Drug companies -- at least every one that I've worked with -- would like to develop important new medicines that improve health and save lives. That's what gets every industry researcher I know up in the morning, and what keeps them going through the many highs and lows that characterize the scientific process.

Speculation is widespread about the potential origins of the Boston and U.S. Capitol attacks, and whether they could be related (seems unlikely). Investigations are underway. In time, we also must ask how much safer we’ve made ourselves based on the lessons we learned after 9-11. And whether there are still precautions we should heed.

As sequester looms likely, there’s focus on what it means for Federal agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Last time FDA had its budget clipped (by a much smaller amount) it used the shortfall as reason to back off some of its commitments under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) to review applications on pre-determined timetables. What will happen this time?

Some of the most widely abused drugs, including OxyContin, have been re-engineered in tamper-resistant formulations and introduced in place of their original versions. But the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may let the older, riskier versions back onto the market in the form of cheap generic drugs — reigniting the original problems.

The recent deadly outbreak of meningitis caused by spinal injections of a contaminated steroid has cast a spotlight on the practice of pharmacy compounding—when pharmacists mix or adapt medicines to make a specific prescribed treatment. 

Making safe and effective versions of such drugs involves manufacturing steps that aren't trivial. The cost of the medicine has to match the care that goes into creating it and the oversight required to ensure that the standards are maintained.

Nearly every week brings both good and bad news about the safety and effectiveness of pharmaceutical products. But a growing anti-industry bias — held by academic researchers, health insurers, regulators and others who seek to constrain spending on new medicines — is determined to restrict access to prescribers.

Roger Bate, author of the new book, “Phake: The Deadly World of Falsified and Substandard Medicines,” has found some incredibly realistic -- and deadly -- fake medicines. Which are real and which are phony? See if you can tell the difference.

In a just-published op-ed in the New York Times, American Enterprise Institute (AEI) international health economist Roger Bate highlights a better way to fight fake pharmaceuticals while still giving poor Americans access to less costly drugs from online pharmacies.