Pfizer Accused of Deception on Neurontin | Newsweek Health

FACTCHECK.ORG
McCain's Viagra Moment
Jess Henig 7/24/2008 12:00:00 AM
The worry that Viagra, but not birth control, is being included in health care plans is out-of-date, according to Adam Sonfield, who coauthored the report. He says that when Viagra initially became available and insurers began to cover it, "there was concern that this was the case and that insurance companies really were covering erectile dysfunction drugs but were not covering contraception." This concern, he says, helped spur efforts to get contraception coverage mandated in 27 states, and contraceptive coverage rates shot up as a result. Sonfield's study, which asked insurance companies about employer-sponsored plans, found that coverage of contraceptive methods had tripled from 1993 to 2002. Sonfield says that the number of plans covering birth control likely has continued to increase over the last six years, though he stresses that U.S. health care is still short of complete coverage.
HEALTH
'Very Serious' Allegations
Jennifer Barrett 1/17/2008 12:00:00 AM
When Vytorin was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2004, the drug--which combines Zetia (which decreases cholesterol absorption) and Zocor (a lipid-lowering agent now available in generic versions)--was touted as an attractive alternative to statins like Pfizer's Lipitor, the country's top-selling drug. Because of its unique combination, Vytorin was designed to both inhibit the body's own production of cholesterol and block the body's absorption of cholesterol from food. Sure enough, the drug hit $1.9 billion in sales for 2006, becoming a big hit for the companies behind them, Merck and Schering-Plough.
Dean Ornish - The Spectrum
The Garbage Trucks in Your Blood
12/18/2006 12:00:00 AM
MEDICINE
Thanks, But No Thanks
Anne Underwood
Dr. Jonathan Mohrer, a New York internist, used to tolerate visits from drug-company representatives. The reps provided a break in the routine, brought free pens, lunches and drug samples, and, most important, answered questions about new medications. But as the number of visits swelled to as many as 10 a day, his patience wore thin. It finally snapped in the fall of 2004, when the heavily promoted painkiller Vioxx was withdrawn after clear evidence emerged that it increased the risk of heart attacks. "I'd been getting pitches for Vioxx almost every week, even while questions were being raised about it in medical journals," says Mohrer. He kicked the reps out and made it clear he wouldn't take their calls in the future. "It's been a real relief," he says. "I don't know how I juggled it all."
Medicine Man
Richard M. Smith
When Pfizer's board chose a new CEO last summer, it passed over two 30-year Pfizer veterans to pick vice chairman and general counsel Jeff Kindler, who joined the company in 2002 after stints at General Electric and McDonald's. In the latest in his series of interviews as part of the NEWSWEEK-Kaplan M.B.A. program, NEWSWEEK Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Richard M. Smith spoke with Kindler about reinvigorating Pfizer.
The Cruncher
Death Is Inevitable. Taxes? Maybe Not.

It's hard to turn on a TV this time of year without seeing an ad showing smiling people who've supposedly just learned they'll be getting income-tax refunds thanks to a tax service or software program. Of course, your refund is Uncle Sam returning an interest-free loan you graciously made him by overpaying during the year--but it sure feels better to get a check than to write one. So imagine the joy at Great-West Lifeco, which has figured out how to get cash today for tax savings that it won't see for up to 15 years. It will do this by getting $550 million by selling securities backed by tax savings that it expects to get as the result of its $3.9 billion cash purchase of the Putnam Investments mutual-fund business.