Clinical trials present an ethical dilemma for pharmaceutical companies. While companies may want to undertake and report these trials in an ethical manner, negative results can significantly affect product sales. There is accumulating evidence that company-financed trials are biased in favor of the product that the company makes. Ethical conduct in this article is defined as whether the trials...

Stab-resistant body armour is now becoming a standard item of equipment for police officers in the United Kingdom. In the UK these are usually required to have a stab resistance as specified by the Police Scientific Development Branch KR42 standard [G. Parker, PSDB Stab Resistant Body Armour Test Procedure, Police Scientific Development Branch, Publication No 10/93, 1993]. There are several oth...

Background Good information on the harm of a drug is vital to inform risk-benefit decisions and undertake robust cost effectiveness analysis. Clinical trials reported in peerreviewed articles are not useful for this purpose [1,2]. Regulators require pharmaceutical companies to produce product information documents (Europe:SmPC, US:USPI). These documents contain comprehensive and valuable public...

This paper discusses the politics of access to essential medicines and identifies 'space' in the current system where health concerns can be strengthened relative to trade. This issue is addressed from a global governance perspective focusing on the main actors who can have the greatest impact. These include developing country coalitions and citizens in developed countries though participation ...

There is an increased incidence of maxillofacial trauma in conflicts of the 21st century in comparison to those of the 20th century. This is attributed to the asymmetrical nature of modern war with the increased use of improvised explosive devices and improved thoraco-abdominal protection provided by current body armour. This paper aims to briefly review the principles of the initial management...

What health professionals know about medicines resembles the information provided in the advertisements of pharmaceutical companies rather than the scientific literature. Drug companies spend 15-20% of their income on promotion. They are responsible for providing adequate information about drugs, and the wording and illustrations should be consistent with the scientific data sheet for the drug ...

Structured frameworks for benefit-risk analysis in drug licensing decisions are being implemented across a number of regulatory agencies worldwide. The aim of these frameworks is to aid the analysis and communication of the benefit-risk assessment throughout the development, evaluation, and supervision of medicines. In this review, authors from regulatory agencies, pharmaceutical companies, and...

Aim This study furthers the documentation of the geographical distribution of two divergent (c. 3%) mitochondrial DNA clades in the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and tests the hypotheses that the northeastern Pacific distribution has been influenced by post-glacial colonization and lake elevation and that clade identity is associated with certain morphological attributes such ...

Background Australian government expenditures on chemotherapy medicines are increasing faster than any other area of health care with an average annual growth rate of 63% from 2009/10 to 2013/14. Funding decisions on new, high-cost cancer medicines are challenging because of insufficient evidence on benefits and risks of new cancer medicines and high prices requested by pharmaceutical companies...

In “The Location Problem for Color Subjectivism,” Peter Ross argues against what he calls subjectivism — the view that “colors are not describable in physical terms, ... [but are] mental processes or events of visual states” (2), and in favor of physicalism — a view according to which colors are “physical properties of physical objects, such as reflectance properties” (10). He rejects an argume...