Current medical news and unique business news for anyone who cares about healthcare.
Healthcare at the Iowa caucuses. Just hours before the Iowa caucuses, Republican candidate Rick Santorum accused Mitt Romney’s stance on healthcare as being basically the same as President Obama’s. Despite Santorum’s focus on healthcare in an interview with ABC News, at least one expert says candidates’ views on healthcare weren’t crucial in the outcome in Iowa. Prior to Tuesday night’s events, Dr. Peter Damiano, the director of the University of Iowa Public Policy Center, said in an interview with Healthcare Finance News that the specifics of each candidates reform policies aren’t that influential on voters; rather, what that approach says about their stance on the size and role of government is what voters consider.
Where’s the data? Half of the trials sponsored by the National Institutes of Health aren’t published 30 months after their completion, says a new series of articles in BMJ. Undisclosed data, according to one of the authors, could be the biggest threat to medicine because it inserts a bias in medical research and betrays patients who wanted to participate in a trial to help others. Not to mention it’s information that healthcare providers and innovators could use.
When Investment Rhymes with Canada
Canada has a proud history of achievement in the areas of science and technology, and the field of biomanufacturing and life sciences is no exception.
Georgia childhood obesity ads spark controversy. A series of advertisements featuring overweight children talking about the problems with childhood obesity has stirred up some drama in Georgia. Critics of the ads have called them humiliating for obese children and have questioned whether they are educational or exploitative.
Guidelines for online pharma communication. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration kicked off the new year by giving pharmaceutical companies a new draft guidance for online pharma communications, called “Responding to Unsolicited Requests for Off-Label Information About Prescription Drugs and Medical Devices.” It says that if someone asks about off-label use of a pharmaceutical product on a social media page or otherwise, the company can answer in a “fair and nonpromotional” manner that doesn’t necessarily conform to the stringent rules of traditional advertising, but it should be done privately.
Critical dates for healthcare reform in 2012. On Jan. 1, 32 Accountable Care Organizations went live. On March 26, the Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments on the individual mandate. Here are the rest of the important dates for healthcare reform in 2012.
