National Geographic researchers are trying to collect DNA samples from the platypus to determine whether there are separate subspecies of the duck-billed mammals. The male platypus has a spur on its hind foot that can deliver painful venom so they have to be handled carefully.
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I expected Patient Recruitment and Retention in India in the Drug Information Association Global Forum magazine to provide insights into the special factors confronting sponsors of clinical trials in India. India is a crucial place for drug development and since I’ve never been there (Thailand is the closest I’ve gotten) I don’t have firsthand experience. But if the author, Dr. Deepti Sanghavi, is correct, there seems to be essentially no difference between India and the US.
Among the pharmaceutical industry challenges is that’s it hard to recruit patients for clinical trials. This is especially true in therapeutic areas such as oncology where there are lots of drugs in development and the need for clinical trial participants is high relative to the supply of patients. The Center for Information and Study on Clinical Research Participation (CISCRP), which is sponsored by a variety of clinical trial sponsors and research organizations, works to improve the public perception of clinical trials to increase the willingness of patients to participate. From the Drug Information Association’s Global Forum magazine:
Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama’s pick to be the next Supreme Court justice, is a solid choice. Female, Puerto Rican family, childhood hardships, Princeton, Yale, distinguished career, appointed by a Republican President, solid legal record, not too old and not too young –she’s 54. What’s not to like? One topic people are talking about is that Sotomayor is a Type I diabetic. Obama mentioned it in his introduction, so it’s certainly not being hidden. And diabetics (especially Type I’s) are cheering the nomination as a teachable moment and an affirmation that people with Type I can do anything. I agree.
In Big Pharma and Twitter = Big joke! I demonstrated that big pharma’s presence on Twitter is pathetic. Few of the top 10 companies even maintain the Twitter address with their company’s name. If anything, the situation is even worse when it comes to the top-selling drugs. Big pharma expends considerable effort and dollars to produce and promote slick product-specific websites for its brands. Look at Lipitor.com for example. All the big drugs have sites like that.