pharmaceutical companies

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State Budgets Pushed to Brink by $710-a-Day Drug

It's the latest pharmaceutical pricing controversy

(Newser) - A newly approved drug is being hailed as a major advance in treatment of cystic fibrosis, a life-threatening genetic disease that clogs the lungs with mucus and makes patients struggle to breathe. But it comes with a punishing price tag—about $710 per patient per day. Orkambi—taken as two...

CEO: Pfizer Leaving US Is Good for ... US

Freed-up cash from tax savings could be reinvested back into US: Ian Read

(Newser) - It may seem antithetical that the largest US drugmaker taking off for Ireland would actually prove beneficial to the US, but that's exactly what the CEO of Pfizer is saying after Monday's announcement of its estimated $160 billion "inversion" deal with Allergan, creating the world's biggest...

Latest 2,000% Drug Price Hike Hurts Infants

Seizure medication goes way, way up in cost

(Newser) - Rapid treatment is of utmost importance for babies diagnosed with infantile spasms, also known as West syndrome, a form of epilepsy that causes seizures and corresponding abnormal bursts of electrical activity in the brain. About half of the babies with it don't respond to the first drug that's...

Why CEO Hasn't Cut Drug's 5K% Price Hike

Turing chief Martin Shkreli says it will be a 'long' process to figure out demand

(Newser) - As of a week ago , pharmaceuticals purveyor Martin Shkreli hadn't kept his promise to lower the cost of a toxoplasmosis drug after outcry over its 5,000% price hike over the summer. Nothing much has changed since—except now the Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO is explaining why Daraprim is still...

Pharma Company Still Hasn't Reversed 5,000% Price Hike

Even though Martin Shkreli said they would backtrack

(Newser) - Two weeks ago, Martin Shkreli, the controversial CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, said that, following much public pressure, he would dial back his company's 5,000% price hike on a toxoplasmosis drug. But Daraprim, which jumped from $13.50 to $750 per pill, still costs the same amount, Business Insider...

Canada Tries to Cut Cost of Lifesaving Drug, Gets Sued

Canada wants to lower dizzying price of Soliris; Alexion says no way

(Newser) - Soliris is one of the world's most expensive drugs, running about $500,000 a year in the US. In Canada, a year's supply of the drug, used to treat two rare blood diseases—paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) and atypical hemolytic-uremic syndrome (AHUS)—is even pricier at about $525,...

Drug CEO Caves, Will Drop Price of $750 Pill

Martin Shkreli says people misunderstand the issue

(Newser) - The drug company CEO called the "most hated man in America right now" by the BBC says he's misunderstood—but that he'll lower the price of Daraprim in response to the firestorm of criticism . "There were mistakes made with respect to helping people understand why we...

Drug's Price Changed From $13.50 a Tablet to $750

Daraprim move doesn't go over well

(Newser) - "This isn't the greedy drug company trying to gouge patients, it is us trying to stay in business. It really doesn't make sense to get any criticism for this." The "this" Martin Shkreli is referring to is the price hike his company instituted after it...

Pharma Firms Buy Drugs, Immediately Hike Prices

One health care expert calls it 'highway robbery'

(Newser) - If you've noticed the cost of your prescription meds creeping up, it might be because their original manufacturer sold them to another company, which then went ahead and hiked up the price. It's a pharmaceutical industry tactic being used more often to increase sales and bring more money...

Drug Maker Fights for Awareness of Disorder It Can Cash In On

Shire just got FDA approval for binge eating disorder drug

(Newser) - Binge eating disorder, which gained American Psychiatric Association recognition in 2013, isn't particularly well-known. That's not good for a pharmaceutical company like Shire, maker of an ADHD drug called Vyvanse, which was recently approved by the FDA for marketing in the treatment of binge eating. Lately, Shire has...

Birth Control Shot for Guys May Be Here by 2017

Long-lasting Vasalgel contraceptive would require just a single injection

(Newser) - There may be another birth control option headed our way, and the guys will get to take the lead on this one. The Parsemus Foundation has tested an injectable, non-hormonal polymer contraceptive on male baboons that appears to successfully prevent pregnancy in females, Medical Daily reports. The procedure, which requires...

Pharmacist Linked to Meningitis Outbreak Busted

Airport arrest first bust in case that caused 64 deaths

(Newser) - A pharmacist linked to a meningitis outbreak that killed 64 people in 2012 was arrested yesterday as he tried to leave the country. Glenn Adam Chin oversaw the mold and bacteria-infested "clean rooms" at the New England Compounding Center, and investigators accuse him of covering up unsafe practices, the...

California Sues: Big Pharma Created Addicts With Lies

Lawsuit alleges slick marketing got people hooked on opioid painkillers

(Newser) - The makers of strong painkillers like OxyContin have created a "population of addicts" with a "campaign of deception" about the risks the drugs carry, two California counties charge in a lawsuit filed on behalf of the whole state. Orange and Santa Clara counties are suing five large makers...

Should Drug Company Have Caved to Dying Boy?

Experts aren't so sure Chimerix made the right decision

(Newser) - Seven-year-old Joshua Hardy is improving after a social media campaign convinced a drug company to give him an experimental drug that could save his life. But the backlash has been intense, with numerous observers expressing concern over the idea of "crowdsourcing medical decisions," the Washington Post reports. The...

Drug Firm Caves, Helps Dying 7-Year-Old

Experimental drug could save his life

(Newser) - After a social media campaign—and an avalanche of bad publicity—a drug company has done a U-turn and agreed to give a dying 7-year-old boy an experimental drug that could save his life. The FDA allows "compassionate use"of unapproved drugs in such cases, but the Chimerix pharmaceutical...

FDA: Generic Morning-After Pills Available to All

Now generic alternatives can be sold over the counter to teenagers

(Newser) - Morning-after birth control just got cheaper and easier to buy, NPR reports. After a 10-year battle, the FDA published a letter saying that generic versions of the popular Plan B One-Step can be sold to customers without proof of age. That overruled an FDA decision in July granting Teva Pharmaceuticals...

Glaxo: We'll Stop Paying Doctors to Hawk Our Drugs

It's a big change in pharma industry

(Newser) - In what "appears to be a first for a major drug company," according to the New York Times , GlaxoSmithKline will stop paying doctors to promote its drugs under a new plan to be completed by 2016. The company's pharmaceutical sales reps will also no longer be paid...

Obama Seeks New Corporate Powers in Trade Pact

US corporations would be able to challenge foreign laws: memos

(Newser) - The Obama administration is trying to grant US corporations formidable new powers in a trade pact with 11 other countries—including the ability to challenge laws and regulations abroad. In memos obtained by the Huffington Post (see them here and here ) the US is also pressing other members of...

Why Doctors Pick $2K Drug Over Its $50 Cousin

Pricey Lucentis, cheaper Avastin 'same damn molecule': ophthalmologist

(Newser) - The prescription drugs Avastin and Lucentis both fight blindness in the elderly, and they're both made by the same company, Genentech, at what experts say is a similar production cost. The key difference between them: While an Avastin injection costs $50, a shot of Lucentis goes for $2,000....

The New Guides on Statins Are Insane
 The New Guides 
 on Statins Are Insane 
OPINION
Nov 14, 2013 1:15 PM CST

The New Guides on Statins Are Insane

Giving cholesterol drugs to healthy Americans is not the answer, 2 experts argue

(Newser) - The American Heart Association and the College of Cardiology want millions more healthy Americans to take cholesterol-lowering statins , which might sound like a good idea "if statins actually offered meaningful protection from heart disease; if they helped people live longer or better; and if they had minimal adverse side...

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