A New Website Names and Shames Universities and Companies Who Fail to Report Clinical Trials
The government has never fined anyone for breaking a law about reporting clinical trials. A new effort is trying to change that.
Pharmaceuticals
The Diseases We Ignore
Neglected tropical diseases continue to inflict pain and suffering on large portions of the world's population despite the availability of inexpensive cures in the West.
Health Secretary Tom Price's Investment Portfolio Has Directly Benefited From His Pharma Agenda
Before he was named Trump's health secretary, Price took a congressional trip to Australia and pressed officials to extend protections for drug companies in an international trade agreement.
Biotech Leaders Say Quit Whining About Drug Prices
But the people won't, as the push for pharma reform mounts.
How Big Pharma Gave America Its Heroin Problem
OxyContin, designed for cancer pain relief, became the drug prescribed for back and tooth aches.
Low-Income Patients Are Less Likely to Get Cutting-Edge Experimental Treatments
A study confirms that people who make less than $50,000 a year are 37 percent less likely to participate in clinical trials for new cancer treatments—and that's bad news for everybody involved.
Biotech Company Marks Up Drug Cost by 5,000 Percent, Because It Can
Politicians have plenty of ideas to rein in the ever-growing cost of prescription drugs, but for now, the law still favors biotech companies.
The FDA Finally Endorses a Safety Device for Liquid Children’s Medications
Flow restrictors can help prevent children from taking too much acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, which can cause liver damage if taken in high doses.
We Know What's in Your Medicine Cabinet
Even our most personal health conditions are part of a vast but hidden market for our medical data. Don't we deserve to know about it?
Who's Reading Your Medical Data?
An early look at a Pacific Standard story that's currently only available to subscribers.
The Drugs Cost Too Damn Much
Why are prescription drugs, like ipilimumab, so expensive?
Poison Pill
How the American opiate epidemic was started by one pharmaceutical company.
Placebo Power: The Superior Efficacy of 'Expensive' Fake Drugs
New research finds people suffering from Parkinson’s responded more strongly to a placebo if it was described to them as an expensive drug.
The High Cost of Living With Cancer
The biggest pharmaceutical companies are celebrating huge profits while their patients struggle to afford their cancer-fighting drugs.
How Malaria Defeats Our Drugs
In the war against malaria, one small corner of the globe has repeatedly turned the tide, rendering our best weapons moot and medicine on the brink of defeat.
Big Pharma Is Keeping Us From Developing Low-Cost Cancer Treatments
Big Pharma’s focus on blockbuster cancer drugs squeezes out research into potential treatments that are more affordable. Says one researcher: "What is scientific and sexy is driven by what can be monetized."
Does It Matter That Hospitals Have Close Ties to Drug Companies?
Nearly every large drug maker based in the United States had at least one academic medical center official on its board, raising questions about their independence.
Will We Ever Be Able to Figure Out Alzheimer’s?
The cause of Alzheimer’s disease has troubled the science world’s best detectives. Can such a mystery really be solved if we gather enough clues?
How Much of Your Information Are Big Pharmaceutical Cos Capturing?
New disclosures from data broker IMS Health reveal how much pharmaceutical firms will pay to know what your doctor is prescribing.
3 Conferences Happening in January and February Worth Attending
From Managing Popular Culture? to Social Media in the Pharmaceutical Industry, academic gatherings you should be aware of.
The Spectrum of Color Response: Take Your Medicine
The color of your pills matters. So does the color of your editing pen, of your hockey jersey, of your clothes...
The Bitterest Pill: Maybe China Isn’t Counterfeiting Drugs
After a May report finding a third of the malaria pills inspected in Asia and Africa were counterfeit, observers piled on pharmaceutical companies in India and China as likely bad guys. But the truth is a little harder to swallow.