pharmaceutical companies – News Stories About pharmaceutical companies - Page 8

May 17, 2007 10:23 AM CDT

Big Pharma Loses Generic Drug Fight

Deal for developing nations first blow by Dems in Congress

(Newser) - Congress and the White House have agreed to give developing nations more access to affordable generic drugs by easing some patent enforcement rules. Tucked into a broader trade agreement passed last week, the provision is the first blow to American pharmaceutical companies since the Democrats won control of Congress, the ...

OxyContin Maker Pleads Guilty

May 10, 2007 12:01 PM CDT

OxyContin Maker Pleads Guilty

Manufacturer, execs admit misleading public about risky painkiller

(Newser) - The company that makes OxyContin pleaded guilty today to misleading the public about the effects of the potent painkiller. Purdue Pharma and three executives will pay $634.5 million in civil and criminal fines. Federal prosecutors accused the firm of "misbranding" the drug, marketing it as a less addictive...

Doctors Paid Millions To Use Anemia Drugs

May 9, 2007 8:34 AM CDT

Doctors Paid Millions To Use Anemia Drugs

Among the world's top-selling medicines, the FDA now says they may be unsafe

(Newser) - Doctors are paid millions of dollars by drug companies to give their patients anemia medicine which regulators now say may be dangerous. Spurred by competiton between several similar drugs, companies reward doctors with rebates, which allow them to make a significant profit, the New York Times reports.

Pharmaceutical Farming Generates Hopes and Fears

Apr 30, 2007 11:10 AM CDT

Pharmaceutical Farming Generates Hopes and Fears

Benefits weighed against risk of food-supply contamination

(Newser) - The battle over genetic modification has a new player: "pharming," or pharmaceutical farming, which uses genetically modified plants to mass-produce drug compounds relatively inexpensively. By altering common plants—for instance, tobacco, which can be engineered to produce an HIV drug—researchers say pharming could transform the treatment of...

Vaccine May
Not Prevent
Cervical Cancer

Apr 16, 2007 8:43 AM CDT

Vaccine May Not Prevent Cervical Cancer

Mandated for all girls in some states, HPV vaccine fails to deliver

(Newser) - Pharma behemoth Merck is defending what it touted as a miracle cervical-cancer vaccine against charges of ineffectiveness. Merck lobbied states to mandate Gardasil for young girls—Texas and Virginia did—and got a glowing endorsement from the CDC. But new studies show that it works only to prevent sexually-transmitted HPV,...