[Nature] Many people in science would rather not talk about the problem of research misconduct, much less act on it. After all, who directly involved would benefit from a serious crackdown? Certainly not the institutions at which the misconduct takes place — they are nominally responsible, but can face legal repercussions, embarrassing headlines and a [...]

[National Journal] In an address that barely mentions health care, President Obama hits on the message heard repeatedly from the health care industry: If you want more jobs, don’t cut off federal funding.
Obama implores Congress not to “gut” investments in research, so American can maintain its spot as a world leader in medical innovation. That [...]

[Kaiser] The head of the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which funded “two projects that created a highly pathogenic [H5N1] flu virus mutation, has welcomed a two-month moratorium on further research while defending the value and safety of the experiments,” the Financial Times reports. NIAID Director Anthony Fauci [...]

[The Body] There’s a new drug trade in town: selling HIV medications. In Washington Heights, a Manhattan neighborhood, officials are seeing a growing number of HIV-positive individuals selling their meds. This growing trend of trading health for much-needed cash isn’t new, but it illuminates how a crippling economy and disproportionate poverty impacts people living with HIV.
Trading [...]

[Kaiser Health News] Kids in foster care are significantly more likely than other children to be given mind-altering drugs, according to a study of five states released Thursday by the Government Accountability Office.
The report, which focused on children in the Medicaid program, also found that foster kids were more likely to be prescribed five or more psychotropic drugs at [...]

[Reuters] Europe set out plans to boost research into the neglected area of antibiotics on Thursday by promising to accelerate approval of new drugs, while ensuring adequate prices for their makers and promoting industry-wide R&D.
Multi-drug resistant bacteria, or so-called superbugs, are a growing threat across Europe, with rates of drug resistance in one type of [...]

[Forbes] Most of what Bill Gates said to me over the course of two interviews found its way into the cover profile of him I wrote for the most recent issue of Forbes. But one set of ideas didn’t really make it: his unique and thoughtful perspective on the pharmaceuticals industry.
After a conversation with Gates, one [...]

[USA Today] An international conference opens in Rome Wednesday devoted to medical applications of adult stem cells.  “We see tremendous potential in these cells,” says Vatican spokesman Tomasz Trafny, in a phone interview.
The U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops has been a prominent critic of embryonic stem cell research in the United States. The Vatican conference will [...]

[Bloomberg] GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK) agreed to pay $3 billion to resolve U.S. criminal and civil investigations into whether the U.K. company marketed drugs for unapproved uses and other matters, its biggest legal settlement.
Negotiations over the terms will be completed next year, the London-based company said in a statement today. The cost is covered by existing legal [...]

[Los Angeles Times] A physician, a pharmacist and 15 others have been charged with bilking Medicare and Medi-Cal out of millions of dollars in an elaborate prescription drug fraud that resulted in the government paying over and over for the same pills.
Using stolen or illegally obtained Medicare beneficiary cards, members of the ring known as [...]