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Volume 5, Number 27
August 8, 2008


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In the Spotlight

Hooray for Blockbuster Drugs
Their first era has revolutionized health care, and their second promises even more.

Paul Howard, City Journal, 8-1-08

The press is full of stories criticizing the pharmaceutical industry for marketing "blockbuster" drugs that are big on sales but low on innovation. "Pharmaceutical executives, like movie moguls, have focused on creating blockbusters," wrote Melody Petersen in a Los Angeles Times op-ed last January. "They introduce products that they hope will appeal to the masses, and then they promote them like mad. . . . The strategy had a flaw that executives have long ignored: It required extraordinary amounts of promotion at the expense of scientific creativity." Similarly, Marcia Angell, former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine, told PBS's Frontline: "The pharmaceutical industry likes to depict itself as a research-based industry, as the source of innovative drugs. Nothing could be further from the truth."
Continue reading . . .


News

· Peter Orszag versus Paul Ryan: Part Deux, Daily Caller, 7-29-10
· Judge throws out proposed Florida healthcare amendment, Associated Press, 7-29-10
· Move to Restrict Pain Killers Puts Onus on Doctors, New York Times, 7-29-10
· Lack of funding threatens the future of HIV drug therapy in the developing world, Washington Post, 7-29-10
· Americans Cut Back on Visits to Doctor, Wall Street Journal, 7-29-10

More Headlines >>


Commentary

· Another Public Option? How Many Do We Need?, Kathryn Nix, Heritage Foundation, 7-29-10
· The weight watchers, Edward L. Glaeser, Boston Globe, 7-29-10
· Wellness Programs Won't Necessarily Improve Health Or Lower Costs, Katherine Hobson, Wall Street Journal Health Blog, 7-29-10
· National Health Service is coming to America, Cal Thomas, Washington Examiner, 7-29-10
· Gazing Into CBO's Budget and Health Care Crystal Ball, James C. Capretta, Kaiser Health News, 7-29-10

More Commentary >>


Research

· Do Bad Report Cards Have Consequences? Impacts of Publicly Reported Provider Quality Information on the CABG Market in Pennsylvania, Justin Wang, Jason Hockenberry, Shin-Yi Chou, and Muzhe Yang, National Bureau of Economic Research, July 2010
· Addressing Geographic Variation and Health Care Efficiency: Lessons for Medicare from Private Health Insurers, Darius Lakdawalla, Tomas J. Philipson, and Dana Goldman, American Enterprise Institute, July 2010
· Why the Obama Health Plan Is Not Entitlement Reform, James C. Capretta, Galen Institute, 7-15-10
· How Do Employers React to A Pay-or-Play Mandate? Early Evidence from San Francisco, Carrie Hoverman Colla, William H. Dow, and Arindrajit Dube, National Bureau of Economic Research, July 2010
· Death by Market Power: Reform, Competition and Patient Outcomes in the National Health Service, Martin Gaynor, Rodrigo Moreno-Serra, and Carol Propper, National Bureau of Economic Research, July 2010

More Research>>



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SPOTLIGHT

Hooray for Blockbuster Drugs
NCF Authors' Series at the US Chamber of Commerce Participate in Forum with Regina Herzlinger!

Click here to register.

NEW SECOND OPINION!
Experts Discuss Personal Genetics Testing in our "Second Opinion" Expert Forum!

This Week's Expert Panel:   • Maynard V. Olson
  • Ben Sasse
  • John Fossella

Click here to read their second opinions.
 
NEW TRANSCRIPT
Bridging the Gap: Affordable Health Care for New York's Uninsured. Bridging the Gap: Affordable Health Care for New York's Uninsured


Medical Progress Report 6. The Truth About Drug Innovation: Thirty-Five Summary Case Histories on Private Sector Contributions to Pharmaceutical Science
By Benjamin Zycher, Joseph A. DiMasi and Christopher-Paul Milne, June 2008

Rx NY: A Prescription for More Accessible Health Care in NY
By Tarren Bragdon

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