Comments for Brian Vastag

Comment on Drug Companies Used Physician Education to Push Pills by jesse polansky md

jesse polansky md — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 20:18:09 +0000

David Armstrong’s reporting on ongoing lipitor litgation and the allegations related to the Pfizer’s use of CME are relevant to this post.

http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2007/12/20/a-jug-of-wine-a-loaf-of-bread-and-lipitor/

online.wsj.com/article/SB119811136568740957.html

I am currently reaching out to faculty and participants for a range of these national pfizer funded programs related to lipid management. Programs such as the “Emerging Science of Lipid Management”, “National Lipid Education Council”, “Vascular Biology Work Group”, “Coalition for the Advancement of Cardiovascular Health”, “Heart Advocacy Network”, and “Shape”.

The underlying complaint is linked on Pharmalot.

http://www.pharmalot.com/2007/12/pfizer-sued-by-former-exec-over-lipitor-marketing/

Comment on Drug Companies Used Physician Education to Push Pills by Kim Klausner

Kim Klausner — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:33:45 +0000

Readers can view some of the documents referred to in this blog, and many more, on the Drug Industry Document Archive — http://dida.library.ucsf.edu. You can start by typing in “CME” without the quotation marks in the query box.

Comment on HIV Vaccine Efforts Inch Forward by Marriane

Marriane — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:25:35 +0000

HIV/AIDS is still a problem today despite huge medical advances, i am wondering if there would ever be a cure for this disease .

Comment on Drug Companies Used Physician Education to Push Pills by Beth Schachter

Beth Schachter — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:52:26 +0000

Brian,

Thanks for posting this article. Did the editor state the reason for killing it from the magazine?

Comment on 5 Years After: Portugal’s Drug Decriminalization Policy Shows Positive Results by Vince Bowers

Vince Bowers — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 22:09:39 +0000

Dear Brian, In your article you state, “Drug legalization removes all criminal penalties for producing, selling and using drugs; no country has tried it.” I beg to differ. We have legalized alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, as well as a host of other substances that can only be defined as “drugs.” I don’t mean to quibble, but until we truthfully acknowledge that these substances are drugs too, even subtle references like yours undermines the quality of any intelligent debate about a sane drug policy in this country. Enjoyed your article. Keep up the good work. Vince Bowers