Current medical news and unique business news for anyone who cares about healthcare.
Goodbye, Dimebon: Pfizer and Medivation have pulled the plug on Alzheimer’s disease drug candidate Dimebon after a phase 3 trial failed to demonstrate the drug’s benefits. The decision underscores the risks that Big Pharma faces in trying to bolster drug pipelines with expensive deals. Pfizer paid Medivation $225 million upfront in 2008 to co-develop the drug.
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
A win for transparency: Regulations from the federal health reform law will soon require drug and device companies to disclose payments to doctors for research, consulting and entertainment. Doctors who take money from drug makers often practice medicine differently from those who do not and they are more willing to prescribe drugs in risky and unapproved ways, the New York Times reports.
Kind of good news on obesity: U.S. obesity rates are leveling off at around 35 percent but that number is still way too high. Americans spend about $147 billion a year on obesity-related health costs.
The OpenNotes movement: An experiment called OpenNotes involves letting patients of more than 100 primary care doctors view their doctors’ notes from medical visits to investigate whether doing so could lead to improved outcomes.
An all-hospital cable channel: North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System has established its own cable TV channel to feature information on health and wellness and about the system’s facilities. Anytime you see the word “facilities” to describe TV programming, that’s must-ignore TV.
A Personalized Approach to Medication Nonadherence
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
Kraft at TEDMED: Stem cell researcher Dr. Daniel Kraft talks emerging trends in medicine: mobile platforms, 24-hour at-home monitoring, artificial intelligence, social networking, massive data collection, crowd-sourcing.
[Photo from flickr user Patrick Denker]
