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Elizabeth Magill

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  • Big Pharma Companies Face Hefty Penalties

    By Elizabeth Magill - September 29, 2012 | Tickers: ABT, AGN, GSK, JNJ, MRK, PFE

    Collectively, drug companies have paid $6.6 billion in penalties in 2012 (through July) to settle Medicare, Medicaid, and other taxpayer subsidized programs, according to a new report published by national consumer watchdog group, Public Citizen. And over the last two decades, state and federal government prosecutors collected over $30 billion from pharmaceutical companies for illegal marketing and alleged fraud.

    The report, titled Pharmaceutical Industry Criminal and Civil Penalties: An more »

  • Critical Children's Cancer Drug Shortage May Be Forestalled

    By Elizabeth Magill - February 15, 2012 | Tickers: GS, HSP, MYL, NVS

    Kudos to Mylan Inc., Hospira Inc., and Sandoz Inc for Stepping Up

    When Ben Venue Laboratories, the largest of four of the nation’s suppliers of injectable preservative-free methotrexate, voluntarily suspended operations last November because of “significant manufacturing and quality concerns,” the supplies of methotrexate have dwindled gradually to the point where oncologists say they were concerned that there was only a two-weeks supply of the drug at many of more »

  • Merck's New Drug Approved to Treat Glaucoma

    By Elizabeth Magill - February 14, 2012 | Tickers: MRK, MYL, PFE

    Yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration approved a new drug to treat the common eye condition, glaucoma. The new drug, called Zioptan, is manufactured by Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) to treat elevated levels of intraocular pressure (IOP), or eye pressure, in people with ocular hypertension, or a type of glaucoma.

    According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, the second most common cause of blindness in the United States is more »

  • Movie Studios Have Reason to Celebrate

    By Elizabeth Magill - February 13, 2012 | Tickers: CMCSA, GE, NWSA, SNE, TWX

    Something must be in the popcorn. Moviegoers are heading to the theaters in droves -- and helping the studios realize revenues they haven't seen in quite some time. Just take a look at these records as a result of this weekend's huge box office draws:

    • Four movies brought in $20 million for their respective studios for the first time since the weekend of Christmas 2008.
    • Box office dollars are more »

  • Google Wants to Pay You to Browse the Web, With A Catch

    By Elizabeth Magill - February 10, 2012 | Tickers: AMZN, GOOG, MSFT, NLSN

    Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) is looking to improve its products and services in order to make for a better online experience for its users. Nothing new there, right? But this time, the Big G is willing to pay you for it.

    The new program is called Screenwise, which will consist of a user panel who will browse the web using the search engine giant's Chrome browser. Users will get $5 more »

  • Digital Storage Locker Wars: Google About to Join the Battle

    By Elizabeth Magill - February 9, 2012 | Tickers: AMZN, GOOG, MSFT

    Although it might not make for television as compelling as the hugely popular Storage Wars and its offshoot Storage Wars Texas, the growing battle to help you with your digital storage needs is definitely worth watching.

    According to Market Research Media, cloud computing is expected to grow 30 percent on a compounded annual growth rate to reach $270 billion globally in the year of 2020. Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) is the more »

  • Lockheed Martin Awarded Contract for Next-Gen GPS Satellites

    By Elizabeth Magill - February 7, 2012 | Tickers: GOOG, LMT

    Our orbit's GPS satellites are set to get an upgrade, thanks to a $238 million contract  Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) received to produce our world's next-generation Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites.  Known as GPS III, third-generation satellites built by Lockheed Martin will replace the aging existing GPS satellites to improve their capabilities for civilian, commercial, and military use.

    Benefits of GPS III

    Awarded by the U.S. Air more »

  • Allergan Terminates Sales of Lap-Band

    By Elizabeth Magill - February 4, 2012 | Tickers: AGN, JNJ

    Medical device and cosmetic drug Botox maker Allergan (NYSE: AGN) announced on Thursday, February 2nd,  that it will halt the selling its gastric banding device to a group of Southern California bariatric surgery center. Weight loss surgery centers affiliated with marketing firm 1-800-GET-THIN are being shut off from the devices.

    What's the reason for the termination? The marketing firm and the affiliated surgery centers are under sharp scrutiny for more »

  • Uh-Oh, Pfizer Recalling Birth Control Pills

    By Elizabeth Magill - February 1, 2012 | Tickers: PFE

    Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE), touted as the largest drug maker in the world, announced last night that it is voluntarily recalling one million birth control pills due the possible risk of unintended pregnancy.

    As a result of an investigation, the New York-based pharmaceutical firm found that 28 pill blister packs may contain a mix-up of the active and inactive pills. In addition to pills possibly being out of sequence, some more »

  • Amylin Pharmaceuticals Motto: Try, Try, and then Try Again

    By Elizabeth Magill - January 28, 2012 | Tickers: ALKS, AMLN, LLY, NVO

    If first you don't succeed, try again. If you still don't succeed, try for number three.  It seems like the third time's a charm for drug maker, Amylin Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AMLN).

    Roughly 26 million Americans and 285 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes. Some of these folks are going to be awfully glad that Amylin Pharmaceuticals didn't give up.

    Bydureon, one of the most anticipated new more »

  • Netflix Customers are Back

    By Elizabeth Magill - January 25, 2012 | Tickers: AMZN, CSTR, NFLX

    Most of them at least. On Wednesday, Jan. 25, Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) released its financial results for 4Q 2011, which can be viewed as a letter to shareholders on its investor section of its website.

    One of the most notable highlights: the company reports an increase of 600,000 customers, which represents a gain back of 75 percent of the 800,000 subscribers it lost last summer when it raised more »

  • Credit Card Companies Teaming Up with Celebrities to Offer Prepaid Debit Cards

    By Elizabeth Magill - January 14, 2012 | Tickers: DFS, MA, TBBK, V, WMT

    But they don't come cheap.

    Financial Guru, Suze Orman, is the latest celebrity to jump into the prepaid debit card swimming pool. And she may be getting into the water just in time. Prepaid debit cards are predicted to achieve double-digit growth annually through 2014, according to Aite Group, an independent advisory and research firm.

    Orman, who is an author, financial advisor, motivational speaker, and CNBC televsion host, has more »

  • What is reCommerce and Why Should I Care About It?

    By Elizabeth Magill - January 13, 2012 | Tickers: AAPL, COST, NKE, VZ, WMT

    Twenty-five. That's the average number of electronic devices per American household, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. And as technology continues to advance at lightening speeds, consumers are opting to trade in their "gently used" electronics for the latest and greatest models.

    reCommerce, or reverse commerce, refers to the return or recovery of products -- though not necessary electronics -- through various online and brick and mortar distribution channels. It's more »

  • Apple and Amazon Rock for Mobile Shopping

    By Elizabeth Magill - January 13, 2012 | Tickers: AMZN, AAPL, DELL, LTD, WMT

    According to a study released by ForeSee Results, a customer satisfaction research firm, consumers have the most satisfied mobile shopping experience with Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN).

    One of the most interesting findings of the study: When it comes to delivering a satisfactory mobile shopping experience, there's a clear-cut break between Apple and Amazon -- and everyone else.

    Apple and Amazon received 85 and 84 points, respectively. Then more »

  • Bald is Beautiful, Especially in Mattel's Barbie's Case

    By Elizabeth Magill - January 12, 2012 | Tickers: HAS, MAT

    If you're the type to get a bit teary-eyed when reading a heartfelt story, then you may want to grab a tissue before reading on.

    There's an online movement growing in momentum to get Mattel (NASDAQ: MAT), one of the nation's largest toy manufacturers, to produce a "Beautiful and Bald Barbie." The potential doll would help young children who are bald deal with their own hair loss more »

  • PayPal: Coming to a Home Depot Near You

    By Elizabeth Magill - January 12, 2012 | Tickers: EBAY, HD, MA, V

    Shopping is changing. And smart companies are taking advantage of it. eBay and The Home Depot are two recent companies to jump onto the mobile commerce bandwagon.

    eBay's PayPal arm plans to announce a retail partnership with Home Depot to let shoppers pay for purchases using PayPal at brick and mortar store checkouts. This proposed agreement is significant in that it marks PayPal's first retail partnership that allows more »

  • Statins May Increase Diabetes Risks in Some

    By Elizabeth Magill - January 11, 2012 | Tickers: ABT, AZN, MRK, NVS, PFE

    Cholesterol is a waxy-type substance seen in the lipids (fats, sterols, triglycerides, etc.) in our blood. Our bodies need cholesterol to boost and maintain healthy cells, however high amounts of it raise the risk of heart disease.

    A fresh study published in the Jan. 9 Archives of Internal Medicine indicates that the use of cholesterol-lowering statins increases the risk of developing diabetes in postmenopausal women. This new study comes on more »

  • 5 Companies that Stand to Benefit from Broken New Year's Resolutions

    By Elizabeth Magill - January 10, 2012 | Tickers: MO, BUD, MCD, SBUX, UN

    Not to be a pessimist, but statistics don't lie. After the first week in January, 25 percent of our New Year's resolutions are broken; and the number jumps to 36 percent come Jan. 31, according to an article published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology. These numbers get even worse as the year continues, with broken resolutions over 50 percent at the six-month mark.

    Psychologist Richard Wiseman provided more »

  • Dell to Exit Netbook Market

    By Elizabeth Magill - January 9, 2012 | Tickers: AAPL, DELL, GOOG, HPQ, INTC

    Are Ultrabooks the New Netbooks?

    Netbooks haven't been around very long. They were introduced in late 2007 and became a driving force for 2009 and 2010 overall PC sales. With their small price tag and small size, netbooks were once the king of mobile computing, albeit for a short time.

    But with sales of netbooks declining and the demand for ultrabooks (ultra-thin notebooks) and tablets increasing -- the latter most more »

  • Diabetes Management to Become More High-Tech

    By Elizabeth Magill - January 9, 2012 | Tickers: GOOG, JNJ, MDT, MSFT, SNY

    8.3 percent of the U.S. population has diabetes, which is nearly 26 million people. Another 79 million have prediabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association.

    Technology for consumers is advancing at such a swift pace that it's almost mind boggling. But technology to manage many diseases hasn't quite kept pace. Take for example diabetes. Diabetics monitor blood glucose levels with a blood glucose device; the first more »

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