Peter Loftus
Wall Street Journal reporter - drugs, medical devices, healthcare. 215-881-7127, [email protected]
Last synced from Twitter 6m ago
J&J Rapidly Tested Its Baby Powder After Asbestos Finding—and the Results Were Complicated
Peter Loftus - WSJ 3h 1 tweets
Johnson & Johnson rushed to announce its famous baby powder contained no asbestos after the Food and Drug Administration triggered a recall last month—but results of J&J’s tests weren’t cut and dried.
Peter Loftus After the FDA triggered a recall of Johnson’s Baby Powder last month, Johnson & Johnson conducted its own tests—and the results were complicated, a review of the lab reports shows via 3h
FDA Panel Backs Expanding Use of Fish-Oil Derived Drug
Betsy McKay - WSJ 3d 2 tweets
An advisory panel recommended Thursday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approve expanding the use of a fish-oil derived drug to reduce the likelihood of heart attacks and strokes in high-risk patients.
Indiana Judges Suspended After Drunken White Castle Fight
News.bloomberglaw.com 4d 1 tweets
Three Indiana judges who were involved in a drunken fight in May that ended in two of them getting shot have been temporarily suspended by the Indiana Supreme Court.
These People Got the Flu So You Won’t Have To
Sumathi Reddy - WSJ 6d 4 tweets
As part of a study aimed at developing a better, longer-lasting flu vaccine, participants signed up to get infected with the flu, quarantined and tracked by researchers.
Peter Loftus Getting the flu on purpose...“We’re really trying to understand what protects you from getting the flu,” says a researcher via 6d
WSJ News Exclusive | Google’s Secret ‘Project Nightingale’ Gathers Personal Health Data on Millions of Americans
Rob Copeland - WSJ 7d 56 tweets
Google is teaming with one of the country’s largest health-care systems on a secret project to collect and crunch detailed health information of millions of Americans across 21 states.
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Peter Loftus Google’s secret “Project Nightingale” gathers personal health data on millions of Americans via 7d
Obscure Model Puts a Price on Good Health—and Drives Down Drug Costs
Denise Roland - WSJ 14d 18 tweets
The concept, called QALY, places a dollar value on the health medicines can restore. The calculations are “starting to influence decision-making.”
‘Ebola Is Now a Disease We Can Treat.’ How a Cure Emerged From a War Zone.
Betsy McKay - WSJ 19d 21 tweets
A clinical trial conducted during an epidemic in a violent swath of Congo proved that two new drugs can sharply reduce death rates from Ebola, a virus that has crossed oceans to strike victims in the U.S. and Europe.
Peter Loftus Ebola shuts down major organs and drains body fluids until death comes. In a major breakthrough, two new drugs can stop it. via 19d
FDA Recommends Measures to Curb Drug Shortages
Tom Burton - WSJ 19d 1 tweets
Drug shortages are increasing, the Food and Drug Administration said in a report to Congress, leading to instances where hospitals are rationing lifesaving medicines.
Peter Loftus The short supply of certain drugs “can have a devastating effect on patients,” says the FDA’s acting commissioner via 19d
Novartis Trial of World’s Most Expensive Drug Halted Over Safety Concerns
Denise Roland - WSJ 19d 1 tweets
Novartis has paused a clinical trial of its Zolgensma gene therapy after a separate study on animals raised concerns about side effects, dealing a setback to the company’s efforts to broaden the market for the world’s most expensive drug.
Peter Loftus Novartis pauses clinical trial of Zolgensma in a setback to efforts to broaden the gene therapy drug’s target market via 19d
J&J Says Suspect Baby Powder Is Asbestos-Free
Peter Loftus - WSJ 20d 2 tweets
The company said its testing didn’t find asbestos in bottles of Johnson’s Baby Powder, including the bottle that U.S. regulators recently said contained the carcinogen.
Peter Loftus After health regulators found asbestos in a bottle of its baby powder, J&J re-tested the product but failed to find the substance via 20d
Pfizer Raises 2019 Guidance
WSJ 20d 1 tweets
Pfizer raised its financial targets for the year as the drugmaker reported better-than-expected quarterly results, lifted by higher sales in its biopharmaceutical business.
Peter Loftus Big drugmakers Pfizer $PFE and Merck $MRK up pre-market on better-than-expected 3Q earnings, raised 2019 revenue forecasts. 20d
After an Alzheimer’s Diagnosis, Friends Stop Calling
WSJ 23d 3 tweets
Many people in the early stages of dementia find themselves isolated, even from those they thought they could count on.
Peter Loftus Some interesting recent articles with perspectives from Alzheimer's patients. This one from on social isolation after diagnosis: and this on the emotional roller-coaster of being in the Biogen trial: 21d
I was devastated when Biogen cancelled my Alzheimer’s drug trial. Now I’m just bitter. | Opinion
The Philadelphia Inquirer - https://www.inquirer.com 21d 1 tweets
Why would Biogen have caused such emotional havoc by killing the trials in March only to completely reverse itself seven months later?
Peter Loftus Some interesting recent articles with perspectives from Alzheimer's patients. This one from on social isolation after diagnosis: and this on the emotional roller-coaster of being in the Biogen trial: 21d
Intraparty Disputes Dim Outlook for Drug-Price Legislation
Stephanie Armour - WSJ 21d 1 tweets
Congressional lawmakers who pledged to lower drug prices are confronting the prospect that intraparty divides and possible impeachment proceedings may prevent them from getting anything major done this year.
Vertex Resolves Yearslong Drug-Price Dispute in England
WSJ 25d 2 tweets
Vertex has secured a deal to supply its cystic fibrosis treatments to England’s NHS, breaking a four-year deadlock over drug prices that effectively shut the company out of one of its biggest potential markets.
Baxter May Amend Five Years of Results After Finding Accounting Error
Micah Maidenberg - WSJ 25d 1 tweets
Baxter International said it might need to restate at least five years of results as it has discovered misstatements related to foreign-exchange transactions over the period.
Peter Loftus Baxter shares down 11% on investigation of accounting for foreign exchange that resulted in misstatements of past results $BAX via 25d
Advice to Give Women Blood Thinners After C-Sections Draws Fire
WSJ 26d 8 tweets
Doctors are criticizing a recent recommendation from experts to give blood-thinning drugs to nearly all women who give birth by caesarean section, saying the advice may be unsafe and tainted by potential conflicts of interest.
Peter Loftus Doctors raise concerns about recommendations for the use of blood thinners postpartum that came from a group that gets funding from drugmakers via 26d
Medicare Funding Weighs on Eli Lilly’s Revenue
Peter Loftus - WSJ 26d 1 tweets
Eli Lilly & Co. posted a lower-than-expected revenue for the latest quarter as the company provided more funding for seniors through a Medicare plan under a change in federal law that took effect this year.
Peter Loftus Eli Lilly & Co. posted a lower-than-expected revenue for the latest quarter as the company provided more funding for seniors through Medicare Part D via 26d
Biogen, in Reversal, Will Seek FDA Approval for Alzheimer’s Drug
Joseph Walker - WSJ 27d 2 tweets
Biogen will seek regulatory approval early next year for an Alzheimer’s disease drug, some seven months after pulling the plug on late-stage studies of the drug.
Peter Loftus Biogen just gained roughly $15 billion in market cap on surprise decision to seek FDA approval of experimental Alzheimer's drug that was once deemed a failure. $BIIB 27d
Biogen Plans Regulatory Filing for Aducanumab in Alzheimer’s Disease Based on New Analysis of Larger Dataset from Phase 3 Studies
Biogen 27d 7 tweets
The Investor Relations website contains information about Biogen's business for stockholders, potential investors, and financial analysts.