The Agenda: Off-label marketing, Vytorin, and more
Week of February 18:
Sometimes the small changes end up being big changes in hindsight. In that tradition, that the Food and Drug Administration wants to allow drug companies to give doctors information about unapproved uses for its drugs. The changes in how companies could market off-label uses could dramatically change the industry, and would be welcomed by the drug companies. Lawmakers, on the other hand, won’t be so easy to convince.
Also:
And in case anyone missed it, the FDA has added a warning on Vytorin, saying depression can result from taking the drug. It hasn’t been a good month for Schering-Plough and Merck on the Vytorin front. But the Star-Ledger reported this weekend that the study thatt showed Vytorin wasn’t effective was beset with problems itself, right from the beginning.
From this week’s magazine, check out the story on the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the story that has been breaking on their use of PR. David Jensen, at the California Stem Cell Report, has also been covering the story.
