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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.

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.

Efforts to craft a Medicare pharmacy benefit may be sidelined by repercussions from the September attack.

During the next few years of economic and political turbulence, the pharmaceutical industry should cut through the waves like a sturdy ship, creating very little disturbance to its occupants. Some rough water- a prescription drug benefit and generic competition for blockbuster products-is expected, but the industry's ability to expand its markets in a steadily aging population will drive continued growth.

Driven somewhat by the HRT controversy and the growing population of postmenopausal women, the expanding osteo market made room for Eli Lilly's Evista (raloxifene), the first-in-class SERM. According to Dr. Leo Plouffe, Lilly's medical director of US women's health and reproductive medicine, the company has launched a series of clinical trials examining Evista's preventive effects against breast cancer and heart disease in women. And in another bold move, Lilly recently launched its groundbreaking Evista Alendronate Comparison (EVA) study, a head-to-head clinical trial comparing Evista with Fosamax for osteoporosis prevention and treatment and their relative efficacy in reducing risks of heart disease and breast cancer.

Basel-A series of product approvals in recent weeks could go some way to compensate for setbacks in Novartis’ pipeline. The approvals came as the Swiss company reported healthy half-year figures and an 11 percent sales increase.

New York City—In response to the recent terrorist attack in its home city, Pfizer pledged nearly $10 million in aid.