IMS Health, and a handful of other intelligence gathering companies, will be allowed to collect prescribing information from physicians in Maine. This is a big win for pharma companies that purchase reports from data mining companies to better market to doctors. The last hurdle is Vermont, which still has an outstanding lawsuit against the firms.

Drug sampling is way up, but who is receiving the free medication? The American Journal of Public Health states that the majority of samples are distributed to the wealthy and insured. PhRMA, however, disagrees.

Eli Lilly will help develop and market BioMS?s secondary progressive multiple sclerosis drug MBP8298, now in Phase III trials. If approved, the drug will be one of the only medications on the market to treat late-stage MS, a boon for both Lilly and BioMS.

Bristol-Myers Squibb halves its manufacturing division and looks to unmet needs for innovation. Expect new oncology, diabetes, and cardiovascular drugs as well as a more streamlined approach to manufacturing.

State and federal governments do battle over who is responsible for faulty or mislabeled drugs and devices, while patients, pharma manufacturers, and Medtronic wait for answers. Is federal preemption the answer?

In an attempt to bring clinical trials into the 21st century, FDA and Duke launched a public–private partnership that will look at the current state of trials and determine what tools can be implemented to make trials safer and more efficient.

Side effects associated with Pfizer?s smoking-cessation drug have caused a stir in the blogosphere, prompting FDA to seek further information about incidents of depression and suicidal thoughts.

An FDA review team advised that flu vaccines manufactured by GSK and Roche include precautionary warnings citing the potential for neuropsychiatric side effects. Adverse events have been reported in Japan, and now the United States is starting to pay attention.

A prominent pharma litigator argues that Merck's settlement was predictable from the start. And it has a chance of success—provided that it survives a key legal challenge and can meet its mark with plaintiff sign-on.