Forbes says direct-to-consumer drug ads may not work. (This story is based on a forthcoming article in the British Medical Journal.) “For two drugs,” Forbes writes, “Enbrel and Nasonex, the $194 million and $235 million advertising campaigns had no effect whatsoever. Prescription patterns in both English-speaking Canada and Quebec were identical before and after ads ran.”

Another Canadian item. In the elderly, it seems, usage of anti-psychotic medications has not been affected by government safety warnings. That’s according to an analysis in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, which says the usage of the drugs has continued to rise. The authors write: “This finding highlights the limited impact of warnings and suggests that more effective approaches are needed to protect vulnerable populations from potentially hazardous medications.” Here’s a meta-article in Science Daily.

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Google will launch a web browser, not so much as a business (it will be free) but to taunt Microsoft and its troubled browsers and operating systems. “Chrome,” the Google browser, is said to have different tabs and enhanced privacy and security. You can see some Google sketches of its thinking here. Hat tip to Blogoscoped.

Argonauta Communications launched just a few months ago, as we reported. Now the company is touting full-service marketing assistance with patient recruitment. “In recent projects, we have found that most sites were not utilizing their media budget to enhance their recruitment efforts because they lacked the knowledge or support needed to place media,” the company says.

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Business Week has a story on an ex-IBM scientist who left to join Goldman Sachs. The researcher believes that new insights and huge efficiencies can be wrung out of aggregating and scrutinizing vast numbers of employee (or consumer) computer keystrokes and telephone calls. The magazine argues such surveillance and data mining might be beneficial to those being monitored. With chess-playing and gene-seeking tools, IBM’s R&D seems similar to that of Bell Labs or Xerox—impressive as a technical feat but unlikely to translate into any revenue. Here’s the article.

Lilly reported four additional deaths on Byetta, its diabetes blockbuster. The Indy Star reports Lilly’s John Holcombe saying: “We know there had been six deaths. The FDA just reported some severe cases. But we know of more cases, and we’re clarifying it in the spirit of full transparency.” Here’s the story.

Quintiles is suing a former VP, Elaine Messa, and the firm she recently joined, Becker & Associates, a regulatory consultancy. Quintiles considered buying that firm. Then Becker lured Messa away from Quintiles with a $100,000 raise and a new salary of $350,000. The News & Observer in Raleigh quotes from the legal filings: “In the aftermath of the break-down of negotiations ... Becker made it clear that it intended to move aggressively to undermine Quintiles’ business. More specifically, Becker advised Quintiles that it was moving forward with its plan to target a member of Quintiles’ senior management team.” Here’s the story.

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