One of my first experiences of the relation between medical
journals and pharmaceutical companies occurred in the early
1980s after the
BMJ had published papers suggesting that a
new non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, benoxaprofen, might
have serious side effects. We were visited by three stern men
from Eli Lilly, the makers of the drug. Tony Smith, the deputy
editor, conducted the meeting and asked me to join him. The
men, whom I remember (probably wrongly) as having gold teeth,
threatened us with legal action, at which point Tony said:
"In that case we'll see you in court." They backtracked hastily
and asked simply to be able to publish a prompt response.
Those papers led eventually to benoxaprofen being banned, but
the drug's rapid demise may well have been caused by its rapid
ascent. The summer before the meeting with the men with gold
teeth, I had visited Eli Lilly's headquarters in
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FDA's Expert on Quality, Kim Trautman, was the keynote speaker at this year's FDA Update program held on Dec. 2 a the Mass. Medical Society in Waltham.
MedTech IGNITE Chairman, Charlie Johnson of Choate, joined M2D2 Co-Director Prof. Stephen McCarthy on a panel discussing regional resources for medtech entrepreneurs.