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…
WSJ: Debate Over Antidepressants: FDA role in suppressing damaging data Tue, 25 May 2004 How were drug manufacturers able to conceal vital evidence of harmful antidepressant drug effects? The answer is becoming clearer by the day: federal regulators and the psychiatrists who tested these drugs in clinical trials are invested…
Cong Hinchey PRESS CONFERENCE Re: Drug Co. Influence on FDA Sat, 10 Jul 2004 New York Congressman Maurice Hinchey (House Appropriations Committee) is holding a press conference on Tuesday, July 13, 2004, at 10:30 AM to address issues of concern about undue influence by drug manufacturers on FDA policy and…
