By Mitchell H. Katz, M.D.
Today is the Great American Smokeout and while San Franciscans are doing their part to help people battle nicotine addiction, recently, I became aware that not all the health insurance plans for our county workers in San Francisco — nor in many other counties around the state – were covering all of the smoking cessation benefits recommended by the Center for Disease Control.
The City of San Francisco has embraced a Read the rest of this entry »

The symposium will feature health and policy experts, including Eduardo Sanchez, MD Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas; State Senator Rodney Ellis via a pre-recorded taped message; Representative – Elect Carol Alvarado; Mr. Leon Leach Executive Vice President of Business and Regulatory Affairs, M. D. Anderson; Alex Prokhorov, MD, PhD Professor, Department of Behavioral Science, M. D. Anderson; Christopher Read the rest of this entry »

The symposium will feature health and policy experts, including Eduardo Sanchez, MD Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas; State Senator Rodney Ellis via a pre-recorded taped message; Representative – Elect Carol Alvarado; Mr. Leon Leach Executive Vice President of Business and Regulatory Affairs, M. D. Anderson; Alex Prokhorov, MD, PhD Professor, Department of Behavioral Science, M. D. Anderson; Christopher Read the rest of this entry »

The $3.1 billion smoking cessation market was composed of
approximately 36.8% prescription sales and 63.2% OTC drugs in 2007.
This compared to 2005 when prescription sales accounted for just
12.5% of total sales. The increase in prescription sales is solely
attributed to the approval and marketing of Pfizer’s Chantix in late
2006, which skyrocketed the prescription segment from $385 million in
2006 to $1.16 billion in 2007. However, it appears Read the rest of this entry »