Drugs

Activists Protest Tuft’s Center Study on Drug Development Costs

Medical students from Harvard and Tufts and members from an activist group staged a “die-in” 4/1 in front of the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development (CSDD), claiming a recent study by Tufts associate professor Joseph A. DiMasi is biased. About two dozen protesters demanded that DiMasi disclose the specific names of the pharmaceutical companies that fund his research, specifically a study last month that claimed it costs $2.87 billion to develop each new drug, according to a report in the Harvard Crimson.

“DiMasi’s figures are used by pharmaceutical companies to preserve the status quo and their bottom line,” a press release for the protest read, claiming his relationship with the pharmaceutical companies presents a conflict of interest for his research. Activist members were from the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power and ACT UP.

In an emailed response to protest organizers, DiMasi said his studies do not imply an association between research expenses and the high cost of drugs. “Our paper not only does not explicitly link [research and development] costs to price setting,” he wrote, “it does not do so implicitly either.”

“At the beginning of every lecture that we have when we have a guest lecturer, they always have a slide that says, ‘These are my conflicts of interest,’” Tufts student Rolvix Patterson told the Crimson. “We would hope that Tufts would hold industry leaders like the people at the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development to the same standards that we hold our medical professors.”

Tufts Center director Kenneth I. Kaitin said it was not the Center’s policy to disclose specific names of pharmaceutical companies. “If there was a question about who supports the CSDD I think that that is adequately described, not only in the paper he published, but on our Web site, so I’m not sure what else is required,” he said, referring to the Center’s acronyms.

Gupta Raises Concerns About Overton’s Independence, Ideology

FDA commissioner nominee Heidi Overton’s responses on vaccines, contraception and abortion medication during her 9/24 Senate confirmation hearing raise concerns that ideology could influence her decision-making if she takes over the agency, MSNBC senior medical analyst Dr. Vin Gupta said Friday. Gupta was particularly critical of Overton’

Overton Confirmation Remains Uncertain After Senate Hearing

FDA commissioner nominee Heidi Overton emerged from her Senate confirmation hearing Thursday (see earlier story) without resolving questions about whether she has enough Republican support to advance — and with a rapidly narrowing window for confirmation before the midterm elections. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing provided few

FDA Classifies Boston Scientific Imager II Catheter Recall as Class I

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FDA Approves Gazyva for Childhood-Onset Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome

FDA has approved Roche’s Gazyva (obinutuzumab) for reducing the risk of relapse in adults and children aged 2 and older with frequently relapsing or steroid-dependent, childhood-onset idiopathic nephrotic syndrome who are in remission. The expanded approval covers the use of the CD20-directed antibody beyond its existing

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Gupta Raises Concerns About Overton’s Independence, Ideology

Overton Confirmation Remains Uncertain After Senate Hearing

FDA Classifies Boston Scientific Imager II Catheter Recall as Class I

FDA Approves Gazyva for Childhood-Onset Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome