Business Week reports: "From 1986 to 2003 the number of nonsurgical cardiac procedures, such as propping open arteries with wire-mesh stents, rose twelve fold, according to the American Heart Association.
Medical researchers who commit fraud and research misconduct are caught only when a person of conscience steps up to the plate and blows the whistle. There are no systemic, independent checks and balances to prevent research fraud or abuse of patients.
Scientific Misconduct Notices News Stories on Human Research Protection and Commentary by Vera Hassner Sharav April 22, 2002 Scientific misconduct is a big problem undermining the integrity of the scientific literature. Data falsification leads others to erroneous conclusions that may have adverse consequences for patients in clinical research and clinical…
Bayer Documents: AIDS Tainted Blood Killed Thousands of Hemophiliacs Thu, 22 May 2003 An examination of internal Bayer company documents by The New York Times reveals that the company was engaged in unsavory, probably criminal marketing practices. The documents reveal that Bayer continued to sell contaminated blood plasma causing thousands…
Unreported Paxil suicides: company abandons “No Addiction” claim Sat, 10 May 2003 GlaxoSmithKline, Britain’s biggest pharmaceutical company will change the label in the UK to reflect the severe withdrawal that its antidepressant drug, Seroxat (Paxil in US) generates in many patients. In Britain, the package label will no longer claim…
Research dispute prompts patient-trials debate_Seattle Times Mon, 19 May 2003 Newhouse News Service reports that the continuing dispute about the ethics and design of a multi-site lung ventilation experiment sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and conducted by the ARDSNetwork on 861 critically ill patients with…
New Fears Re: Smallpox Vaccine Thu, 8 May 2003 The smallpox vaccine may be even more dangerous than anyone thought. Severe adverse effects are mounting. Four civilian deaths are being investigated. The sudden death of David Bloom, NBC’s correspondent in Iraq, who died of a blood clot, is now being…
Suffer the Little Children in the Research for Cures_USA Today Thu, 29 May 2003 USA Today focuses on safety issues affecting children who are being sought as human guinea pigs by the thousands. They are being recruited clinical trials to test new drugs– whose safety is unproven. “Was the death…
Hormone Replacement Raises Dementia Risk in Women_NYT Wed, 28 May 2003 The false premises that for 50 years had guided gynecologists to prescribe hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for menopausal women is the most compelling case demonstrating the health hazards that follow when medical practice comes under influence of the drug…
Leading Antipsychotic Drugs Come Under New Scrutiny – NYT Tuesday, May 20, 2003 A front page article in The New York Times reveals that the pillars of American psychiatry–including Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, Dr. John Kane, Dr. William Carpenter–are acknowledging that evidence is lacking to support the claims that the new…
Oral arguments in Anthrax vaccine lawsuit Wed, 21 May 2003 The Washington Times reports tht the Department of Defense (DOD) is being challenged in federal court about its anthrax vaccine policy. A pregnant service woman who was forced to be vaccinated with the anthrax vaccine–despite the risk of its causing…
Trial Lawyers Are Taking Aim at the Drug Industry_NYT Sun, 18 May 2003 It appears that trial lawyers will produce the results that government oversight agencies–in particular, the FDA–have failed to do. Namely, to protect the public against an increasing number of unsafe drugs. The pharmaceutical industry whose efforts to…
