by Alison Bass | Jul 15, 2010 | Uncategorized
I’ve been experiencing a strong sense of deju vu ever since Gardiner Harris’ story in The New York Times earlier this week that GlaxoSmithKline hid negative findings about a bestselling drug and misrepresented data in a clinical trial of the drug. This...
by Alison Bass | May 31, 2010 | Uncategorized
At a recent talk I gave on health care, the question came up: why isn’t our government negotiating with the pharmaceutical industry to lower drug prices in the US? My audience was a group of sharp-minded Mount Holyoke College alumni, and almost all of them were...
by Alison Bass | Apr 1, 2010 | Uncategorized
In The New York Times yesterday, Duff Wilson did a great job of explaining why many medical experts question the growing use of cholesterol-lowering statins in people without heart problems. He reported on new studies showing the risks of otherwise healthy people...
by Alison Bass | Mar 25, 2010 | Uncategorized
First the good news: The Physician Payment Sunshine Act is now law, signed by President Obama as part of the health care bill overhaul. Starting in 2012, drug and medical device companies must report all consulting, speaking and other payments to doctors and teaching...
by Alison Bass | Mar 17, 2010 | Uncategorized
Every semester, I do an in-class competition to show my students the power of the Web in digging up data for stories. I separate them into groups and ask them to find the answers to specific questions about current sociopolitical trends. Two questions I always ask...
