November 21, 2008 Newsletter

Dear CMPI Friends,

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

CMPI NEWS
www.cmpi.org

Universal Health Care A Matter Of Faith
Orange County Register
By Robert Goldberg
November 20, 2008

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/care-health-universal-2233942-government-cost

America Needs Health Care, Not Sick Care
River Cities’ Reader
By Gary Applebaum, MD
November 12, 2008

http://rcreader.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13243&Itemid=42

DRUGWONKS BLOG
www.drugwonks.com

Generic Attack On Fred Goodwin
By Robert Goldberg
November 21, 2008

Fred Goodwin is one of the leading psychopharmacologists of this century. He is also a practicing psychiatrist. That is reason alone for those bent on driving down the use of medications for mental illness -- such as Gardiner Harris, Ed Silverman and Chuck Grassley -- to target Goodwin for being paid to advise pharmaceutical companies who develop products for the treatment of such conditions. Goodwin -- who is my friend and a CMPI board member -- is a pioneer in the successful treatment of schizophrenia and manic depression. His radio show, "The Infinite Mind" covered a wide variety of subjects ranging from dreams, to aging, to depression over the 15 years he was the host.

http://www.drugwonks.com/blog_post/show/6473

Of Budget Shortfalls And Snake Oil
By Peter Pitts
November 19, 2008

As our current financial meltdown forces state governments to consider ugly budget cutbacks, some foolish ideas often get undeserved airtime.

Specifically, drug importation.

It’s worth restating the facts.

State and local importation schemes have been dismal and politically embarrassing. Remember Illinois’ high profile “I-Save-RX” program? Over 19 months of operation, a grand total of 3,689 Illinois residents used the program -- which equals approximately .02% of the population.
http://www.drugwonks.com/blog_post/show/6467

Pharma’s Margin Call
By Tim Franson
November 17, 2008

Amidst the current fiscal climate, certain words evoke visceral reactions ... as one example - a margin call, ie the process of an authority such as a lender making a demand of a account holding client to make good on a shrinking collateral (margin) balance, by demanding payment pronto (which may have dire consequences for a party with a diminishing account "coming due" because of taking a calculated risk, based on prior assumptions that subsequently changed). In like spirit, the review of noninferiority margin by the FDA's Anti-Infective Drugs Advisory Committee this week will recommend changes that may be viewed as precedent setting, and which are likely to have similar impact on "pharma portfolio managers" who are subject to the decisions of the agency and its advisors - with potential dramatic impact for sponsors across all therapeutic areas.

http://www.drugwonks.com/blog_post/show/6465

CMPI VIDEO INTERVIEWS

Physician Disempowerment Conference:

http://cmpi.org/physician-disempowerment-event-presentations/

Interviews at US Congress:

http://www.biggovhealth.org/testimonials/policymakers/

CMPI 2008 REPORTS

The Patient-Centric Health Leadership Forum

http://www.cmpi.org/uploads/File/cmpi7-25.pdf

The Hazards of Harassing Doctors: Regulation and Reaction in Trans-Atlantic Healthcare

http://www.cmpi.org/PDFs/Reports/Hazards.pdf

Medicare Decision on Anemia Drugs Ignored Benefits of Drugs