superbug and not enough on the delay of diagnosis and the poor medical treatment he received.
- Competition improves health care
Robert Goldberg, 10/25/2007
Lo and behold, competition works -- even in health care.
- No need to run scared; staph is an old bug
Dr. Marc Siegel, 10/24/2007
The media are fueling fears, but calm will help keep focus on hospitals
- A Test of Bad Health (pdf)
Peter Pitts, 10/18/2007
IF Congress overrides President Bush's veto of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, a little-known provision of the original House bill could be revived.
- Critical Wrath (pdf)
Peter Pitts, 10/16/2007
The FDA should not be chastised, but applauded for working with industry to tackle the big problems of drug development.
- A Headache for Small Drug Makers (pdf)
Peter Pitts, 10/10/2007
Larry Blansett, chief executive of the Blansett Pharmacal Company, sells a wide range of what he calls legacy drugs.
- A Booby Prize
Peter Pitts, 10/10/2007
Scrapping the patent system for drugs for a reward model is a bad idea
- LA Times Health - The Unreal World (pdf)
Dr. Marc Siegel, 10/8/2007
Caesarean section, in theory and in 'Practice' In the 'Grey's Anatomy' spinoff, Addison Montgomery performs an emergency operation without the typical resources for surgery.
- The World's Top Medicine (pdf)
Dr. Marc Siegel, 10/5/2007
October 5, 2007 -- CRITICS of the U.S. health-care system point to the 100,000 or so Americans who go overseas for treatment each year, typically citing lower costs. Fair enough - but they should also consider why 70,000 foreigners a year come here for medical care.
- Avandia Meta-Analysis Problems Metastasize For FDA After JAMA Studies
Petter pitts, 9/26/2007
- Bad Medicine (pdf)
Peter Pitts, 9/25/2007
To cut healthcare costs, we need to focus on early treatment of chronic conditions, rather than force patients to switch to generic alternatives that may not be equivalent to the medicines they are using.
- RPM Report Discusses Groundbreaking CMPI Conference on ALLHAT/CATIE Trials (pdf)
9/25/2007
- The new Hillarycare
Robert Goldberg, 9/24/2007
And now a few kind words about most recent model of Sen. Hillary Clinton's health plan. Yes, you read that right. There are some good, even important features, about her "American Health Choices Plan."
- Online pharmacies: A pox on America's drug supply (pdf)
Peter Pitts, 9/21/2007
Congress may soon consider legislation that would allow Americans to buy prescription drugs from foreign countries. Lawmakers who plan to vote for it should first read a new report on online pharmacies published by the respected Internet fraud expert MarkMonitor.
- FDANews Critical Path Conference Featuring Peter Pitts and Dr. Bob Goldberg (pdf)
Peter Pitts and Robert Goldberg, 9/20/2007
- Worst best practices
By Peter Pitts, 9/20/2007
Nearly 15 years ago, health insurers opposed Hillary Clinton when she tried to give American health care a makeover in the image of the European and Canadian system.
- Peter Pitts: NFIB errs with import drug support (pdf)
Peter Pitts, 9/12/2007
WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Leaders of the National Federation of Independent Business ' America's largest small business organization ' have announced their support for the Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug Safety Act of 2007, a congressional measure that would allow the importation of pharmaceuticals from abroad.
- Clinic trials find diabetes drug lowers risk of heart attack, stroke (pdf)
By Robert Goldberg , 9/12/2007
After reporting cardiac risks associated with the diabetes drug Avandia, Cleveland Clinic researchers have found that a close relative of the medication actually lowers risk of heart attack, stroke and death in diabetes patients.
- THE UNREAL WORLD 'Death at a Funeral': a bad trip done the right way (pdf)
Dr. Marc Siegel, 9/10/2007
'Death at a Funeral': a bad trip done the right way. The film farce 'Death at a Funeral' accurately shows what a 'hallucinogenic concoction' might do
- Medical quackery
Robert Goldberg, 9/7/2007
- PDUFA Provisions Could Harm FDA and Industry, Expert Says
Peter Pitts, 8/27/2007
Some of the provisions in the FDA Revitalization Act, S. 1082 and H.R. 2900, will be ineffective and could cripple the FDA and put unnecessary burdens on pharmaceutical companies.
- Truth about behavioral changes
Dr. Marc Siegel, 8/27/2007
"The Invasion," Warner Bros., premiered Aug. 17
- One-Size Medicine Does Not Fit All
Peter Pitts, 8/27/2007
Guarantees are hard to come by. Even with medicine, doctors would be hard-pressed to tell patients that the drug they're prescribing is certain to work. After all, thanks to different medical histories, personal biochemistries, and physiologies, everyone is different. There's no such thing as a 'me-too' patient.
- LA Times Health - The Unreal World - The Invasion
Dr. Marc Siegel, 8/27/2007
- Big spend on Congress, campaigns; SALES & MARKETING
8/27/2007
- WSJ Letters: The FDA's Deadly Dilemma: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Experimental Drugs (pdf)
Peter Pitts, 8/20/2007
- From the Turkish Edition of Business Week (pdf)
Peter Pitts, 8/18/2007
- Phoning It In
Peter Pitts, 8/1/2007
In 2002, when I was the FDA's associate commissioner for external relations, Dr. Janet Woodcock came in to my office and she was not smiling.
- Do the right thing
Robert Goldberg, 8/1/2007
This weekend, all of the Democratic candidates for president (with the sane exception of Joe Biden) will trek to Chicago to speak at the YearlyKos convention, the gathering of those who populate the powerful Democratic blog, the DailyKos.
- Opinion: Fewer Cents, More Sense
Peter Pitts, 7/30/2007
Our healthcare system may be broken, but playing the blame game is not going to fix it. Remember that disease'not Big Pharma'is the enemy.
- Pitts Medical Marketing and Media (pdf)
Peter Pitts, 7/24/2007
Rather than playing government-speak non-responsive rope-a-dope, the FDA must call it like they see it
- How much is a year of your life worth?
Peter Pitts, 7/23/2007
The politics of health care certainly make for strange bedfellows.
- Settling for second best? (pdf)
Peter Pitts, 7/23/2007
- Letter to the Economist: Drug Tests (pdf)
7/19/2007
- Dr. Robert Goldberg on Cancer Drugs in USA Today (pdf)
Robert Goldberg, 7/18/2007
- Congress hasn't learned its lesson from China's tainted toothpaste
Peter Pitts, 7/16/2007
Counterfeit Colgate toothpaste containing diethylene glycol, a poisonous chemical used in antifreeze, recently turned up in discount grocery stores all over the East Coast.
- Dr. Bob Goldberg in the Sun-Sentinel on GAO Prank Calling Medicare Call Centers
Robert Goldberg, 7/15/2007
Survey was set up
- Dunya: Counterfeit drugs are a major problem for our country, too (pdf)
7/14/2007
- Dunya Article (pdf)
Peter Pitts, 7/12/2007
- Is that cheaper drug a counterfeit?
Peter Pitts, 7/9/2007
It's not unreasonable for Americans to simply assume the safety of drugs purchased from Canada, Britain and France.
- Opening door to imported drugs is not without risks
Peter Pitts, 7/8/2007
Counterfeit Colgate toothpaste containing diethylene glycol, a poisonous chemical used in antifreeze and marked as being manufactured "in South Africa," recently turned up in discount grocery stores all over the East Coast.
- If iPhones Were Pharmaceuticals
Peter Pitts, 7/6/2007
Prescription drugs cost too much! Or at least that's what we hear, day-in and day-out, on television, in the news, and, of course, in Sicko.
- When the All Saints Come Marching In (pdf)
Peter Pitts, 7/5/2007
When the government issues health care statistics there are usually two general responses from the constituencies that are influenced ' 'this shows a problem,' or 'the study is flawed.' And what ensues is a blame game, a political, polemical battle of op-eds and spin.
- Strange Bedfellows
Peter Pitts and Robert Goldberg, 7/2/2007
The politics of healthcare make strange bedfellows. Nearly 15 years ago, most health insurance plans opposed Hillary Clinton when she tried to give American healthcare a makeover in the image of the European and Canadian system.
- A sick message
Robert Goldberg, 6/28/2007
Michael Moore's new movie, "Sicko," tries to convince us that health care in Canada, France, Britain and even Cuba is "free," universal, excellent and everlasting ' and because in America it is not, millions of our fellow citizens, even those who sacrificed at Ground Zero, are denied care and/or die for no fault of their own.
- The Unreal World
Dr. Marc Siegel, 6/25/2007
This doctor resents being pressured to prescribe a substitute when a brand-named drug works better.
- The first line of defense
Peter Pitts, 6/24/2007
As its costs continue to spiral upward, most people now agree that America's health care system is broken.
- Revamping the FDA (pdf)
Peter Pitts, 6/13/2007
Agency needs to adopt new tools to do its job in the 21st century.
- Regulatory accountability needed
6/6/2007
Today, Rep. Henry Waxman will preside over a hearing on whether the Food and Drug Administration acted too slowly in responding to signals about the heart attack risks of taking a popular diabetes drug Avandia.
- Plaque problem
Peter Pitts and Robert Goldber, 6/6/2007
Dr. Steven Nissen, head of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, by running to Congress and the media about the heart risks of Avandia, has positioned himself as the nation's de facto drug regulatory czar.
- Lott's mischief would add costly burdens on insurance companies
Peter Pitts, 6/6/2007
NEW YORK ' Populism continues to pay dividends at the polls, but the promises made under its guise rarely come true. Just look at U.S. Sen. Trent Lott's two latest battles.
- Fly without fear of catching TB
Dr. Marc Siegel, 6/5/2007
Working on the chest ward at Bellevue Hospital, I often took care of patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis.
- Are Price Controls the New Black? (pdf)
Peter Pitts, 5/30/2007
A revamped version of an old bill calling for drug importation is on the congressional runway.
- A Poisonous Pill
Peter Pitts, 5/24/2007
Through a last-minute legislative maneuver on May 7, the U.S. Senate blocked a measure that would have allowed American consumers to purchase prescription drugs from abroad.
- Is Chunky Monkey an Obvious Combination?
Peter Pitts, 5/23/2007
Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled to make it more difficult to invalidate a patent. Essentially, the court decided that "obvious" combinations of previous inventions do not warrant protection under U.S. patent law.
- Viral or bacterial? Hours count in an 'ER' case of sepsis
Dr. Marc Siegel, 5/21/2007
The premise: A physics professor has collapsed at a conference and is brought to the ER, where she complains of abdominal pain and weakness.
- Former FDA director defends pharmaceutical industry investments in prevention campaigns (pdf)
5/21/2007
The pharmaceutical industry should invest in disease prevention campaigns.
- DANGEROUS WARNINGS
Dr. Marc Siegel, 5/12/2007
CONGRESS may soon increase the Food and Drug Administration's oversight of pharmeceuticals. I certainly don't think we should simply trust what drug companies tell us, but I have my worries about the FDA, too.
- Peter Pitts: If you like Medicare, you'll love Moviecare (pdf)
Peter Pitts, 5/12/2007
Imagine turning 65 and finding a letter tucked in your mailbox offering unlimited movie tickets for just $25 a month.
- A Win for Patients
Peter Pitts, 5/11/2007
It isn't often that the U.S. Senate passes legislation that is both in the public interest and resists the temptation to engage in harmful populist grandstanding.
- Is It Safe?
Peter Pitts, 5/8/2007
Safety has become deleterious to the public health.
- Mania for new rules imperils health
Peter Pitts, 5/4/2007
OVER THE PAST 50 years, the average American life span has increased by a full decade. Deaths as a result of cancer are slowly and steadily falling.
- Bolster medicine safety
Peter Pitts and Robert Goldberg, 5/3/2007
It has been nearly three years since Merck voluntarily withdrew its painkiller Vioxx after a study showed an increased relative risk for heart attack and stroke.
- Putting Extra 'Care' Into Health Care
Dr. Marc Siegel, 5/1/2007
Al Gazzini loved to eat, but surgery to remove his esophageal cancer left him so scarred that there was no easy way to reconnect what remained of his gullet to the rest of his digestive system.
- First, Do No Harm to Seniors
Peter Pitts, 4/24/2007
In recent weeks, the nation's most powerful senior citizens group has waged a campaign that could end up hurting the very members it claims to represent.
- Your turn: Negotiating drug prices would raise cost of health care ST. CLOUD TIMES (St. Cloud, MN) (pdf)
Robert Goldberg, 4/23/2007
- Bill would ignore patients' safety DAILY COMET (Thibodaux, LA) and COURIER (Houma, LA) (pdf)
Robert Goldberg, 4/23/2007
- Democrats Put Politics Over Science (pdf)
Robert Goldberg, 4/18/2007
For all the blather coming from the Democrats about how the Bush administration has politicized science, it is the party in power that seeks to impose its ideology on medicine to the detriment of the public health.
- Peter Pitts Letter to the Editor in the LA Times
Peter Pitts, 4/15/2007
Price controls on Medicare drugs
- PR View (pdf)
Peter Pitts, 4/1/2007
- Pharmas say coverage seldom balanced, fair or informed (pdf)
4/1/2007
- Peter Pitts and Graham Satchwell in the Swedis Publication "Lakartidningen" (in Swedish) (pdf)
Peter Pitts and Graham Satchwell, 4/1/2007
- Peter Pitts: Prescription drug negotiations not favored by informed voters
Peter Pitts, 3/29/2007
Alright, who's in favor of lower prices for prescription drugs?
- Restricted treatment
Robert Goldberg, 3/29/2007
This week there were two bits of news that reminded most of us that when it comes to medicine, the real crisis is not safety but the lack of treatments to prevent or at least battle disease effectively.
- Peter Pitts and Merrill Matthews: Competition is Good When it Comes to Medicare Drug Benefits
Peter Pitts and Merrill Matthews, 3/28/2007
One of the first items passed in the House of Representatives by the new Congress seeks to vanquish the Medicare prescription drug benefit's "non-interference clause" so that the government can "negotiate" with drug companies for lower prices. In the coming weeks, the Senate is set to take up the same measure.
- The Real Cancer Threat
Robert Goldberg, 3/28/2007
The news this week that two public figures, Elizabeth Edwards and White House press secretary Tony Snow, now face a recurrence and spread of their cancer has prompted an outpouring of concern for their well-being which transcends politics.
- Peter Pitts: There's a caveat to cheap drugs
Peter Pitts, 3/25/2007
All right, who's in favor of lower prices for prescription drugs?
- Press Release: Dr. Marc Siegel Joins CMPI as Senior Fellow (pdf)
Dr. Mark Siegel, 3/23/2007
Practicing Physician and Health Care Policy Expert Dr. Marc Siegel Joins CMPI as Senior Fellow
- Michael Tew and Alexandra Preate - Who Needs Foreign Investment?
Michael Tew and Alexandra Preate, 3/23/2007
Shortly after Thailand's new government seized power in the fall of 2006, the country's military leaders awarded themselves pay increases of over $9 million per year.
- Peter Pitts: Ma cos' si protegge il paziente?
Peter Pitts, 3/22/2007
Gli italiani stanno in salute e a confronto di altri paesi europei, il sistema sanitario ' generoso e mediamente buono.
- Michael Tew - Thailand Military Government Hijacking U.S. Drugs
Michael Tew, 3/19/2007
Are Third World countries arbitrarily revoking the patents of American drug companies?
- Are NDA Laws Constitutional?(pdf)
3/19/2007
- Peter Pitts discusses FDA and Tobacco Regulation on 1590 The Connection
Peter Pitts, 3/13/2007
- Dr. Robert Goldberg: "The VA Model"
Robert Goldberg, 3/12/2007
Recently, John Stossel of ABC had lunch with Sen. Hillary Clinton. Mr. Stossel writes that when he launched into one of his usual libertarian rants about free markets, Mrs. Clinton cited the VA as an example of government success.
- Dr. Robert Goldberg in the Washington Times: The Innovation Agenda
Robert Goldberg, 3/5/2007
Nancy Pelosi has a knack for the ironic. In unveiling what she called her party's "Innovation Agenda," the speaker from American Samoa proclaimed: "America (is) the breeding ground for the innovations and inventions that increased our prosperity, enhanced our lives, and protected and advanced our freedoms.
- Peter Pitts: We're Taking Your Medicine, Literally
Peter Pitts, 3/1/2007
Imagine that you are an inventor, and the government steals your highly lucrative idea, without any warning. The next day, you are informed that the government plans to mass-produce your invention and give it away for free. If you're lucky, they'll give you a pittance.
- Peter Pitts Washington Times Op-ed: Japan's Cancer Refugees
Peter Pitts, 2/23/2007
At first glance, Japan's health-care system seems superior to America's.
- California Healthcare Institute Launches Fourth Podcast Episode On Dangers of a Cost-based U.S. Healthcare System
Peter Pitts, 2/21/2007
The California Healthcare Institute (CHI) today launched the fourth episode of the podcast series, Cost Over Care: The Dangers of Bureaucratic Medicine.
- Peter Pitts Op-Ed in the Baltimore Sun: Drug Patent Theft Carries High Price
Peter Pitts, 2/20/2007
Imagine that you are an inventor and the government steals your highly lucrative idea. The next day, you are informed that the government plans to mass-produce your invention and give it away for free.
- Peter Pitts in the Boston Globe: Similar Drugs, But a World of Difference
Peter Pitts, 2/17/2007
MARCIA ANGELL claims that "most new drugs are not advances over old ones, but minor variations with new patents and higher prices"
- Even Safety Needs Limits
Peter Pitts, 2/17/2007
LAST DECEMBER, AFTER INVESTING NEARLY $1 billion and 15 years of research, Pfizer decided to halt clinical trials on torcetrapib, an experimental drug that sought to reverse heart disease.
- Press Release: Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach to Provide Keynote for February 21 Media and Medicine Conference (pdf)
2/15/2007
Washington, DC, February 14, 2007 – Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach will provide the keynote address
- Peter Pitts in the San Francisco Business Times
Daniel S. Levine, 1/26/2007
Despite growing investment in research and development, the pharmaceutical industry in 2006 continued to win approvals for new drugs at an anemic pace.
- Peter Pitts, et al: A New Model for Communicating Risk Information in DTC Advertisements (pdf)
Peter Pitts, 1/22/2007
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug advertising and its role in educating the consumer
- Peter Pitts in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: House-Passed Drug Price Bill Has Very Little Clout
David Nicklaus, 1/17/2007
In any negotiation, the power lies with the person who's willing to walk away. That simple truth is obvious to anyone who's ever bought a car or a house, but somehow it escapes a majority of members of the House of Representatives.
- Cheaper Drugs Would Come at a Steep Price
Peter Pitts, 1/13/2007
U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) has announced legislation "aimed at driving down the price of prescription drugs." But the only thing such legislation would actually drive down is pharmaceutical innovation.
- Competition Lowers Drug Prices
Peter Pitts, 1/12/2007
One hundred hours. That's not a lot of time - just 2 1/2 weeks of work for the average American. But if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats keep all their promises, it's plenty of time to ruin our health care.
- Bob Goldberg: Pelosi's Price Club
Robert Goldberg, 1/12/2007
If you thought earmarks were fun to watch, just wait until the government gets in the business of "negotiating" drug prices.
- The Sleazy Side of Internet Pharmacies
Suzanne Shelley, 1/4/2007
It's not just the goofy spam for fake sexual-enhancement drugs: illicit Internet pharmacies are a growing worry for FDA, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Customs and Border Patrol, and state authorities across the country.
- CMPI's Dr. Bob Goldberg, as quoted in today's Wall Street Journal Review and Outlook Editorial
Robert Goldberg, 1/4/2007
Congratulations to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her fellow Democrats, who begin their new control of Congress today.
- Get Up, Stand Up
Peter Pitts, 1/1/2007
Peter Pitts writes to a mostly silent readership. He's the chief voice of DrugWonks.com, a blog hosted by the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, a nonprofit focused on challenging drug policy and the industry's critics.
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