Perspectives: Flawed Study Upended Menopause Therapy; Ditching Old Insulin Versions Hurts Drug Pricing
Read recent commentaries about pharmaceutical issues.
The Washington Post:
Hormonal Menopause Therapy Hurt By Misinterpreted Study
In 2002, a well-intentioned but flawed study upended medical care for middle-aged women. It suggested that hormone therapy, then the gold standard to treat menopausal symptoms, led to higher risks of breast cancer, heart attacks and strokes. (Leana S. Wen, 5/14)
Stat:
Discontinuing Older Versions Of Insulin Is Bad For Drug Pricing
Physicians Frederick Banting and John MacLeod declined to be listed on the patent for insulin in 1923; their co-inventors Charles Best and James Collip sold the patent to the University of Toronto for $1. But despite the discoverers’ efforts to make insulin available and cheap for everyone, it has today become the poster child for soaring pharmaceutical prices. (Robin Feldman, 5/15)