Ed Silverman’s venerable Pharmalot blog recently posted a useful summary of some of the conflict of interest problems that come up when physicians enroll their patients in clinical trials. The basis for the article was a 62-page paper from the Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law & Policy at the Seton Hall Law School. But what…
Industry, academic researchers, and clinical trials: the slippery slope
December 5, 2009 by Leave a Comment
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….
Statins may have caused the financial breakdown, according to (completely unreliable) experts
April 13, 2009 by 16 Comments
In addition to all the good press, statins have also taken a number of hits, but a recent article may have reached a new low by blaming statins for the financial breakdown. Here is how the article, Cholesterol Contrarians Question Cult of Statins, begins: The near-breakdown of the international financial system and the deep recession…
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…
AHA denies it supports Texas SHAPE legislation
March 9, 2009 by 4 Comments
The American Heart Association has denied that it is supporting the SHAPE-influenced Texas legislation that would mandate insurance company reimbursement for heart attack screening. Earlier today, as reported in CardioBrief, SHAPE issued a press release in which it quoted Dr. Morteza Naghavi, founder of SHAPE and Chairman of the SHAPE Task Force: “We are also…
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…
Editorial: The Incompetence Of The FDA
February 9, 2009 by 10 Comments
As a journalist and editor who’s covered the cardiovascular arena for more than 25 years I’ve tried as much as possible to avoid taking positions on the major controvesies that have appeared over the years. I’m proud that during the “TPA wars” I remained on good terms with not only Eric Topol, Rob Califf and…
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