Bob Burton

Diabetes expert accuses drug company of “intimidation”

The former chairman of research and development at GlaxoSmithKline, Tadataka Yamada, has been asked by a US Senate committee to explain his role in what it describes as the “intimidation” of John Buse, a professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina. In 1999 Dr Buse raised questions about the cardiovascular safety of the diabetes drug rosiglitazone, which is marketed as Avandia ( BMJ 2007;334:1237 doi: 10.1136/bmj.39244.394456.DB). He was speaking at a symposium organised by the American Diabetes Association. A report by the Senate Finance Committee staff has shown that a company official emailed Dr Yamada proposing that a “firm letter” be written to Dr Buse containing a warning that “the …

Judges grill Big Tobacco’s challenge to Australia’s law on plain tobacco packaging

Australian tobacco control groups are hopeful that a landmark legal challenge by five tobacco companies in the High Court of Australia will fail to overturn federal legislation mandating plain packaging of tobacco products. After the three day hearing the chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, Anne Jones, said that the case seemed to have “gone very well.” She added, “The turning point seemed to be that the industry can’t get over the hurdle that this is a product that kills people.” Five tobacco companies—British American Tobacco, Philip Morris, Van Nelle Tabak Nederland, Imperial Tobacco Australia, and Japan Tobacco International (JTI)—have challenged the validity of the Tobacco …

Surgeon sentenced to seven years in jail for patient deaths

A former surgeon at a Queensland hospital, Dr Jayant Patel ( BMJ 2005;330:985, doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7498.985; BMJ 2008;337:a1065, doi:10.1136/bmj.a1065), has been sentenced to seven years in jail for killing three of his patients and causing grievous bodily harm to another. Dr Patel, who fled Australia in 2005 after public uproar over his performance while working at the Bundaberg Base Hospital in Queensland, was extradited from the US in July 2008 ( BMJ 2008:336:634; doi:10.1136/bmj.39520.479329.DB) to face 16 charges including manslaughter, …

Roche is fined for drug deal offer to health service

An Australian subsidiary of the drug giant Roche has been fined

Australia to consider further regulation of complementary products

A200 000 (£124 200; €143 300;

Roche fined for breaching direct to consumer advertising ban and publishing unbalanced advertisements

199 500) for offering a regional public health organisation funding for a nursing position in exchange for doctors in the region prescribing its hepatitis drug peginterferon alfa-2a (marketed as Pegasys). A health professional complained to the drug industry body Medicines Australia that Roche Products had breached the industry’s self regulatory code of conduct by offering the funding. Medicines Australia’s code committee found that the written offer “was contingent on the number of patients treated with Pegasys, with a sliding scale of increased funding for more patients treated.” The code states that financial support from drug companies “must not be conditional …

FBI arrests doctor wanted in Australia

The Australian government is considering further regulation of the

Australian drug industry seeks to improve its image

A2bn (£970m; €1.2bn;

Lilly's challenge to Australia's drug rationing scheme fails

1.9bn) a year complementary medicines industry after a consumer group raised concerns that products are promoted despite a lack of independently assessed evidence on their effectiveness. In May the Australian Consumers Association published a general overview of the studies of glucosamine to treat osteoarthritis. The association concluded that some glucosamine products were at best on a par with a placebo and at worst ineffective. Australian consumers are estimated to spend approximately

Queensland considers how to improve checks on foreign doctors

A49m on these supplements a year. Symbion Health, a company …