Office Health

Submitted by Dr. Gwenn Is In
Yesterday, New England Cable News hosted a 2 hour prime time special on H1N1. I was honored to be invited on air as the pediatric health expert along with the area’s top health professionals in emergency medicine, OB/GYN, public health and infectious disease. We covered a great deal of ground [...]

Submitted by School Kids Healthcare Blog
For years the American Diabetes Association has used the month of November to raise awareness about the seriousness of diabetes and diabetes prevention and control. This November the American Diabetes Association will carry on this tradition but in addition they’re launching the national movement to “Stop Diabetes.”
Stop Diabetes is a [...]

Should companies be allowed to buy large quantities of medicine like Tamiflu to have on hand in case their employees develop the H1N1 flu virus? Not according to the law in South Korea, where it’s illegal for non-medical professionals to purchase big lots of drugs. Punishment is up to five years in prison.

The law is at the center of a probe of Tamiflu maker Roche, which is being investigated by the Korean Food and Drug Adminstration for allegedly helping companies like HSBC and fellow drug maker Novartis get the stuff, according to Bloomberg. The Korean FDA launched the probe because it says that HSBC and Norvartis bought enough Tamiflu to treat 6,000 people. Roche says it is “cooperating fully with the authorities.”

In the U.S., meanwhile, criticism has flared over how H1N1 flu vaccine has been distributed to big banks like Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. The WSJ notes that these employers had to sign an agreement to give shots to those considered a priority by the CDC, such as pregnant women and those at risk of complications from the flu. Both Goldman and Citi say they followed the CDC rules.

The CDC says the vaccine was first distributed to doctors and health centers, but as more was produced, distribution was expanded to “adult providers.”

But at least one congressman wants an explanation from government officials. “I am concerned that the distribution of the vaccine is resulting in favored treatment for the privileged,” Rep. Frank Pallone told the WSJ.

Now you see it. Now you don’t. So it goes with Boston Scientific’s third-quarter profit as a result of a settlement agreement with the Justice Department that the company announced today.

Boston Scientific agreed to pay $296 million because of faulty reports made in 2005 to the FDA by its Guidant heart-device unit. The settlement will be charged against its third-quarters results, so Boston Scientific now says it had posted a loss for the period of $94 million rather than a profit of $200 million, as it had reported last month.

As part of the deal, Guidant will plead to two misdemeanor charges related to improper reporting to the FDA, failings that were investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Minneapolis. Boston Scientific CEO Ray Elliott said in a statement that Guidant employees “believed they complied with applicable laws and regulations” but now the company wanted to resolve the matter.

The settlement covers three Guidant heart devices — the Contak Renewal and Contak Renewal 2 and Ventak Prizm 2 — and occurred before Boston Scientific acquired the bulk of Guidant in 2006 for almost $27 billion after a bidding war with Johnson & Johnson. Malfunctions in the products sparked recalls after being linked to multiple deaths. Here’s more on the settlement.

BSX Bonus: Boston Scientific separately disclosed in a filing this morning that it had received a subpoena from HHS’s Inspector General seeking information about contributions made by its Cardiac Rhythm Management group to charities with ties to physicians or their families. The company said it is “working with the government to understand the scope of the subpoena.”

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