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The Food and Drug Administration is warning patients taking Titusville, NJ-based Janssen Pharmaceutica's heartburn treatment, Propulsid® (cisapride) of new advisories concerning the drug. Propulsid is a treatment for severe nighttime heartburn in patients with gastroesophagal reflux disease who do not adequately respond to other therapies. The new measures are being recommended to help physicians avoid giving Propulsid to patients who are at known risk of rare, but serious, cardiac events associated with the drug.

Reps can make a better impact by managing the time they have.

Tips to help your written communications.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has filed a lawsuit against Physicians Health Services, Shelton, a subsidiary of L.A.-based Foundation Health System and the state's largest managed care company, alleging its pharmaceutical policies pose potentially harmful and dangerous restrictions on consumers.

Reps need to spend time planning, account targeting and learning about new managed care tools that drive today's operations as well as prepare us for tomorrow's growth businesses.

In a precautionary statement about two reports published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists warned that "misinterpretation ... may cause patients to discontinue needed treatment for diabetes."

Schering-Plough Corp., Madison, NJ, has announced the launch of a new, 120-member primary care sales force to complement its existing hepatitis C sales team. The new force is being acquired from Triangle Park, NC-based Innovex.

There are five levels of decision- making that every pharmaceutical sales rep must consider.

A last-minute provision, passed with budget legislation, may give Massachusetts a state-run bulk pharmaceutical purchasing program.

The proposed merger between Abbott Laboratories and Alza Corp. will not be completed due to an inability to come to terms with the FTC.

Since sales success starts by reaching the decision-maker, sales representatives must find creative ways to penetrate the barriers that surround the toughest accounts.

Drugsampling.com, a computer controlled system that monitors the distribution of drug samples, is being tested in Boston's Lahey Clinic.

St. Louis-based Monsanto Co., and Pharmacia & Upjohn, Peapack, NJ, announced plans to merge.

The effect of managed care on a physician's practice.

In our quest as sales reps to provide our physician customers with a valuable sales call, it is crucial to understand what the driving forces are in healthcare delivery and how they affect these customers.

Establish the right mood with clients.

According to the Surgeon General's report on mental illness, nearly half of all Americans who have a severe mental illness don't seek treatment.

A new report on medical errors from the National Institutes of Medicine of the National Academies calls for changes throughout the healthcare system including mandatory reporting requirements. The report, titled "To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System," lays out a comprehensive strategy for government, industry, consumers and healthcare providers to reduce medical errors.

New York-based Pfizer Inc. is asking the shareholders of Warner-Lambert to vote to remove the current Warner-Lambert board of directors and replace it with seven executives that Pfizer has selected, "none of whom have any past or present affiliation with Pfizer," according to Pfizer.

According to a study of physician computer usage conducted by the American Medical Association, Chicago, the proportion of physicians using the World Wide Web has nearly doubled, from 20% in 1997 to 37% in 1999.

The American Medical Association, Chicago, filed a federal lawsuit on Dec. 2, 1999, charging Donna E. Shalala, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, with failure to exert her authority and correct errors in the system used by Medicare to pay physicians for care provided to the nation's elderly.

A report released by Palo Alto, CA-based consulting firm Health Strategies Group showed that 87% of physician contacts with pharmaceutical sales reps last less than two minutes.

There is no medical setting in which a doctor or nurse can have a more dramatic impact on a patient's life than in the emergency room.

Congressman Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) introduced a bill that would provide more information about a health maintenance organization's formulary to its enrollees.

Ways you too can set yourself apart.

How to avoid a legacy of 'to-do' lists.

Medicare plans continue to rate high in overall satisfaction according to the results of a survey released by Caredata.com Inc., an Atlanta-based health care intelligence and Internet content provider.

A paper published in the October 1999 issue of Washington Legal Foundation's Contemporary Legal Notes questions whether the Food and Drug Administration's policies regarding direct-to-consumer advertising is deserving of the same First Amendment scrutiny as the FDA's policy regarding off-label promotion.

With new biotech innovations around the corner, the 21st century might be a safe time to get sick.

A retrospective study of 5,761 postmenopausal women nationwide sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control showed no increased risk of breast cancer associated with the use of hormone replacement therapy.