All pesticides pose serious health risks to humans–especially children

Comprehensive scientific review concluded: All pesticides pose serious health risks to humans–especially children Sat, 8 May 2004 The Ontario College of Family Physicians (“the voice of family medicine in Ontario”) conducted an exhaustive review of the medical/scientific pesticide literature from around the world (1990–2003) on the health effects of commonly…

FDA’s Lethal Weakness Requires More than Committees

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…

Counterpuch–The Pills Your Mother Gives You…Death, Depression and Prozac

Counterpuch–The Pills Your Mother Gives You…Death, Depression and Prozac Sat, 02 Apr 2005 Alexander Cockburn, co-editor of Counterpunch, the bi-weekly muckraking newsletter that prides itself: “We have all the right enemies” takes a swipe at Prozac, Eli Lilly and its battalion of heavy hitters who have successfully shielded Prozac from…

At FDA, Changes In Name Only–Agency Puts Business interests Above Safety

At FDA, Changes In Name Only–Agency Puts Business interests Above Safety Fri, 30 Sep 2005 The sudden resignation of FDA Commissioner, Lester Crawford, after just two months in office, has prompted a bipartisan Senate investigation and requests both by the Senate committee HELP and by congressman Maurice Hinchey (NY) and…

Risk Bearing Children

Risk Bearing Children February 27, 2001 Would you volunteer your child to be a "risk-bearing" subject in drug experiments? When Jonathan Swift published A Modest Proposal in 18th century Ireland, he offered a sure solution to the country’s hunger and economic ills: The poor could sell their year-old children as…

FDA Public Health Advisory: SSRI-Suicide link in adults

FDA Public Health Advisory: SSRI-Suicide link in adults Wed, 20 Jul 2005 The American Medical Association is attempting to trivialize the hazards of prescribing SSRIs to children, urging physicians not to allow the evidence to interfere with their prescribing habits. See: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/print/15186.html The AMA has done the public a disservice…

FDA Tones Down Warning–Shyra Kallas an SSRI Suicide Victim

FDA Tones Down Warning–Shyra Kallas an SSRI Suicide Victim Fri, 4 Mar 2005 In his recent testimony before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee, Dr. David Fassler, representing the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), misrepresented the scientific facts about…

"The scariest thing is that nobody knows" risks of depression drugs for children

“The scariest thing is that nobody knows” risks of depression drugs for children Mon, 10 May 2004 Forest Laboratories, manufacturer of the antidepressant, Celexa / Lexapro, is the latest manufacturer to issue warnings (April 2004) about the possibility that “patients with major depressive disorder, both adult and pediatric, may experience…

Medicare Will cover New Treatments But Patients Will be Required to Enroll in Clinical Trials

Medicare Will cover New Treatments But Patients Will be Required to Enroll in Clinical Trials Fri, 5 Nov 2004 Dr. Mark McClellan, Director of Medicare, estimates that of Medicare’s $320 billion budget, “a third of all medical expenditures are for unnecessary or ill-advised treatments.” Medicare’s chief medical officer, Dr. Sean…

Research dispute prompts patient-trials debate_Seattle Times

Research dispute prompts patient-trials debate_Seattle Times Mon, 19 May 2003 Newhouse News Service reports that the continuing dispute about the ethics and design of a multi-site lung ventilation experiment sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and conducted by the ARDSNetwork on 861 critically ill patients with…