Protecting Patients

The Watchdog Blog

Before 'Big Oil U' Was 'Big Pharma U'

Consumer Watchdog has protested strings-attached grants from Big Oil to universities, but the oil companies are just following the path of Big Pharma. Here, from the Century Foundation's Maggie Mahar and Niko Karvounis, is a concise history of legislation that opened the classroom door to drug companies--and even let cosmetic giant Shiseido control research agendas at Harvard's Massachusetts General Hospital.  

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Rules, But No Cops

When the federal government passes a law but has no cops to enforce it, the crooks hold a "get out of jail free" card. That's the unfortunate effect of a sweeping and successful effort by drug and insurance companies to have federal law "preempt" state enforcement. A spate of stories today (LA Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Times) on new federal rules against insurance company abuses of Medicare recipients drives home the point.

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One board member gets it

"All Californians are paying for Prop 71," said Dr. Claire Pomeroy, "so all should benefit from it."

Dr. Pomeroy is the Dean of the UC Davis Medical school and has a seat on the 29-member stem cell agency board of...

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Stem cell agency's conflicted board

One of the the problems with the California stem cell agency's board is that it is fraught with conflicts of interest. It was, in fact, designed that way in Proposition 71 which voters...

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San Francisco patient privacy compromised by fundraiser

Here's a perfect example of why a non-medical company with no relationship to the patient should never be allowed access to patient information without permission first - as a ...

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Should ad execs have access to your medical records?

A bill passed its second California Senate committee this week that would give an ever-wider circle of companies access to Californians' private medical information. SB 1096 by Senator Ron Calderon would allow pharmacies to give...

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Some medical researchers finally get it


I stumbled across a delightful article in The New York Times this morning: "Citing Ethics, Some Doctors Are Rejecting Industry Pay."

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Violence In the Union Hall, Will Stern Speak Out?

 Hundreds of Service Employee International Union (SEIU) staff and members stormed a progressive union gathering in Dearborn, Michigan this Saturday -- dispensing injuries, bruises and split heads to conference-goers at a Labor...

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JDRF makes an "offer you can't refuse"

"I'm making you and offer you can't refuse," said Robert Goldstein. "Free money to do  good things."

Goldstein, chief scientific officer for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, was speaking to last week's Interstate Alliance on Stem Cell Research (IASCR)meeting at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC.

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No "secret handshake" for scientists

Though the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) must be commended for hosting the Interstate Alliance on Stem Cell Research meeting in Washington under a policy that completely opened the meeting to the public, the august body needs to update its own procedures.

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Recent Articles:

Stem Cell Grants Being Doled Out

By Mary Engel, LOS ANGELES TIMES
May 7, 2008

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Wisconsin Stem Cell Industry Has Been Slow In Developing

By Joe Vanden Plas, WISCONSIN TECHNOLOGY NEWS
April 27, 2008

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Hope for Patients Who Lost Policies

By Lisa Girion & Marc Lifsher, LOS ANGELES TIMES
April 18, 2008

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Recent Posts in Protecting Patients:

Before 'Big Oil U' Was 'Big Pharma U'

Consumer Watchdog has protested strings-attached grants from Big Oil to universities, but the oil companies are just following the path of Big Pharma. Here, from the Century Foundation's Maggie Mahar and Niko Karvounis, is a concise history of legislation that opened the classroom door to drug companies--and even let cosmetic giant Shiseido control research agendas at Harvard's Massachusetts General Hospital.  

Read More »

Rules, But No Cops

When the federal government passes a law but has no cops to enforce it, the crooks hold a "get out of jail free" card. That's the unfortunate effect of a sweeping and successful effort by drug and insurance companies to have federal law "preempt" state enforcement. A spate of stories today (LA Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Times) on new federal rules against insurance company abuses of Medicare recipients drives home the point.

Read More »

One board member gets it

"All Californians are paying for Prop 71," said Dr. Claire Pomeroy, "so all should benefit from it."

Dr. Pomeroy is the Dean of the UC Davis Medical school and has a seat on the 29-member stem cell agency board of...

Read More »

Stem cell agency's conflicted board

One of the the problems with the California stem cell agency's board is that it is fraught with conflicts of interest. It was, in fact, designed that way in Proposition 71 which voters...

Read More »

San Francisco patient privacy compromised by fundraiser

Here's a perfect example of why a non-medical company with no relationship to the patient should never be allowed access to patient information without permission first - as a ...

Read More »

View All Next »