News Flash: You can't have it all.

• Do you feel like you're stuck in the 20th century? 
• Are you a physician who would like a smartphone app to help you make prescribing decisions? 
• And are you opposed to apps that cost anything more than free? 

Good news! You can put your Luddite days behind you. Epocrates is here (it actually has been here for three years) to make your prescribing decisions easier.

• Oh, you also don't want any drug ads or pharma marketing content on the app? That's asking too much.

According to Duff Wilson of the New York Times, doctors who generally resist pharma marketing aren't safe from drug companies should they choose to use a "free" program such as Epocrates. (Shouldn't be a huge surprise.)

"Pfizer, the world's largest drug maker, has certainly found the marketing channel to be an effective way to reach doctors. 'The beauty of the work we do with Epocrates is that we literally put ourselves in the palm of their hand,' said Dr. Freda Lewis Hall, chief medical officer at Pfizer."

Read the whole article, here.

Pharmaceutical Industry Infographic

Check this out, courtesy of Standard Madness.

Genetic Testing for Sports Genes

According to this article in the Washington Post "at least two companies have begun selling tests that claim to help match youngsters with the sports they are genetically programmed to play best. The DNA scans, the first of an expected wave of attempts to use genes to enhance athletic performance, can steer children toward games they are most likely to win — and perhaps get scholarships to play." Wow. Just...wow.

Not just for eyelashes anymore

Latisse, the eyelash enhancer, is currently being experimented as a treatment for baldness. Check it out in the NY Times.

The most highly paid pharma executives?

The winner for 2010 is Johnson & Johnson CEO Bill Weldon, with $28.7 million.  Read about it at Fierce Pharma.

"Court Hears Arguments In Data Mining Case"

http://www.npr.org/2011/04/26/135745195/supreme-court-hears-case-on-data-mining

A social media clinical trial?

The WSJ reports on an intriguing new clinical trial of lithium for ALS -- conducted on PatientsLikeMe.  Read about it here.

Just say no to Oxycontin money

"A University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health organization that has been criticized for its advocacy of controversial uses of narcotic painkillers says it has decided to stop taking money from the drug industry."

"UW made the announcement after an April 3 investigative report in the Journal Sentinel revealed that its UW Pain & Policy Studies Group had taken about $2.5 million over a decade from companies that make opioids. The money came while the group pushed for what critics say was a pharmaceutical industry agenda not supported by rigorous science: the liberalized use of narcotic painkillers for non-cancer chronic pain."

John Fauber reports in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Supreme Court to hear prescription data mining case

Is data mining legal?  Pharmacies sell electronic prescription records to data miners like IMS Health, which in turn sells them to pharma.  Pharma uses the data to track doctor's prescriptions, so that it can tell whether its marketing tactics are having any effect.  But many doctors and patients object to this, and some states have started to put limits on the practice.  On April 26 the Supreme Court will hear arguments in Sorrell v. IMS Health, Inc. et. al, on the constitutionality of Vermont’s data mining law.  Read about it here.

The varieties of physician-blogger

From The Cartoon Guide to Becoming a Doctor.

Kid getting bullied at school? Maybe she needs plastic surgery!

ABC News covered this story of a 7-year-old girl getting plastic surgery to avoid bullying. Hmmm...

"About half of U.S. adults take vitamins and other dietary supplements"

An article on Huffington Post discusses federal data on vitamin and supplement consumption in the United States. And considering what we discussed on Tuesday about the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, these data are somewhat alarming.

The most inspiring pharmaceutical leaders

PharmaVoice magazine seeks nominations for its annual list of the most inspiring figures in the pharmaceutical industry.

"These individuals should view industry trends as challenges not burdens, as opportunities not obstacles. They should embody panache and conviction. They should be leaders who plan for the future rather than respond to change. They should be innovative, creators of out-of-the box and breakthrough strategies, products, and services. They should be pioneering new paths and lifting their companies to new heights."

The nomination form is here.

Coming to a slum near you

Skin bleaching seems to be the new fad in the slums of Jamaica, and its supposedly hit dangerous proportions. According to the article, "Most Jamaican bleachers use over-the-counter creams, many of them knockoffs imported from West Africa. Long-term use of one of the ingredients, hydroquinone, has long been linked to a disfiguring condition called ochronosis that causes a splotchy darkening of the skin. Doctors say abuse of bleaching lotions has also left a web of stretch marks across some Jamaicans' faces." Read more of this interesting story here.

Recent NY Times articles on drug safety, cost, profit, and justice

What's that quote? "Same story, different day?"

"Pregnancy Drug Makena Is Latest Skirmish in Old F.D.A Battle"

"Cliff Schecter: How Much Is Enough for Big Pharma?"

Walker Percy: An Allegorical Portrait

Click here for the interactive version.

King of Walks

Ben McGrath has a terrific article about the Barry Bonds doping scandal in the March 28 issue of The New Yorker, but sadly, you need a subscription to read it.

Kidneys on your news feed

Roxy Kurze was desperate to find a kidney donor for her husband Jeff. She posted a bulletin on Facebook seeking someone of blood type O that was willing to help. Success! Read more here.

Double-standard for autism therapy

Minnesota will pay for your child's intensive autism therapy -- but not if you are poor.  Maura Lerner reports in the Strib.  (For background, read part one of Lerner's two-part series.)

Think before you take that purple pill

The FDA is warning patients about PPIs -- again.  Read about it here.