Christoph Westphal is a very intelligent person, otherwise he would not have been granted an MD/PhD from Harvard and a BA (Phi Beta Kappa) from Colombia. And he wouldn’t have founded various biotech companies or been named to head GSK’s venture arm. Yet it doesn’t take someone with an advanced degree to realize something is wrong with his op-ed (The myth of the perfect drug) in yesterday’s Boston Globe.
Prescription drug utilization among children increased 5 percent in 2009, according to the Medco 2010 Drug Trend Report. The growth rate was four times as high as the population overall.
I went to a lecture the other night on risky behaviors of adolescents. The speakers including leading medical experts who work with teens. The main emphasis was on use/abuse of alcohol and marijuana. The speakers encouraged parents to lock up their liquor, for example.
Genentech’s Lucentis for age-related macular degeneration is basically just a different name for Avastin, a cancer drug. From the New York Times (A Rule on Eye Treatment is Likely to Cost Millions)
