Sens. Grassley (R-IA) and Kohl (D-WI) released a somewhat softer version of their Physician Payments Sunshine Act while praising Eli Lilly & Co. for endorsing the legislation.

Pfizer followed Lilly's lead in posting a list of $10 million in grants and charitable contributions the company made to US medical, scientific and patient organizations during the first quarter of 2008 as "part of an ongoing drive throughout the company to increase transparency."

A Government Accountability Office report said the FDA has failed to implement an effective system for tracking and prioritizing reviews of DTC ads - and that the gap between reviews of violative ads and the issuance of regulatory letters continues to widen as a result.

Arguing that most Americans don't know about the FDA's adverse events reporting program, Consumers Union said DTC ads should include a toll-free number that patients can use to report side effects to the FDA.

Two foes of commercially supported CME, the American Medical Student Association and PharmedOut.org, are partnering to present How to Hold Pharma-Free Meetings, a guide for students and others on hosting grand rounds, meetings or conferences untainted by biopharma company support.

A bill introduced in the House of Representatives in March would mandate the reporting of all gifts to physicians worth more than $25—including education—and violators could lose millions in tax deductions for advertising expenses.

On Jan. 14, Schering-Plough released preliminary results of its ENHANCE clinical trial, finding that Vytorin (Zocor/Zetia) did nothing more than generic Zocor alone to slow the progression of plaques—in the carotid arteries of a smallish number of patients with a familial form of hypercholesterolemia who had previously been on statins.

While the overall US pharmaceuticals market grew modestly in 2007, product exclusivity and safety issues continued to weigh heavily on the industry. MM&M charts the trends, products and numbers of the companies that came out on top

Drug industry spending on consumer advertising dropped 3% in 2007 to $5.15 billion, from $5.31 billion in 2006, but spending on product advertising, particularly TV and magazine ads, continued to climb.

Medical schools and teaching hospitals should ban gifts to physicians and other faculty, staff, students and trainees, whether on-site or off-site, including food and travel, said the Association of American Medical Colleges [AAMC].