Pharma Veterans

Colossal Wrongdoings by Big Pharma – Pfizer and COVID-19 Vaccine – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1095 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1095 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Charlotte May Credit: Ketut Subiyanto Credit: Shvets Production Preamble This is the last post this series about Big Pharma Wrongdoings. Not that these are the only cases, but these may be considered major in impact. Big Pharma keep doing less than desirable things and mostly get away with it also. Same thing is true in Pakistan where relations are also important along with the size to get away with wrongdoings. As I said in the beginning, the business is business and commercial considerations shall always take precedence over all other things. The Race for a Vaccine: Pfizer’s Global Sprint As the world grappled wi...

Colossal Wrongdoings by Big Pharma – Servier – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1094 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1094 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Andres Ayrton Credit: Annushka Ahuja Credit: Artem Podrez Preamble For decades, benfluorex – sold under the brand name ‘Mediator’, was marketed as a diabetes and weight-loss drug by French pharmaceutical giant Servier Laboratories. Hailed as a useful tool to help overweight patients manage their health, Mediator was widely prescribed in France and a few other countries from the mid-1970s until 2009. But beneath its therapeutic promise lurked a dangerous reality: the drug was linked to serious, and often fatal, heart valve problems and pulmonary hypertension. By the time it was pulled off the market, Mediator was estimated to have caus...

Colossal Wrongdoings by Big Pharma – Insulin Price Gouging – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1092 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1092 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Insulin Vials Insulin Pen Preamble Few drugs in modern medicine are as essential—and as emblematic of life-saving innovation—as insulin. Since its discovery in 1921, insulin has been a lifeline for millions of people living with diabetes. Yet, over the past two decades, a storm of controversy has erupted over the skyrocketing price of insulin in the United States and elsewhere, turning this once-celebrated medical breakthrough into a symbol of pharmaceutical greed and systemic dysfunction. This blog post explores the insulin price gouging crisis from 2000 to the present. We will examine how pharmaceutical companies manipulated p...

Colossal Wrongdoings by Big Pharma – Johnson & Johnson – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1091 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1091 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Preamble For more than a century, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has been a household name, synonymous with trust, safety, and family care. Its iconic baby powder, first introduced in 1894, became a staple in homes across the globe. Marketed as gentle and safe for newborns and adults alike, it symbolized purity and reliability. However, behind this wholesome image lies a darker truth—one that has erupted into one of the most significant product liability scandals in recent history. The Johnson & Johnson talcum powder scandal centers on claims that the company’s talc-based products were contaminated with asbestos—a known car...

Colossal Wrongdoings by Big Pharma – GSK – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1090 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1090 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Preamble Pharma industry is ruled by Big Pharma internationally. There are Big Pharma companies locally also, but they are so small as compared to the real Big Pharma.  Big Pharma has been involved in criminal concealment of evidence and facts about their products and has caused huge damage to people. Thalidomide was the first recorded case in 1950-60 which caused the birth of thousands of deformed, limbless babies; the scrutiny started from that point.  In 2012, the pharmaceutical world was rocked by one of the largest healthcare fraud settlements in U.S. history. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), one of the world’s largest drug manufacturers, ag...

Colossal Wrongdoings by Big Pharma – Vioxx – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1089 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1089 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Vioxx Pack Credit: Anna Shvets Credit: Engin Akyurt Preamble Pharmaceutical business is like any other business where profit comes first. If businesses were left unchecked to do as they desired, which is still the case for many businesses worldwide, and for most businesses in badly managed countries like ours, they would do indescribable things, including but not limited to killing people. Pharma industry is ruled by Big Pharma internationally. There are Big Pharma companies locally also, but they are so small as compared to the real Big Pharma.  Big Pharma has been involved in criminal concealment of evidence and facts about their product...

Status of Pharmaceutical Business in Pakistan 2024 – Part II – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 962 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 962 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to aq.pharmaveterans@gmail.com for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Kübra Kuzu Credit: Polina Tankilevitch Credit: Tran Nhu Tuan This is the second and last part. Corporates Growth Pakistan market is extremely unevenly divided with about 95% market share with only top 100 companies. The top players added further huge revenues to their already bursting volumes. They have also further strengthened their positions by increasing share of the total market. The top players have done this by growing at a rate higher than the market growth. How are they able to do it? There are several factors. Human Resource – The big players have the financial strength and market standing to attract top talent. Once a...

Policies - Compliance - Culture – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #839 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #839 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans aims to share knowledge and wisdom from Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on  WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Elizabeth Holmes - CEO Theranos Pfizer gabapentin Pharmaceutical industry is regarded as a highly regulated industry and rightly so. At every step, regulations are applied. The data generated during production and quality control is religiously documented and vetted at various levels. Research data is subjected to even more rigorous vetting. When the local or international teams visit for inspection, their main emphasis is on reviewing documents. The process is simple; they ask for SOPs, review these, and then ask for compliance reports. Compliance becomes the key parameter...

 Drug Development Update – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #837 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #837 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans aims to share knowledge and wisdom from Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on  WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Photo Credit: Pavel Danilyuk Photo Credit: Pixabay Photo Credit: RF._. studio Periodically, I bring to you the update on new registrations by the USFDA. USFDA approval is most relevant because most research is happening in the US, and USFDA is mostly the first regulatory authority to approve new drugs, line extensions, new combinations, and expansion of indications. Some drugs are first applied to EMA – European Medicines Agency, but these are relatively few.  A look at new approvals is not just academic; it shows where the research is going, and where most investment is...