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Pharmaceutical multinationals, seeking to ramp up profits through cheap drug trials, are increasingly turning to India with its combination of a vast pool of poor, ignorant patients on the one hand and skilled medical personnel and fine research infrastructure on the other.

The existing system of drug patenting and pricing is fundamentally flawed and does not meet health needs, according to report released to health experts last month.

The majority of the U.S. Congress took no action at all in 2014 in favor of holding corporations accountable and reining in corporate power - scoring a zero on the newly released Corporate Accountability Coalition (CAC) Congressional Report Card.

Tennessee Sen. Bill Frist has been ferried on corporate aircraft more than most other politicians in Washington over the past five years, according to a study released this week.

The Senate majority leader's travels were ranked seventh by PoliticalMoneyLine, a company based in Washington that tracks money in politics. He reimbursed companies $69,030 for flying on their planes from 2001 to 2005.

The market in India for outsourced clinical drug trials will hit $1.5 billion by 2010. Enticed by numbers like these, developing countries have been scrambling to catch Big Pharma's eye - India most aggressively of all.

One of the world's largest drug companies has been disciplined by the industry's UK watchdog after admitting that its staff entertained doctors to greyhound racing, lapdancing and Centre Court tickets at Wimbledon.

Americans are taking sleeping pills like never before, fueled by frenetic workdays that do not go gently into a great night's sleep, and lulled by a surge of consumer advertising that promises safe slumber with minimal side effects.