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Cholesterol Drug Battle: Niaspan vs. Zetia 16 Nov 2009
Abbott Laboratories' Niaspan beat Merck's Zetia in a new study. CNBC's Mike Huckman has the details.

Cardiologist Grades Cholesterol Drug Study

16 Nov 2009

Abbott Laboratories' Niaspan beat Merck's Zetia in a new study. Dr. Steven Nissen, chairman of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at The Cleveland Clinic, shares his reaction with CNBC's Mike Huckman.

Merck's Cholesterol Drugs Under Pressure

16 Nov 2009

A new study is putting Merck's cholesterol drugs under pressure today, reports CNBC's Mike Huckman, with Ken Frazier, Merck Global Human Health president.

Cholesterol Drug Battle: Merck vs. Abbott Labs

16 Nov 2009

Abbott Laboratories' Niaspan beat Merck's Zetia in a new study. Barbara Ryan, pharma analyst at Deutsche Bank Securities, shares her reaction.

Cholesterol Drug Battle 16 Nov 2009
Abbott Laboratories' Niaspan beat Merck's Zetia in a new study. CNBC's Mike Huckman has the details.

Novo Nordisk CEO on Diabetes Epidemic

13 Nov 2009

Diabetes is a global epidemic that presents an estimated $25 billion drug and device market and some predict that number could double over the next several years. Lars Sorensen, CEO of Novo Nordisk, the world's largest diabetes care company, talks to CNBC's Mike Huckman.

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CNBC ON DIGG

Lilly's Side-Effect Slip-Up

Published: Thursday, 23 Jul 2009 | 3:33 PM ET

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By: Mike Huckman
Reporter

I'm betting somebody's blood pressure at Eli Lilly [LLY Loading... () ] headquarters in Indianapolis today went through the roof.

At 10:45 a.m. ET the company put out a press release announcing that the Food and Drug Administration had approved LLY's drug Forteo for a new use. (I can't provide a link to the release and I'll explain why later.) It wasn't earth-shattering or stock-moving news and we left it alone. In fact, I quickly permanently deleted the one the company sent to me.

That is, until two hours and ten minutes later, when this press release popped into my inbox. Now, they got my attention.

If you'll click on the link you'll see that the company had to send out a boldface correction to the earlier Forteo release. What was their mistake? In the "Important Safety Information" section of the release (y'know, the part that no one reads) it said, "Forteo can cause serious side effects including an increase in blood pressure when you change positions." Alright. Well, according to the reissued press release, apparently Forteo can cause a decrease in blood pressure.

Oops!

Lilly has taken down the original release containing the error from its website. Someone's blood pressure has probably also come down.

Questions? Comments? and follow me on Twitter at mhuckman