(Updated on July 7 with a lengthy quote from AJC editor William Roberts.) The authors call it “an in-office linguistic study” and write that it “was conducted to assess physician–patient discussions of mixed dyslipidemia.” But it’s really an Abbott marketing study for Niaspan, the company’s long-acting niacin product, and the question is: why is it published…
Why was an Abbott marketing study published in the American Journal of Cardiology?
July 2, 2010 by 4 Comments
The wealth gap: are cardiologists’ high salaries standing in the way of primary care?
May 4, 2010 by 2 Comments
High salaries for cardiologists and other specialists lead to an overwhelming lifetime advantage in wealth accumulation, according to a new study appearing in Health Affairs. That advantage may play a decisive role in the choice of medical careers, say Kevin Schulman and his colleagues in their article, “Can We Close The Income And Wealth Gap…
Pieces of a puzzle: Multaq, Sanofi, ACC, HRS, Prystowsky, AF Guidelines
March 25, 2010 by 10 Comments
CardioBrief today dispenses with its usual format. Our post today is a puzzle. Here are the various pieces of the puzzle: Puzzle Piece 1: The commercial prospects of Multaq (dronedarone) appear increasingly cloudy, according to a news report by Jim Edwards on bnet.com. Wall Street estimates for the drug, which some had thought might reach € 3…
Why is there a red dress on diet Coke cans?
March 22, 2010 by 9 Comments
I have a question for the NHLBI: why is there a red dress on diet Coke cans? But before raising the question, let’s step back for a moment. Last Tuesday at the ACC Bob Harrington and Steve Nissen debated each other (and, occasionally, the audience) over the subject of conflicts of interest in medicine. The…
Braunwald: “In all fairness, what was OK three years ago is not OK now.”
January 4, 2010 by 1 Comment
A new policy from Partners Healthcare that limits compensation to doctors from industry is provoking lots of discussion (see below), at least in part because of a story in the New York Times by Duff Wilson. (Click here to read the press release Partners issued last April. Click here to read the full report.) One…
Sunday at the AHA: ARBITER’s wild roller coaster ride in Orlando
November 16, 2009 by 2 Comments
[Updated. See bottom of story for postscript on CNBC TV reporter Mike Huckman’s embargo break.] The early release of the ARBITER 6 trial on Sunday was a roller coaster ride in more ways than one. In addition to the drama in the newsroom at the AHA as the embargo was lifted, the hastily assembled news…
Editor insists prasugrel ghostwriter go public
September 11, 2009 by 1 Comment
You don’t need a medium or a seance to find a ghost. All it takes is a sharp-eyed editor. According to a Reuters story by Brendan Borrell, the editor of the Journal of Managed Care Pharmacy, Frederic Curtiss, insisted that a reluctant medical writer be listed as an author on a prasugrel article. The article, “Pharmacy Benefit Spending Poised…
Extreme cardiology culture: Califf, Harrington, Topol & Teirstein
July 31, 2009 by 1 Comment
Two new audio programs posted recently on TheHeart.Org provide a fascinating snapshot of the extremes of contemporary cardiology….
Confessions of a repentant cardiologist
May 1, 2009 by 3 Comments
I can think of no better way to spend 15 minutes than to check out this amazing video of a recent talk given by University of Wisconsin cardiologist Jim Stein. In the talk, Stein outlines his own long road to conversion from a full-fledged, industry-supported KOL (key opinion leader) to his recent decision to refuse…
JAMA editors take strong stance against conflict of interest and free speech
March 22, 2009 by 5 Comments
In an editorial posted online in JAMA, the editors Catherine DeAngelis and Phil Fontanarosa have taken a strong stance against both conflict of interest and free speech. According to the editorial, it’s ok to accuse JAMA authors of conflict of interest, but you can’t tell anyone except the journal editors until the editors themselves report…
A SHAPE board member responds to critical editorial
March 21, 2009 by 12 Comments
In response to a CardioBrief editorial posted earlier this week that was highly critical of SHAPE, I received a letter from a lawyer who is a member of SHAPE’s board of directors. Although I disagree with her views, her position is worthy of respect. With her permission I have posted her letter, followed by my…
Editorial: SHAPE is skating on thin ice
March 17, 2009 by 5 Comments
It’s hard to argue with a concept like heart attack prevention. So when an organization like SHAPE (The Society for Heart Attack Prevention and Eradication) comes along, it’s easy to overlook some of the troubling details of the group in the interest of the greater common good. When SHAPE published its own guidelines independent of…
Cardiology $$$: Mt Sinai’s Samin Sharma tops Columbia’s Moses
February 24, 2009 by 10 Comments
In response to our post yesterday, in which we reported that Columbia University’s Jeffrey Moses $2.5 million compensation package in 2006-2007 vaulted him to 8th place in the Chronicle of Higher Education’s list of highest total compensation at private colleges for 2006-2007, CardioBrief received a message from Mt. Sinai’s Samin Sharma. According to WikiPedia, Sharma performs 1,500…
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