Can I make a suggestion to you? When some political blowhard on TV or the radio tells you something, don’t automatically believe it. Do your research to learn the facts for yourself, OK?
You see, pundits and politicians lie. And they hope you’ll be so accepting of their carefully crafted talking points that [...]

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You probably didn’t see it in the news — since it got about 1/1000th of the coverage received by Sarah Palin spatting with David Letterman and Spencer and Heidi quitting “I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here” — but a noteworthy legal settlement occurred last week.
A major drug wholesaler, McKesson Corp., and two [...]

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Motley Fool has an interesting take on the public’s current perceptions of the pharmaceutical industry — and the reasons behind those perceptions:
Is there a pill to cure bad PR? Not that I know of, but the health-care industry, and pharma in particular, could certainly use one. The sharply rising cost of prescription drugs [...]

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The AARP’s annual report on prescription drug prices, released last week, reveals that pharmaceutical manufacturers raised prices on the most popular brand-name drugs by 8.7 percent in 2008 — well over twice the rate of inflation.
According to the AP:
AARP’s report highlighted growing costs of what it said were the 219 most widely used brand-name drugs.
Among [...]

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President Obama’s economic stimulus plan includes funding for “comparative effectiveness research,” which would study various prescription drugs, along with medical treatments and devices, to determine which perform best for the least amount of money.
As the Washington Post describes the program:
What’s best for insomnia — Lunesta, at about $6 a pill, or Zolpidem, at $2?
Should [...]

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For nearly three decades, it’s seemed like everything — at least when it comes to government decision-making — has gone Big Pharma’s way.
For example:

The U.S. government permitted Big Pharma to begin advertising directly to consumers, despite the fact that this practice is prohibited worldwide (except in New Zealand). The billions of dollars spent [...]

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I found this wonderful letter by Carrol L. Fry in the Kansas City Star and wanted to share it with all of you. It’s in response to a syndicated column by a typically out-of-touch Washington pundit.
I read George Will’s hand-wringing column about the imminent demise of Medicare (2/7, Opinion, “Obama willing, Congress weak on [...]

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Amy Klobuchar, the freshman U.S. Senator from Minnesota, has penned an opinion piece on “sudden and dramatic” price increases in prescription drugs that she argues are not only wrong, but in many cases illegal. Here’s an excerpt from Klobuchar’s article:
Two years ago, Jesse and Lisa Benson became the proud parents of twin girls, Anna [...]

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It’s no secret that Americans pay far more for prescription drugs than consumers in any other country in the developed world. Most European countries impose price controls on Big Pharma that keep their prescription drug prices to less than two-thirds of what Americans pay.
Obviously, Big Pharma doesn’t want that happening here — which may [...]

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Big Pharma Execs Say Recession Will Hurt; DTC Was ‘Worst Decision’
(WSJ Health Blog)
Meet the Person Likely to be the Next FDA Commissioner (Peter Rost For FDA Commissioner)
Almost Half Of College-Age Americans Have A Psychiatric Disorder (Furious Seasons)
Drugmakers in M&A Frenzy (Bizmology)

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