Public Pharm

Internet Radio Campaign: Inside Strategy

publicpolitics — Mon, 07 May 2007 17:47:53 +0000

The Copyright Protection Board recently handed down a royalties ruling that was initially due to come into effect on May 15,2007. Had it done so, many Internet Radio Broadcasters would have gone silent because the ruling calls for a whopping 300% increase in royalties and fees, a jump that would put many out of business. The CRPB has since extended the deadline to July 15th, hardly enough time for the bipartisan counter legislation (H.R. 2060) to get out of the two committees it has now been referred to and up for a floor vote.

So was the legislation ( H.R. 2060) , proposed by Washington Democrat Jay Inslee (D) and Illinois Republican Don Manzullo mere showboating?

No, according to one Inslee D.C. staffer interviewed by this correspondent. The July deadline will indeed arrive before the counterlegislation sees the light of day. What the Inslee camp expects to happen is that one group or another will file a suit to stop the CRPB judicial action. The equitiy issues will either be resolved in court or enough time will pass that the legislation, now the beneficiary of an upsurge of popular support.

So watch for the lawsuit, and get ready for a long campaign on behalf of internet radio.

Tags: Technology | Censorship | Radio

Schering-Plough Profit up 55%

publicpolitics — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 16:03:27 +0000

Schering – Plough’s leading drugs for cholestrol fighters rose 21% over a year to fuel record setting earnings for the company. The best sellers are co-marketed with Merck.

posted a 55 percent rise in first-quarter earnings, beating analysts’ estimates on sharply higher sales of its prescription drugs, including two cholesterol fighters sold in partnership with Merck & Co. (MRK.N: Quote, Profile , Research)

Profit increased to $543 million, or 36 cents per share, from $350 million, or 24 cents per share, a year earlier.

Source: today.reuters.com

Bird Flu Vaccine: One Small Step

publicpolitics — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 15:25:13 +0000

The FDA approved a vaccine against a strain of avian influenza on Tuesday, but the formula is only modestly effective. It provokes protective immunity in less than half of the recipients and requires two doses a month apart even for that. url=”http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-sci-flu18apr18,1,5593871.story?coll=la-news-a_section”]

In clinical trials, the vaccine for the H5N1 strain of bird flu provoked an immune response in 45% of people. By contrast, vaccines for \easonal flu protect 70% to 90% of those who get a shot, the FDA said.

The bird flu vaccine, made by Sanofi Pasteur of Swiftwater, Pa., has other drawbacks. The time it takes to administer the two required 90-microgram doses — about a month — was longer than health officials would like, Baylor said. The amount of flu protein needed for a single course of the vaccine also was high, limiting the number of shots available.[/q]

Sanofi’s vaccine is not commercially available and the U.S. government has secured about 6.5 million doses of the vaccine. Preparations for a possible pandemic will continue.

Sanofi-Pasteur is the vaccine division of the sanofi-aventis group.

Sex Abstinence Programs Fail

publicpolitics — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 15:07:14 +0000

A new report from the nonpartisan Mathematica Policy Institute concludes that sex abstinence education programs do not make teenagers grow fonder. In fact, the programs have no effect at all.

The U.S. Congress commissioned the study in an attempt to determine whether the $176 million the programs cost taxpayers annually is worth the expense. An abstinence program teaches children to postpone sexual intercourse before marriage.

Children who took part in sex abstinence classes were found to be just as likely to engage in sexual intercourse for the first time at the same age as children who did not receive these classes, say researchers from Mathematica Policy Research Inc, in a study the US Congress had ordered. According this latest research, teenagers first had sex at the age of 14.9 years, regardless of whether they attended sex abstinence classes.

Source: medicalnewstoday.com

This study examined four abstinence programs and compared students who took part in the programs for as long as three years at age 11 and 12. The children were first studied in 1999 and then followed up in 2005-6. The age of first intercourse was no different from that of kids who did not participate. Nor did the participating students gain more awareness of the dangers of unprotected sex than their nonparticipating counterparts.

The Full Report (PDF)