Reading Room
Welcome. Below you will find our growing collection of readings relevant to the NPA's mission.
Senate Finance Committee Holds First in Series of Congressional Hearings on U.S. Health System Overh
The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday held the first of at least eight congressional hearings focusing on strategies to reform the U.S. health care system, featuring testimony by former HHS secretaries Tommy Thompson and Donna Shalala....
-- Kaiser Family Foundation, May 7, 2007
Ban Urged on Gifts at Medical Schools
Drug and medical device companies should be banned from offering free food, gifts, travel and ghost-writing services to doctors, staff and students in all 129 of the nation’s medical colleges, an influential college association has concluded.
-- NYT, April 28, 2008
Health Coverage Expansion Efforts in Connecticut, Illinois, Minnesota
Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Highlights Health Coverage Expansion Efforts in Connecticut, Illinois, Minnesota....
-- Kaiser Family Foundation, April 25, 2008
F.D.A. Plan on Medical Articles Takes More Heat
A report indicating that Merck used ghostwriters to produce medical journal articles in support of its subsequently discredited drug Vioxx has galvanized opponents to a federal proposal that would relax some restrictions on drug promotion.
-- NYT, April 19, 2008
Ghostwriters Used in Vioxx Studies, Article Says
The drug maker Merck drafted dozens of research studies for a best-selling drug, then lined up prestigious doctors to put their names on the reports before publication, according to an article to be published Wednesday in a leading medical journal.
-- NYT, Apr 15, 2008
Frontline Documentary To Look At Universal Health Care Systems in Five Capitalist Countries
PBS on Tuesday will air a documentary titled "Sick Around the World" that examines the universal health care systems of Germany, Japan, Switzerland, Taiwan and the United Kingdom and how those systems are funded...
-- Kaiser Family Foundation, Apr 15, 2008
Drug Makers Near Old Goal: A Legal Shield
Does FDA approval of a drug pre-empt a patient's right to sue the drugmaker in the event of harm?
-- NYT, Apr 6, 2008
Prescription Drug TV Ads Should Include Toll-Free Number for Adverse Effects Reporting
Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) on Wednesday asked FDA to mandate that all prescription drug television advertisements include information for consumers to report serious side effects to the agency....
-- Kaiser Family Foundation, April 3, 2008
Learning the Lessons of ENHANCE
Surprising results have led experts to propose many possible explanations, but the most obvious possibility is that cholesterol lowering by ezetimibe does not retard the progression of atherosclerosis. There is much to learn from this study....
-- Journal Watch, March 30, 2008
59% of Physicians Support Legislation That Would Create National Health Insurance Program, Survey Fi
The survey examined support for national health insurance by specialty, finding support among 83% of psychiatrists, 69% of emergency medicine specialists, 65% of pediatricians, 64% of internists, 60% of family care physicians and 55% of general surgeons.
-- Kaiser Family Foundation, Apr 1, 2008
Doubt Cast on 2 Drugs Used to Lower Cholesterol
Two widely prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs, Vytorin and Zetia, may not work and should be used only as a last resort, a panel of four cardiologists told an audience of more than 5,000 people at a major cardiology conference on Sunday.
-- NYT, Mar 31 2008
Medications Approved by FDA Under Deadlines Set by Congress More Likely To Have Safety Problems
Prescription drugs that receive FDA approval shortly before the deadline for deciding on new drug applications are more likely to have safety issues than those that are given additional time and scrutiny...
-- Kaiser Family Foundation, Mar 27, 2008
Cigarette Company Paid for Lung Cancer Study
In October 2006, Dr. Claudia Henschke of Weill Cornell Medical College jolted the cancer world with a study saying that 80 percent of lung cancer deaths could be prevented through widespread use of CT scans....
-- NYT, Mar 26, 2008
Countering the Drug Salesmen
A potentially useful antidote to drug company influence over the prescribing practices of doctors is under consideration in Congress.... It's called Academic Detailing.
-- NYT, Mar 20, 2008
Tainted Drugs Put Focus on the F.D.A.
The Inst. of Medicine, the Gov Accountability Office and the FDA’s own Science Board have all issued reports saying poor management and scientific inadequacies make the FDA incapable of protecting the country against unsafe drugs, medical devices & food...
-- NYT, March 17, 2008
Court Allows Suit Against Drug Maker
A 4-to-4 vote on Monday left the Supreme Court unable to decide a pharmaceutical pre-emption case that was argued a week ago. The tie vote...will permit a lawsuit to proceed against the Warner-Lambert Company, the maker of a diabetes drug, Rezulin.
-- NYT, Mar 4, 2008
Patients' ability to sue at risk
The U.S. Supreme Court, in an 8-1 decision, ruled last month that patients injured by most medical devices can't sue their manufacturers. And this fall, a similar case could extend the same legal protection to the much larger pharmaceutical industry....
-- LA Times, Mar 3, 2008
State fights back against prescription drug sales
Pennsylvania is not the first state to try what is known as an ''unsales'' strategy, but its program, begun in late 2005, is considered the most extensive. The state spends $1 million a year on its ''unsales'' force....
-- Associated Press, Mar 1, 2008
Guess Who's Educating Your Doctor
It’s no secret that drug companies sponsor medical conferences and seminars. But a new report by Australian broadcasters shows how drug companies also help select the speakers at those events....
-- NYT, Feb 27, 2008
Congress Likely To Debate Source of Funds for FDA Oversight of DTC Prescription Drug Ads
FDA, which currently has 13 employees who review DTC ads, received materials for 12,616 ads last year. Debate over source of funding for oversight: user fees from industry under review vs. tax dollars...
-- Kaiser Family Foundation, Feb 25, 2008