• Steven Pinker and the Price of Bioethics

    Clinical Informatics News Roundup | Over the weekend, the popular philosopher Steven Pinker published an opinion piece in the Boston Globe titled “The moral imperative for bioethics,” which has set off a flurry of blog posts and ripostes about the nature and purpose of bioethical review in medical research.

    Aug 4, 2015

  • Novel Ring Vaccination Trial Yields Rapid Results for Ebola Vaccine

    Clinical Informatics News | Public health workers are excited today about the newly published results of a clinical trial of an Ebola vaccine, which in an interim analysis has proved at least 75% protective against the disease. The creative trial design and analysis are likely to be a model for rapid clinical studies in future emergency situations.

    Aug 2, 2015

  • Rare Genomics Institute Quantifies Crowdsourcing, Weighs in on Patient Engagement

    Clinical Informatics News | The Rare Genomics Institute works to connect patients and their families with the tools, knowledge, and experts necessary to understand the cause of their rare diseases. With a history of working closely with patients, RGI’s president, Jimmy Lin, is weighing in on patient engagement for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). The group has also launched a Crowdfunding Bootcamp to train families raising money for their diagnostic odysseys.

    Aug 2, 2015

  • Next stop for IBM’s Watson supercomputer Your local CVS pharmacy

    Washington Post | The companies are partnering to create a system to predict when you're getting sicker before you do.

    Aug 2, 2015

  • Pfizer's Failed Over-the-Counter Lipitor Trial Highlights Limits of Patient Engagement

    Clinical Informatics News | Pfizer has abandoned an effort to get its blockbuster statin Lipitor cleared for over-the-counter sales, after a trial demonstrated that patients would not follow up with necessary testing and behavior changes when their physicians were not involved in their use of the drug.

    Jul 29, 2015

  • July Clinical News and Product Briefs

    Clinical Informatics News | News and product briefs from around the industry, including major new investments on patient-centered outcomes research in PCORI and the first public healthcare system to reimburse non-invasive prenatal testing.

    Jul 29, 2015

  • Is the system rigged against drugs for newly-diagnosed cancers

    Boston Business Journal | ​Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology says current systems make pharmaceutical firms "underinvest" in early-stage cancer drugs.

    Jul 29, 2015

  • Serious Risks About Existing Drugs Aren’t Given to Trial Participants

    Pharmalot | New research finds some serious risks are not disclosed on consent forms given to trial participants for studies involving approved drugs.

    Jul 29, 2015

  • Not All Fake Medicines Are Created Equal

    Washington Post | As more studies confirm that different placebos may have stronger or weaker placebo effects, scientists raise questions about how to compare the efficacy of real drugs across trials that used varying placebos.

    Jul 28, 2015

  • HelpAround Explores the Social Aspects of Mobile Health

    Clinical Informatics News | With stripped-down mHealth apps like Alert and Diabetes Helpers, Tel Aviv-based HelpAround wants to use the real-time data and location tracking of mobile technology to tap into chronic disease patients' own social networks.

    Jul 27, 2015

  • Faulty Bioequivalence Studies Lead to Hundreds of Drug Suspensions in Europe

    WSJ Pharmalot | The European Union has accepted a recommendation to suspend hundreds of drugs that were authorized for use based on what regulators called "flawed" studies conducted by GVK Biosciences, a clinical research organization based in Hyderabad, India.

    Jul 27, 2015

  • GlaxoSmithKline Sues Tibco Software Over Risk Monitoring Software

    Triangle Business Journal | ​GlaxoSmithKline has accused a California-based software developer of violating federal copyright law by selling a custom software package that was allegedly created in partnership with GSK.

    Jul 22, 2015

  • Made-In-Singapore Cancer Drug Advances To Clinical Trials

    Asian Scientist Magazine | ETC-159, a Wnt-targeting anti-cancer drug indicated for colorectal, ovarian and pancreatic cancers, has entered a Phase I clincial trial.

    Jul 20, 2015

  • HIPAA’s Use as Code of Silence Often Misinterprets the Law

    New York Times | The protection of a patient's health information does not prohibit health care providers from sharing information with family, friends and caregivers.

    Jul 17, 2015

  • FDA Grants Blueprint Go-Ahead for Kinase Inhibitor Trials

    Xconomy | Blueprint Medicines got the green light from the Food and Drug Administration to begin clinical trials on its two lead drug candidates for cancer, about two months after its IPO.

    Jul 13, 2015

  • Concerns and Skepticism Around 21st Century Cures Act

    Washington Post | While some measures in the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act, like increased NIH funding, have attracted widespread praise, other measures threaten to weaken the safety and efficacy evidence needed for drugs to pass muster with the FDA.

    Jul 10, 2015