Science Reporters Don’t Notice Conflicts of Interest Tue, 3 Dec 2002 An article by Neil Munro, in The Washington Monthly (below) exposes a journalistic failure by major science reporters. By examining how The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Chicago Tribune have reported stem cell and cloning research, he demonstrates that science reporters…
When Doctors Go to Class, Industry Often Foots the Bill – WSJ Fri, 6 Dec 2002 A front page article in The Wall Street Journal by Scott Hensley sheds further light on the corruption of medical ethics by focusing on a drug marketing ploy that is promoted as “continuing medical education”(CME). CME courses have been…
Japan Links 81 Deaths to new Lung Cancer Drug Thu, 5 Dec 2002 Now a days, the fate of a drug depends not so much on its efficacy and safety, but rather on the financial needs of the manufacturer and the company’s ability to round up an “independent” panel of experts to give the drug…
GAO Found CDC Supervision of Bioagents Weak Wed, 4 Dec 2002 The Scientist reports that on Nov. 22, the General Accounting Office (GAO) sent a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services reporting that its auditors spotted “significant management weaknesses” in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) system for regulating potential bioweapons….
Psychiatric Drugs Pushing Children to Crisis Units_Tampa Tribune Tue, 15 Apr 2003 A report in the Tampa Tribune following its five month investigation, shows how misprescribing of psychiatric drugs for children can precipitate life-threatening tragedies. The report describes a 9 year old child’s descent into suicidal violence after she had been haphazardly prescribed powerful antipsychotic…
Artificial Heart experiment without informed consent? Wed, 30 Apr 2003 The manufacturer of an artificial heart, Abiomed, are seeking to use incapacitated patients who suffered a massive heart attack as human subjects without their informed consent. Does anyone have the moral or legal right to subject a human being to a high risk medical experiment…
FDA Requests Fed Investigation Of Itself After It Lost Medical Records Wed, 16 Apr 2003 FDA Commissioner, Dr. Mark McClelan has requested an independent investigation of a bone density study conducted jointly by an FDA investigator and another affiliated with the Henry Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine. During the course of the…
Risperdal Linked to Stroke; Zyprexa linked to Diabetes Fri, 11 Apr 2003 Two highly promoted, best selling neuroleptic drugs (also called, antipsychotics) are linked to life-threatening drug-induced conditions. The Boston Globe reports (below) that elderly people who are prescribed Risperdal are at increased risk of stroke. The manufacturer, Johnson and Johnson, sent letters of warning…
Research at US Veterans Hospitals Nationwide Under Investigation_NYT Sun, 13 Apr 2003 Veterans returning from service in the military deserve better than the medical care that awaits them at the nation’s Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers. The Associated Press reported on Friday, April 11, that a study shows that patients suffering heart attacks who are…
VA administrators attempt to scuttle legislation to protect patients Wed, 30 Apr 2003 The Alliance for Human Research Protection received the following confidential Veterans Affairs communication describing efforts by VA administrators to scuttle a congressional bill whose aim is to ensure that research conducted at VA facilities is overseen by an independent body such as…
Failed Experiments: Child-Rearing Experts– Visions and Revisions Sun, 6 Apr 2003 A new book by Ann Hulbert, “Raising America: Experts, Parents and a Century of Advice About Children,” examines the theories and the validity of “expert” advice that had been dished out as Gospel to American parents. More than other cultures, Americans seem to have…
Cong. to act on GAO Finding: Families Give Up Kids to Get Treatment Tue, 29 Apr 2003 A report by the General Accounting Office (GAO) confirms that draconian state policies are causing families to break up when parents across America are forced to give up custody of their children in order to qualify for mental…
