Feb 2009
Vaccines...Part II
If you read what I have written so far, I am firmly against pseudoscience influencing healthcare policy. Anti-vaccinationists, who have harmed human beings with their pseudoscientific assertion that MMR vaccines cause autism, are now on the run as I’ve stated earlier. Read More...
The recession and the medical industry
I have been in numerous positions within the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries over the past 20 years. The one paradigm upon which we all relied during those years was very simple: “the medical industry was recession-proof.” In fact, way back in 2008, medical products stocks, including Big Pharma and medical device manufacturers, were considered safe locations to invest during a economic downturns. Industry analysts, executives, and investors believed that people would continue to buy medical services, who would then buy all of the products from table paper to expensive capital equipment.
Current speculation seems to reinforce the old paradigm. A recent article published in Tech Journal South offers up the following optimistic forecasts:
Current speculation seems to reinforce the old paradigm. A recent article published in Tech Journal South offers up the following optimistic forecasts:
- M&A activity will increase significantly.
- Biotech stocks will outperform the rest of the market (which shouldn’t be hard given the continued implosion of stock values)
- Most investors consider biotech undervalued
- Most expect biotech to rebound either this year or next
Ethics and medical sales
Feb/20/09 13:28 Filed in: Medical devices | Pharmaceuticals
While searching for information on another blog entry of mine, I came across a story where a Stryker sales representative in Ohio pled guilty to felony “misbranding of a medical device.” As an executive and manager in the medical device and pharmaceutical markets, my rules were quite explicit to all sales people--do not violate applicable regulations and laws for marketing medical product. Stryker has a similar statement on its website (though I cannot know if they placed it there after the criminal actions, but most ethical companies have the policy in place). Read More...
Vaccines...who are you going to believe?
In one corner, we have Jenny McCarthy, former Playboy Playmate of the Year, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, and pseudoscience with an extra dose of quackery. In the other corner, we have the Centers for Disease Control, the Institute of Medicine for the National Academy of Sciences, UK’s National Health Service, and the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (what is commonly called the Vaccine Court). The battle is over MMR vaccine, a mixture of three live attenuated viruses administered by injection for immunization against measles, mumps and rubella (formerly known as German measles).
Let’s take a close look at the participants. First, Jenny McCarthy, whose extensive medical and science education includes....not much. In 2005, she announced that her child was diagnosed with autism, a diagnosis about which there is some doubt. McCarthy believes that vaccines caused her son’s autism, although that view is unsupported by any scientific or medical evidence. Her public appearances and statements have increased the public perception of this link, and may have led to decreased immunization rates and increased incidence of measles. McCarthy has stated that chelation therapy helped her son recover from autism. Essentially, McCarthy claims that mercury in vaccines causes autism, which has been rejected by scientific and clinical studies. In fact, the National Institute of Mental Health has concluded that autistic children will not receive any benefit to balance the risks of cognitive and emotional problems induced by the chelating agents used in this treatment. Really, she should stick to modeling and bad movies.
Dr. Andrew Wakefield is a whole different story. He, and 12 other researchers, published a paper in the British medical journal in 1998, The Lancet, which reported on 12 (yes 12) children with developmental disorders. They linked eight of these children to MMR vaccinations. The paper described several bowel symptoms and the possible link to the vaccine. He even gave a name to the syndrome, autistic enterocolitis. After publication of the paper, confidence in the MMR vaccine fell; pediatricians in the United Kingdom thought the British government was either hiding evidence of the link, or was failing to prove it. Read More...
Let’s take a close look at the participants. First, Jenny McCarthy, whose extensive medical and science education includes....not much. In 2005, she announced that her child was diagnosed with autism, a diagnosis about which there is some doubt. McCarthy believes that vaccines caused her son’s autism, although that view is unsupported by any scientific or medical evidence. Her public appearances and statements have increased the public perception of this link, and may have led to decreased immunization rates and increased incidence of measles. McCarthy has stated that chelation therapy helped her son recover from autism. Essentially, McCarthy claims that mercury in vaccines causes autism, which has been rejected by scientific and clinical studies. In fact, the National Institute of Mental Health has concluded that autistic children will not receive any benefit to balance the risks of cognitive and emotional problems induced by the chelating agents used in this treatment. Really, she should stick to modeling and bad movies.
Dr. Andrew Wakefield is a whole different story. He, and 12 other researchers, published a paper in the British medical journal in 1998, The Lancet, which reported on 12 (yes 12) children with developmental disorders. They linked eight of these children to MMR vaccinations. The paper described several bowel symptoms and the possible link to the vaccine. He even gave a name to the syndrome, autistic enterocolitis. After publication of the paper, confidence in the MMR vaccine fell; pediatricians in the United Kingdom thought the British government was either hiding evidence of the link, or was failing to prove it. Read More...