Amid mounting concerns about the ethics and limitations of animal use in laboratories, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) announced today that it has developed a diagnostic test used to measure insulin levels in diabetes patients. Linco Research, Inc., a leading manufacturer of testing supplies based in St. Charles, Missouri, is now marketing the test internationally. The announcement of the new test comes just weeks after European Union officials and industry groups issued a joint declaration pledging to reduce the use of animals in laboratories.

PCRM initiated development of the assay in 2002 after launching a clinical trial examining the effects of a low-fat vegan diet on diabetes. The only insulin test kits on the market at the time used two cruelly derived animal ingredients—fetal calf serum, a slaughterhouse byproduct that can harbor bacteria and viruses, and cells incubated in the abdomens of live mice, a painful procedure banned in several European countries but still legal in the United States. No one had ever manufactured an insulin assay kit without the animal serum, and numerous laboratories told PCRM it couldn’t be done.
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PATIENTS are now getting just what the doctor ordered and nothing else thanks to a new type of prescription which aims to save money lost through wasted medication.
GPs have been prescribing 28-day courses of treatments for the past year in order to stop expensive drugs from going to waste and are now introducing another type of prescription for repeat users.

The six-monthly prescription has a special bar code which patients can use once a month for up to six months.
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Anne Krishnan, Staff Writer
http://www.newsobserver.com

They hang out in hallways, hoping to snatch just two minutes with a doctor. They stock supply closets with drug samples and know the latest medical research inside and out.

But pharmaceutical sales representatives, once welcomed by doctors as the bearers of golf outings and days at the spa, have been pushed by many physicians to the margins of their practices.

At Wilmington Health Associates, drug reps aren’t allowed to pitch their drugs to doctors who are signing for samples.

“Our rule is that if you want to sit down and chat with a doctor, you can do it at lunchtime when a doctor has time,” said Michelle Jones, a family doctor in the practice who sees five to 10 reps a day. “Surprisingly, they understand.”

Drug reps haven’t become any less attractive, intelligent or persuasive. But over the past five to 10 years, a changing health-care industry has disrupted the way they do their jobs.

That’s good news for critics who contend that any freebies from drug reps, no matter how small, affect the way doctors write prescriptions and potentially drive up the nation’s health-care costs.

To be sure, drug companies’ finances are still healthy, although they have recently faltered. The world’s five largest pharmaceutical companies generated $36 billion in profits last year. Drug reps still took home average compensation of $89,600 in 2005, according to Hay Group, a management consulting firm.

Their jobs are just tougher and less glamorous than they were.

Drug reps’ role is to know the latest research about their own products and their competitors’, to communicate that information to physicians and to encourage the use of their companies’ drugs. However, much of their daily grind can involve delivering drug samples, branded giveaways and food to doctors’ offices. (more…)

By ROBERT PEAR
http://www.nytimes.com

Alarmed at the prospect of Democratic control of Congress, top executives from two dozen drug companies met here last week to assess what appears to them to be a harsh new political climate, and to draft a battle plan.

Hoping to prevent Congress from letting the government negotiate lower drug prices for millions of older Americans on Medicare, the pharmaceutical companies have been recruiting Democratic lobbyists, lining up allies in the Bush administration and Congress, and renewing ties with organizations of patients who depend on brand-name drugs.

Many drug company lobbyists concede that the House is likely to pass a bill intended to drive down drug prices, but they are determined to block such legislation in the Senate. If that strategy fails, they are counting on President Bush to veto any bill that passes. With 49 Republicans in the Senate next year, the industry is confident that it can round up the 34 votes normally needed to uphold a veto.

While that showdown is a long way off, the drug companies are not wasting time. They began developing strategy last week at a meeting of the board of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

Billy Tauzin, president of that group, a lobbying organization for brand-name drug companies, recently urged Representative Edolphus Towns, Democrat of New York, to seek a position as chairman of a powerful House subcommittee, said Karen Johnson, a spokeswoman for Mr. Towns. The subcommittee has authority over Medicare and the Food and Drug Administration. (more…)

By Bruce Japsen
Chicago Tribune staff reporter

Tuesday’s Democratic landslide in congressional elections raises the specter of federal regulation of drug prices via changes to Medicare’s new prescription drug benefit—a move that could lower costs for seniors and squeeze pharmaceutical and health insurance industry profits.

With Democrats in control of the U.S. House of Representatives, some expect them to seek passage of price control measures in that legislative body. And even if Republicans retain a narrow majority in the U.S. Senate, there are enough Republicans who supported price control measures in the past that bills will gain momentum next year and members of Congress who vote against them will feel the wrath of seniors in 2008, analysts say.

Noting the coming pressure of a Democratic Congress, stocks fell across the board on Wednesday for drug companies, health insurers and pharmacy benefit firms.

Shares of drugmakers Abbott Laboratories, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer Inc. fell between 1 and 2 percent.

Health insurers were hit harder. Humana Inc. shares dropped nearly 6 percent and shares of UnitedHealth Group were off 3.2 percent. (more…)