Cities in Pennsylvania may have to think carefully before passing ordinances relating to guns and gun control in future years, reports the Washington Post, since doing so could land them in legal trouble with the National Rifle Association. The Pennsylvania state House last week passed a measure that would give anyone who may legally own a firearm, or a membership organization like the NRA, the legal standing to sue any municipality that enacts gun laws that are more stringent than the state’s.
Detailing Financial Links of Doctors and Drug Makers
The New York Times reports that a new federal reporting requirement shows that pharmaceutical and device makers paid doctors roughly $380 million in speaking and consulting fees during a five-month period last year. The data shed new light on the often murky financial ties between physicians and the health care industry. From August to December 2013, drug and device companies made 4.4 million payments to more than half a million health care professionals and teaching hospitals — adding up to about $3.5 billion.
Defining Strategies for Promoting Product Through ‘Drink Responsibly’ Messages in Magazine Ads for Beer, Spirits and Alcopops
A study of “drink responsibly” messages in US magazines published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence found that “responsibility messages were overwhelmingly used to promote product rather than convey relevant public health information… Existing responsibility messages are largely ineffective at conveying relevant public health information, and should be supplemented by or replaced with prominently placed, externally developed, cognitively tested warnings that do not reinforce marketing messages.”
GlaxoSmithKline Found Guilty of Bribery in China
The Wall Street Journal reports that a Chinese court found GlaxoSmithKline’s local subsidiary guilty of bribery and fined the company nearly $500 million, capping a scandal that has shaken China’s pharmaceutical industry. Five of the company’s managers, including Mark Reilly, its former top China executive, were convicted of bribery-related charges and received suspended prison sentences. Glaxo still might be fined in the U.S. and U.K., and it faces several continuing investigations around the world.
Maker of Costly Hepatitis C Drug Sovaldi Strikes Deal on Generics for Poor Countries
Gilead Sciences, the maker of one of the costliest drugs in the world announced on Monday, reports the New York Times, that it had struck deals with seven generic drug makers in India to sell lower-cost versions of the medicine — a $1,000-a-pill hepatitis C treatment — in poorer countries. Gilead, which is based in California, also said it would begin selling its own version of the drug in India and other developing countries at a fraction of the price it charges in the United States.
GM Eligible Death Claims Will Rise: Feinberg
CNBC reports that Kenneth Feinberg, the attorney who is overseeing the General Motors compensation fund for victims in crashes linked to defective ignition switches, has linked 19 deaths to the faulty switches and expects the death toll to go higher. In the five weeks the fund has been operating, it has received 125 death claims and 320 injury claims. Feinberg has found 31 claims eligible for compensation. “Already there are more deaths than GM said from day one,” Feinberg said.
FTC Sues Pharmaceutical Companies for Blocking Consumer Access to Lower-Cost Drug
The Federal Trade Commission has filed a complaint in federal district court charging several major pharmaceutical companies with illegally blocking American consumers’ access to lower-cost versions of the blockbuster drug AndroGel. The FTC’s complaint alleges that AbbVie Inc. and its partner Besins Healthcare Inc. filed baseless patent infringement lawsuits against potential generic competitors to delay the introduction of lower-priced versions of the testosterone replacement drug AndroGel..
Philip Morris International Fined in Brazil for Targeting Youth with its “Be Marlboro” Ads
Philip Morris International’s “Be Marlboro” campaign is coming under fire again for targeting youth, writes the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. This time, the consumer protection agency from the Brazilian state of São Paulo has fined Philip Morris over $480,000. The agency acted after a formal complaint was filed against Philip Morris by tobacco control activists who documented how its marketing tactics were aimed at youth.
Good News for Auto Companies is Bad News for Breathers
U.S. August auto sales were unexpectedly strong, reports the Chicago Tribune, thanks in part to heavy discounting by the manufacturers, with the industry selling at an annualized pace not seen since early 2006. The lowest gasoline prices in four years helped GM and Chrysler Group, a unit of Fiat SpA , achieve double-digit gains in sales of full-size pickups, which provide the bulk of profit. The best-selling pick-ups and SUVs pollute more and contribute more to global warming.
Novartis Japan Admits Concealing Drug Side Effects
The Japanese unit of Swiss pharma giant Novartis has admitted it did not report more than 2,500 cases of serious side effects in patients using its leukaemia and other cancer drugs, reportedly including some fatalities, writes AFP. The revelations, which marked the latest in a string of scandals at the company’s Japanese subsidiary, come after local authorities slapped the firm on the wrist, saying it had to clean up its operations.
Corporations and Health Watch 