Major Health Groups Cite Antipsychotic Dangers Psychotropic drugs may be bad for your heart/ Clozaril and Zyprexa Wed, 23 Mar 2005 Obesity and diabetes are the fastest growing health hazard due to bad nutrition and a sedentary life style. However, diabetes is also caused by a class of widely prescribed…
FDA Rejects Crestor Petition–Sacrificing Patient safety Tue, 15 Mar 2005 The FDA’s safety standard for allowing a drug to be marketed has been turned on its head. The law requires that a manufacturer provide scientific proof that a drug is safe and effective before it can be licensed for marketing….
Suicide Rate Unchanged in 10 Years–JAMA / AMA Considers Stand Against Warning Labels on Antidepressants Thu, 9 Jun 2005 A major report in the Journal of the American Medical Association shatters all claims about the effectiveness of antidepressants as a treatment for the prevention of suicide. A comparison of the…
212% Increase in Prescription Drug Abuse by US Teens – Australian critics challenge loose prescribers Tue, 27 Sep 2005 Psychiatric prescription drugs have “run amok”: two reports (July, August) by Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, or CASA, confirm an epidemic of prescription drug abuse among teenagers:…
The Crawford Resignation Mystery Sat, 24 Sep 2005 Merrill Goozner of Center for Science in the Public Interest provides insight into what may lie behind the sudden resignation of FDA Commissioner, Lester Crawford. Goozner surggests, “One possible clue to the administration’s thinking comes from the appointment of Andrew von Eschenbach,…
Selling Sickness: Pharma Industry Turning Us All Into Patients Mon, 12 Sep 2005 Related Link: Selling Sickness Prologue Selling Sickness: How the World’s Pharmaceutical Companies Are Turning Us All Into Patients, by Ray Moynihan, an international health journalist, and Alan Cassels, a pharmaceutical policy researcher, is likely to become a…
Tamiflu Cited in 2 Teen Deaths – Global Plan for Influenza Action – Lancet Monday, November 14, 2005 Japanese newspapers report that two teenage boys – one 14 the other 17 – died after taking one dose of the antiviral drug, Tamiflu, the drug being stockpiled in the event that…
FDA Response to Utah Court Must Be Truthful Re: Zoloft / SSRI Suicidal Risks Mon, 29 Aug 2005 Related link: FDA Amicus Curiae–Kallas–claims FDA infallibility pre-empts state safety laws (warning: large 1.6 MB file) A federal judge in Utah has asked the FDA to explain its position as it relates…
’91 Merck Memo Warned of Mercury in Baby Vaccines – LAT Tue, 8 Feb 2005 The Los Angeles Times reports that a 1991 internal Merck memo obtained from a whistleblower by James Moody, a Washington lawyer who works with parent groups on vaccine safety issues, provides the “first hard evidence…
FDA Regulators Accused of Trying to Quash Testimony About Cardiac Risks of Painkillers – NYT Sat, 12 Feb 2005 A New York Times front page report announces that President Bush will veto any limits on the Medicare prescription drug giveaway. The administration is adamant about transfering $724 billion in taxpayer…
A Serious Drug Problem – The Medicare Prescription Bill of 2003 – Krugman Fri, 6 May 2005 New York Times columnist, Paul Krugman, hits the nail on the head when he points out who the beneficiaries of the Medicare law really are: Why it’s Big Pharma and those this industry…
AIDS Drug Trial report–Slipshod Journalism– NY Times Sat, 23 Jul 2005 Please join our effort to tweak the New York Times to practice what their banner states: “All the News that’s fit to print” That surely means fair and balanced reporting about contentious issues that pit the weak and vulnerable…
