Morning Read: Biopharma stocks looking shaky

Highlights of the important and the interesting from the world of healthcare:

Biopharma stocks looking shaky: When Steve Burrill talks, investors listen. But biotech and pharmaceutical investors probably won’t like what they’re hearing from Burrill now. “At one time, in periods of economic uncertainty, investors would move into the relative safety of biotech and pharma,” Burrill says. “However, this is no longer the case and for the foreseeable future biotech’s fortunes will be linked with the performance of the broader capital markets.”

Disappointing evidence: Bad news for proponents of “evidence-based medicine,” a lump term referring to comparative effectiveness research, shared-decision making, cost transparency, etc. The public generally has no idea what it is and disagrees with many of its major themes, according to a study in Health Affairs. Patients’ beliefs that “more is better, newer is better, you get what you pay for, guidelines limit my doctor’s ability to provide me with the care I need and deserve” are “deeply rooted and widespread,” the study’s authors write. Uh oh.

Spinning medical study results: Putting a positive spin on insignificant results of medical studies is easy and evidently happens all too frequently. More than half of 72 studies reviewed for a JAMA study spun their statistically nonsignificant conclusions in a positive way.

Docs against health reform: Plenty of states have done it, but now two doctors’ groups are getting into the act. The Texas Spine & Joint Hospital and Physician Hospitals of America plan to file a lawsuit claiming the federal health reform law is unconstitutional. Unlike the states, the doctors’ groups have their eyes on a provision of the law that halted expansion of physician-owned hospitals.

Piling on Dartmouth (and the NY Times): On Thursday, the blogosphere was alive with the sound of Dartmouth. Or rather, it was alive with criticism and commendations (though primarily criticism) for a New York Times front-page piece that scrutinizes the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care, an influential research group. After its data was labeled “shaky” by the Times, Dartmouth shot back. The last word (for now) goes to The Health Care Blog, which labels the Times’ report “confused” and “dreadful.”

Dealflow: Israel-based EarlySense grabs $13 million for a patient monitoring system; San Diego-based Arena Pharmaceuticals gets $35 million for an anti-obesity drug; Exelixis gets $160 million.