DANGEROUS DRUG LICENSING GAME THE FDA PLAYS Thu, 6 Mar 2003 In her column on Red Flags Weekly, Dr. Meryl Nass describes how the FDA in concert with the Justice Department have been lowering the bar for safety of drugs and vaccines used on military personnel. The significance is that…
FDA approves Paxil for Premenstrual cramps Wed, 3 Sep 2003 On September 2, the FDA approved Paxil (Seroxat) for yet another newly invented “condition.” Inasmuch as those most likely to complain about premenstrual discomfort which has been labeled, premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)–are likely to be pubescent girls, FDA’s approval is…
Medication switched for research purposes – patient nearly dies Tue, 11 Nov 2003 The Boston Globe reports that an investigation by a state oversight agency, “uncovered numerous ethical violations at the Solomon Carter Fuller Mental Health Center by Boston Medical Center physicians contracted to treat patients there.” Boston University Medical…
Superiority of Zyprexa (Olanzapine) Challenged Mon, 1 Dec 2003 “The profound issue in health care is do we pay anything — regardless of the price — for a statistically significant benefit?” A major 12 month randomized study compared the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of Eli Lilly’s $3.7 billion blockbuster schizophrenia…
Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing Thu, 14 Aug 2003 Dr. Sally Satel, a psychiatrist whose ready access to the national media gives her greater than ordinary influence with public health policymakers, has been described as “a conservative ideologue in a doctor’s white lab coat.” In his review of her book, PC,M.D.,…
Drug Tested in Gulf War Is Approved for Troops_NYT Thu, 6 Feb 2003 The New York Times reports that FDA has approved the drug, pyridostigmine bromide for use by the military. The drug had been used experimentally during the Gulf War in 1991. It has been the center of controversy…
July 12, 2002 Babies Exposed to Toxic Vaccines FYI Several recent articles focus on unsafe vaccines: ABC News reports (below) that 3,400 people, half of them children, “received the questionable vaccines from Park Nicollet Clinic in the Minneapolis metropolitan area. The vaccines included polio booster shots, hepatitis A and B…
Tonight PBS Is Science for Sale? Fri, 22 Nov 2002 Bill Moyers Now, a PBS program will discuss the influence of the pharmaceutical industry and its PR companies on science. The discussion explores how the scientific literature and the process of reporting the scientific findings of research have been rendered…
Take Action: Just Say No to Stigmatizing Screening and Unsafe Drugs Tue, 26 Oct 2004 FYI /ACTION! AHRP believes that America’s school children should not be screened and labeled without a guarantee of the proven accuracy of the screening tool, and the proven safety and therapeutic value of the treatment…
Boston Scientific Sold Defective Stints Amid Alarming Data / 22% Medical Device Follow-up Not Done – Boston Globe Mon, 27 Dec 2004 Two reports in The Boston Globe raise concern defective medical devices – including cardiac stents, pacemakers and other medical devices–are proliferating the marketplace before their safety has been…
British Medical Journal: Something is rotten at the heart of FDA / Glaxo faces class action suit Sun, 5 Dec 2004 “Something is rotten at the heart of the FDA.” That’s the opening of an editorial in the British Medical Journal. [1] Indeed, there is something rotten at the heart…
Update: 19 year old volunteer suicided in Eili Lilly laboratory Wed, 11 Feb 2004 Traci Johnson, a native of Bensalem, Pa., committed suicide while a subject of an Eli Lilly drug experiment. She was one of about 25 “healthy volunteers” who had been physically and psychologically screened before the test…
