GOOD PHARMA
GOOD PHARMA: the Public Health Model of the Mario Negri Institute
Describes how a large institute (51 labs) devoted to developing better medicines for patients provides a public health model works without patenting any of its discoveries or new uses in an open-science, collaborative, self-critical style at much lower costs with data transparency than commercialized research.
PHARMAMYTHS AND REALITIES
A Trio of Short Critiques of the FDA
1. "The FDA's new clothes (for safer drugs): tattered, missing sleeve, torn pocket...
2. "Why do cancer drugs get such an easy ride? Many trials allowed that lack basic features for clear evidence of benefits or harms.
3. "Serious risks for few new benefits from FDA-approved drugs" That's what the FDA gives us.
The Risk Proliferation Syndrome behind Prescription Drugs
Pulls together the syndrome of practices, laws, and rules that are maximizing harmful side effects from new drugs that usually provide few or no off-setting benefits.
Presents evidence of an epidemic of adverse reactions that have made prescription drugs the 4th leading cause of death, tied with stroke.
"Why do cancer drugs get such an easy ride?"
Rushed approvals result in a poor deal for both patients and cancer research. While regulators claim they approve major advances, independent evidence documents flawed, biased, and incomplete evidence so that no one can know if most help cancer patients. Accelerated reviews and easy-ride quasi-evidence reward more research for more drugs with little evidence of benefit.
Epidemic of Adverse Side-effects
Although prescription drugs are a major health hazard and leading cause of death, sociologists and epidemiologists fail to mention or study them.
Health Affairs review of PHARMAGEDDON
Insights in to how drug companies have been transforming illness, diagnosis, the role of doctors, and treatment, away from clinical pathology to risks by numbers.
Data Exclusivity with no benefits
A detailed account of extending data exclusivity without credible evidence it increases innovation. A costly protection from free-market competition
Pharm R&D - Costly Myths
Recent record-high cost estimates of R&D are not only untrue but can impede policy for global health justice
Commercial influence on Medical Journal Editors
While medical journal editors work hard to minimize commercial bias in research articles that can threaten their reputation and trustworthiness, editors need to consider commercial influences on themselves, like revenues from reprints of positive results and advertising. These could be significantly reduced.
GLOBAL JUSTICE AND VACCINES FOR THE POOR
Making Practical Markets for Vaccines
Advanced Market Commitments to encourage new vaccines for the poor are impractical, too expensive, and benefit the Big Four more than poor children