The News Review:

- CenterWatch Releases State of the Clinical Trials Industry 2008 – A…
- The 2008 AMIA Spring Congress to Showcase Best Practices and Innovatio…
- What the Doctors Aren’t Disclosing
- How the MySpace mindset can boost medical science

CenterWatch Releases State of the Clinical Trials Industry 2008 – A…
Earthtimes – May 15, 2008
It is a key resource that helps themtrack changes and understand key trends with analysis and insight into theglobal challenges in the industry" said Mary Jo Lamberti PhD Director ofMarket Research for CenterWatch. State of the Clinical Trials Industry 2008 contains over 600 chartsgraphs and tables a review of the top clinical research stories of 2007 asreported by the editorial staff of the CenterWatch newsletters; as well asdrug pipeline information and updates on specific disease areas. Much of thedata is based on CenterWatch’s proprietary clinical research benchmarkingsurveys that represent global analysis of current sponsor and CR practices. The 2008 edition features more than 90 completely new charts analyzing theclinical research industry along with updates for hundreds of charts andtables that have become a requirement for industry executives marketresearchers and analysts. Call us at 800-765-9647 or visit our online bookstore at.

The 2008 AMIA Spring Congress to Showcase Best Practices and Innovatio…
Earthtimes – May 15, 2008
The meeting brings together experts and professionals representing industry government and the academic and non-profit sector across the spectrum of biomedical and health informatics to stimulate dialog and interaction on key issues challenges and best practices within four specific topical tracks: Clinical research informatics (CRI) Electronic health records (EHRs) Personal health records (PHRs) and Public health informatics (PHI). 2008 Spring Congress tracks center on four major types of initiatives:The development of effective electronic health records and the evaluation of their impact on care delivery;The incremental definition of personal health records and the new challenges associated with emerging approaches to PHR development and use;The technologies policies research and social structures required to create a stronger public health informatics infrastructure;The opportunities and challenges associated with accelerating the field of clinical research informatics. Evans MPH MPP Deputy Commissioner of the New York State Department of Health leading a new ffice of Health Information Technology Transformation (HITT) will keynote the meeting with an address on Thursday May 29 8:30 am – 10:30 am. HITT created by the Governor in 2007 is responsible for government and private sector efforts to support improvements in health care quality affordability and outcomes for all New Yorkers through widespread deployment of health information technology. This includes oversight of a $250 million health information technology investment program.

What the Doctors Aren’t Disclosing
BusinessWeek – May 15, 2008
First 83% of the papers failed to disclose whether any of the authors were paid consultants for companies even though many journals formally require that information. And of those articles specifically describing clinical trials 72% didn’t say who funded the research. When it comes to policing their disclosure rules says lead author Kevin Weinfurt of the Duke Clinical Research Institute “these journals should be doing better. Virtually every medical organization urges physicians to be up front about their financial ties to industry. It’s especially a concern when doctors who publish studies about drugs and medical devices receive funding from the companies that make those products. ver the past few years a spate of safety warnings and product recalls has left journal editors fearful that company-paid researchers might be filtering their results to highlight the positive. So the publications have toughened up their disclosure policies hoping that transparency by itself would neutralize conflicts of interest.

How the MySpace mindset can boost medical science
New Scientist – New Scientist (subscription) – May 15, 2008
700-how-the-myspace-mindset-can-boost-medical-science. But can it help investigate the causes and treatment of serious diseases? That’s the question surrounding attempts to use online social networking to recruit volunteers for clinical research. Social networking sites could transform the way in which clinical research takes place The MySpace mindset is already meeting medical science on the website. For the past two years it has enabled people with the degenerative neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) to share information about symptoms and treatments.