Ex-NIH Director Lifted conflict of interest rules, Now favors limits on Drug-Company Ties – LAT Sun, 14 Mar 2004 Former Director of the National Institutes of Health, Harold Varmus, MD, appeared before a blue ribbon panel convened by his former agency, ostensibly to shed light on conflict of interest at…
Black Box Warnings for Antidepressants – What’s Next? Thu, 16 Sep 2004 NY TIMES Quotations of the Day: A. “I think that we now all believe that there is an increase in suicidal thinking and action that is consistent across all the drugs.” Dr. ROBERT TEMPLE, of the Food and…
Bill would shield some drug firms from punitive damages Wed, 29 Dec 2004 A proposed bill in Congress would be another disincentive for pharmaceutical companies to disclose drug safety problems. Those promoting the bill should be asked to disclose their financial ties to drug companies. In 2000, a mysterious clause…
Hoffman LaRoche Rebuffed Call to Monitor Accutane Users – USA Today Tue, 7 Dec 2004 An investigative cover story in USA Today – Drugmaker Rebuffed Call to Monitor Users–affirms the indispensable role of litigation in bringing the facts about adverse drug effects to public knowledge. Lawsuits against Hoffman-La Roche, manufacturer…
Advisory Committee tells FDA: strengthen warnings on SSRI drug labels now Wed, 4 Feb 2004 On February 2, more than 60 families and children from all across America testified at a public FDA advisory committee hearing describing (in 2 minutes) how their children suffered drug-induced harm after being prescribed an…
NYU Students Drugged – NY Post Mon, 19 Apr 2004 Following three suicides by students at New York University (in Sept-October 2003), the University conducted an investigation of the NYU Student Counseling Services. The New York Post reports that an internal 116-page report (December 2003) reveals that whereas drugs were…
The Evidence base: rock of certainty or shifting sands? – BMJ Wed, 5 May 2004 Dr. John Dewhurst, has written an extraordinary article from his first-hand experience as a pharmaceutical company physician who discovered the disparity that exists between the claimed and actual evidence of drug effectiveness–and the reality-based severe,…
Hearing on Antidepressants Canceled – Washington Post Wed, 21 Jul 2004 The Washington Post confirms AHRP’s assessment about the real reason for the derailment of a much awaited congressional hearing at which the giants of the pharmaceutical industry were to testify: “A Democratic staff member who spoke on the condition…
ADHD drug – Cylert withdrawn from market due to Liver Toxicity, a Major Risk of Psychotropic Drugs Tue, October 25, 2005 The FDA announced that another drug prescribed for ADHD–Cylert–was removed from the US market for safety reasons. On September 25, 2005, the Associated Press reported: “Eli Lilly said it…
Pfizer CEO earned $16 milion-72% Increase / V-P Tells Congress How to Save $37.8 billion in cost of drugs Thu, 10 Mar 2005 In his February 16 testimony before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Dr. Peter Rost, Pfizer V-P for Marketing, said: “Every day Americans die…
Whistleblowers: Dangerous Pursuit for Profits at the Expense of Patients’ Lives Sat, 12 Mar 2005 Several prescription drug sales reps have come out of the shadows. They’re blowing the whistle on the pharmaceutical industry’s corrupt practices’ sales reps view doctors’ offices as the trenches. Pfizer drug rep, Jamie Reidy, has…
Integrity of Medical Regulators Wed, 8 Jun 2005 The UK MHRA (equivalent of US FDA) has been caught in flat out public deception. The MHRA–which is entirely funded by the pharmaceutical industry–had claimed that two thirds of professional organizations it consulted favored selling a heart medication (Zocor Heart-Pro) without a…
