Medical tourism: way of the future or flight of fancy?
By David Woods (hmi3000@comcast.net) The European Union is moving to strengthen rights of EU patients to seek care in countries other than their own, while the UK government has stated…
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Universal healthcare in the US? Not yet, but probably soon
With President-elect Obama’s proposed plan to reform the US healthcare system, this will be the closest the US has gotten to universal health coverage. We provide a snapshot of the Obama healthcare plan and highlight some of the criticisms it has received from health economists.
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Is it time for a government-run national health system in the US?
By David Woods (hmi3000@comcast.net) With healthcare in the US consuming about 16% of GNP, or around 2 trillion dollars a year, and still leaving an estimated 47 million people uninsured,…
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Tough choices about expensive drugs
By Mary Gabb (mary.gabb@rxcomms.com) The UK ‘s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recently ruled that four drugs used to treat advanced kidney cancer are not effective…
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“Moving and Improving Concepts and Evidence for Healthcare Decisions” – the latest ISPOR congress
By Ruth Whittington (ruth.whittington@rxcomms.com) Rx Communications has just returned triumphant from the 11th annual European Congress of ISPOR. ISPOR is a great place to meet old friends, find new ones,…
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Access to medicines: Ranking the social responsibility of pharmaceutical companies
By Julie Stauffer (julie.stauffer@rxcomms.com) Pharmaceutical companies produce hundreds of life-saving drugs every year. Yet each year, millions of people in developing countries die from preventable and treatable illnesses – diseases…
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American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) Annual Conference 2008
By Robert Hand (robert.hand@rxcomms.com) Under the title “Setting the Pace,” the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) held its 68th Annual Conference on October 23–25 in horse country, Louisville , Kentucky…
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Drug makers gift disclosures: the ethics issue
By David Woods (david.woods@rxcomms.com) Drug company Eli Lilly has said that it will start disclosing the amounts of money over $500 that it pays to physicians – and other firms…
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Direct-to-Consumer Advertising – in Europe?
By Mary Gabb (mary.gabb@rxcomms.com ) Since 1996, DTCA has existed only in the USA and New Zealand , but recent declarations from the European Commission (EC) suggest that the rules…
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How sick are you? It depends on what the definition of ‘sick’ is…
By Mary Gabb (mary.gabb@rxcomms.com ) The publication several years ago of Selling Sickness: How the World’s Biggest Pharmaceutical Companies are Turning Us All into Patients by Ray Moynihan and Alan…
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