Drug industry launches ad campaign aimed at lawmakers | Wall Street Journal
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the lobbying group for the drug industry, says it will spend millions of dollars in 2016 on advertising targeting lawmakers and other decisionmakers that stresses the industry's role in research and new drug development. The campaign, which will run on Facebook and other social media sites that allow advertisers to target users by things like search history and occupation, comes as lawmakers consider strategies to hold down rising drug costs.
Use of prostate-specific antigen testing is in the eye of the beholder | JAMA Internal Medicine
While overall rates of PSA testing have fallen since the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended against routine screening in 2012, urologists still provide routine screening more frequently than primary care physicians, according to a research letter published in JAMA Internal Medicine Monday. The researchers suggest the difference may reflect greater belief among urologists in the benefits of screening or conflicting guidelines about screening.
FDA crackdown could shut stem cell clinics peddling unproven treatments | STAT
Recently issued FDA draft guidelines declaring stem cells used in clinics as drugs--and therefore subject to safety and effectiveness testing--may lead to the the closure of hundreds of stem cell clinics across the country. The clinics, which use the patients own cells, often charge thousands of dollars for stem cell treatment for ailments from autism to erectile dysfunction without evidence of efficacy.
Whooping cough booster shot may offer only short term protection | New York Times
A change from whole-cell pertussis vaccine to an acelullar vaccine in the 1990s may be responsible for a resurgence in whooping cough, according to a new study in the journal Pediatrics. The study found that booster shots for children given the acellular vaccine had just 9% effectiveness two or three years after the booster.
