Antidepressant Controversy: Media Conflicts of Interest – New York Times Thu, 25 Mar 2004 FDA’s advisory warning about antidepressant drugs received wide press coverage nationally. But few in the national media mentioned conflicts of interest as the obstacle to disclosure of evidence showing these drugs’ adverse effects. Among the few…
HMO physician applauds Spitzer’s focus on information bias / NYT blind spot Sun, 20 Jun 2004 The affirmation by a Kaiser Permanente physician, Dr. Kate Scannell, that NYS Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer, deserves applause for his “bold and courageous” lawsuit, is an encouraging watershed. The suit, she says, “gives me…
FDA Forced Wyeth to REMOVE Suicide Warning from Effexor Label Wed, 8 Sep 2004 The Wall Street Journal reports that FDA officials forced Wyeth to remove the label warning stating: “In pediatric clinical trials, there were increased reports of hostility and, especially in Major Depressive Disorder, suicide-related adverse events such…
FDA’s Lethal Weakness Requires More than Committees Sun, 7 Nov 2004 Bloomberg News reports that New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer requested information from Pfizer about the promotion of some of its drugs for unapproved uses – the recalled diabetes drug, Rezulin and the antidepressant, Zoloft were named. In…
AP Exclusive: Top US Officials at NIH Knew of AIDS Drug Risks and Failed to Inform White House Mon, 13 Dec 2004 The Associated Press reports: "Less than a month after Bush announced a $500 million plan to push nevirapine across Africa to slow the AIDS epidemic, the Health and…
NYSOMH Issues Alerts, Guidelines re Antidepressant Use in Children, Teens Wed, 29 Dec 2004 The NYS Office of Mental Health has issued letters and an advisory to state mental health providers “explaining” FDA’s warning and the use of antidepressants in children. As you will note, OMH downplays the meaning of…
Drug safety Hearings-Sept-Congress/ FDA – Lilly Plans to Disclose Data Tue, 3 Aug 2004 A hearing about the possible connection between suicide and antidepressant drugs will be held on Aug 4, by the California Senate by Sen. Tom Torkalson, chairman of the Senate Task Force on Youth and Workplace Wellness…
Australian Judge blames Paxil & Effexor: mom free of murder attempt / UK MP Wed, 26 May 2004 Top FDA officials are foot dragging–can’t make up their minds whether protecting children’s lives is a priority. These officials are loath to curtail the dispensing of antidepressants–inasmuch as it would hurt drug…
http://www.illinoisleader.com/opinion/opinionview.asp?c=17908 GUEST OPINION: Maybe legislators should be mentally evaluated, too Friday, July 23, 2004 – by Karen Hayes, associate director of Concerned Women for America-Illinois If Illinois’ Children’s Mental Health Partnership Preliminary Plan goes into effect as planned next year, standardized academic tests will include mental health evaluation. [On Friday,…
Statin-Cholesterol Guidelines–Industry influenced? Wed, 14 Jul 2004 Scientific journal editors are scrambling about how to react to bad publicity emanating from public disclosure that the scientific reports they have published are likely to be biased because the authors’ had financial ties to the companies whose drugs / devices they report…
Lilly Consultants dismiss significance of suicide risk while Lilly will issue Black Box warning label for Strattera Mon, 10 Oct 2005 On September 29, the FDA issued the public health advisory alerting health care professionals that children and adolescents taking Strattera prescribed for ADHD should be closely monitored for changes…
Epidemiologist Says Most Published Research Findings Are False – Psychiatrist Addresses Credibility Crisis Sat, 8 Oct 2005 An article published in PLoS Medical (an Open Access Peer Reviewed Medical Journal) by an epidemiologist who holds academic positions on both sides of the Atlantic–at the University of Ioannina (Greece) and Tufts…
