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Washington, DC-Pharma companies suffered a significant setback last month when developing countries at the World Trade Organization meeting pushed through a declaration allowing nations to override patent laws to cope with health crises. Although industry officials insisted that the agreement would have little impact on profits, the language sets the stage for more competition from cheap generic products in much of the world.

Brussels, Belgium-Pfizer believes the dual pricing system it introduced in Spain complies with Spanish and European Union competition laws, but the European Commission isn't so sure. Competition policy commissioner Mario Monti says the EC will scrutinize Pfizer's pricing policy, which is intended to prevent parallel trade out of low-cost Spain.

London, UK-Insurance companies will be unable to use genetic test results to approve or deny claims for at least the next five years, following a new agreement between the British government and the Association of British Insurers. The move ensures that people can still get insurance coverage whether or not they have had a test.

Transfusion centers used to throw plasma away as though it were extraneous liquid, keeping only the red blood cells. During World War II, researchers discovered that the fluid left over after the red cells had been spun free contained vital proteins, and biochemist Edwin Joseph Cohn developed a method for their large scale extraction. Over the years, the scrutiny of plasma produced many new proteins that could be processed and used as life-saving medical treatments for rare blood diseases like hemophilia. Plasma fractionation is now a $6.5-billion-a-year business and more than a million people receive plasma therapeutics annually.

Washington, DC-To improve FDA's ability to respond to terrorist attacks, acting commissioner Bernard Schwetz tapped Janet Woodcock, director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), to establish a formal crisis management program for the agency. Woodcock moved to the commissioner's office in November to develop a program to better track and coordinate FDA responses to terrorism.

The computing power of today's PC enables marketers to conduct analyses that were unthinkable just a few years ago, creating exciting new ways to approach and track promotion response. This article describes a novel approach that models promotion response at the individual physician level.

A rep's guide to retirement investing.

The Office of Inspector General for the United States Health and Human Services Administration plans to evaluate the extent of pharmaceutical sales representative gift-giving in 2002, according to its recently released "Fiscal Year 2002 Work Plan."

In response to recent anthrax attacks on the media and the U.S. Senate, U.S. Health and Human Services and West Haven, CT-based Bayer Corp. have reached an agreement for a significant new federal purchase of the antibiotic Cipro™ (ciprofloxacin) at a substantially lowered price. The antibiotic is expected to be available by the end of 2001 and would be used to supplement existing emergency stockpiles for use in the event of a bioterrorist attack.

The Internet has become a new meeting place for drug companies and doctors, according to the Physician Meeting and Event Audit from Newtown, PA-based Scott-Levin. From February through April 2001, Scott-Levin surveyed its PMEA panel every month to determine the extent of "e-event" activity. More than 3,100 physicians participated in the study; 39% indicated that they had been invited to at least one pharmaceutical company-sponsored event conducted via the Internet.

New medicines in the pipeline for Alzheimer's disease, osteoporosis, arthritis and Parkinson's disease are among the many promising treatments in development for diseases of aging, according to a new survey released by the Washington-based Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

Relatively small numbers of American physicians are using electronic records or prescribing, and the United States lags behind other English-speaking countries in this regard, according to a survey of physicians conducted by Rochester, NY-based Harris Interactive for the Harvard School of Public Health and the Commonwealth Fund's International Health Care Symposium in 2000. The survey found that the use of electronic systems is much more advanced in Britain, New Zealand and Australia than in the United States. The numbers for Canadian usage were low, however, similar to those in the United States.

Taking steps to grow into a well-rounded professional.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson has announced the release of $50 million to fund 94 new research grants, contracts and other projects to reduce medical errors and improve patient safety.

Faced with double-digit healthcare benefit cost increases in 2002, 56% of employers say they will raise employee contributions by as much as or more than their expected cost increases. In addition, more than 70% of employers are considering benefit reductions or an increase in employee co-pays over the next 12 months, according to a survey released by Washington-based consulting firm Watson Wyatt Worldwide.

Life expectancy for the U.S. population reached a record high of 76.9 years in 2000 as mortality declined for several leading causes of death, according to preliminary figures from a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Government efforts to trim budgets has put the spotlight on unethical pharma marketing tactics.

Sampling is a sales rep's foot in the door to doctors' offices and the quickest way to get products into consumers' hands. That's why reps handed out $5 billion worth of the freebies last year, spending 30 percent of companies' promotional budgets in the process. Despite that huge investment, few product managers can assess its impact on product inventory, consumer demand, prescription rates, or market share. But sampling's greatest failure is its inability to provide the healthcare industry with product-use or patient data.

A new approach to setting goals

Americans who live in the suburbs fare significantly better in many key health measures than those who live in the most rural and most urban areas.

Nonprofit nursing homes provide better care and more nursing care than investor-owned homes, according to a survey of over 13,500 homes nationwide.

A new report suggests that the most efficient way to increase health insurance coverage is to target subsidies toward low-income workers.

High-tech scanning methods, such as magnetic resonance imaging, and innovations to treat cardiovascular disease were ranked as highly important to the care of patients in a survey of 225 primary care physicians published in Health Affairs (vol. 20, no. 5). At the bottom of the list was bone marrow transplant.

As pharmaceutical companies rely more on sales representatives, reps say they need more training to help them in their jobs.

Premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance have posted the largest increase since 1992, according to an annual survey of employer health benefit plans.

Everyone makes mistakes, but it's learning from them, and changing the way we do what we do, that make us successful.

Managed care medical directors named Philadelphia-based GlaxoSmithKline the top pharmaceutical company for overall service, according to the spring 2001 Managed Care Medical Director Promotional Audit from Newtown, PA-based Scott-Levin.

Thirteen editors of some of the world's most influential medical journals have announced that they will be developing new standards to address possible conflicts of interest between journal authors and third-party groups like drug companies and medical device manufacturers.

Government and industry have shown they can work together to deal with a national disaster.

Franklin Lakes, New Jersey-Merck’s pharmacy benefit arm, Merck-Medco, is under fire for switching patients to more expensive pharmaceuticals.