Part II. What Do We Get for All That Money? A preventable epidemic of injury and death from prescription drugs; FDA’s contribution to the epidemic; Big Pharma’s business model: manufactured myths, propaganda and a hidden agenda;
Why didn’t Barbara Starfield’s Findings (JAMA 2000) cause a major overhaul of US medicine?
List of FDA-licensed prescription drugs withdrawn from US market for safety issues:
Between 1973 and 1991 (18 years) —16 drugs were withdrawan; Between 1992 and 2011 (19 years)—28 drugs were withdrawn.
A fascinating article in The Atlantic, "Lies, Damned Lies, and Medical Science" by David Freedman, profiles Dr. John Ioannidis, who says that as much as 90% of the published medical information that doctors rely on is flawed.
"500 people would need to be treated with Crestor for a year to avoid one usually survivable heart attack. Stroke numbers were similar…At $3.50 a pill, the cost of prescribing Crestor to 500 people for a year would be $638,000 to prevent one heart attack."
Repeat legal violations: The record of recidivism by major drug manufacturers is a matter of public record.
Documents uncovered during the course of litigation shed light on real risks of drug-induced harm that would not otherwise be known.
FDA's slip-shod approval of defective, harmful drugs, accompanied by rubber stampped endorsements by compromised FDA advisory committees may be reaching a boiling point.
Cholesterol lowering drug, Crestor Linked to Patient Death Tue, 11 Jan 2005 Crestor, a highly advertised cholesterol-lowering drug in the statin class–as was Bayer’s drug Baycol, which was withdrawn from market after 30 patients died of rhabdomyolysis (breakdown of skeletal muscle fibers), has been linked to a patient’s death. “AstraZeneca…
NIH: Public Servant or Private Marketer? NIH Seeks Outside Inquiry of Alzheimer’s researcher conflicts of interest – LAT Mon, 31 Jan 2005 A year after the Los Angeles Times published its first an in-depth investigative report documenting in detail evidence of major conflicts of interest by top scientists at the…
Cash Interests Taint Drug Advice – NATURE / Death a Risk of Antipsychotics – AP Sun, 23 Oct 2005 An investigation by the journal, NATURE (the largest of its kind) reveals that not only do conflicts of interest taint the conduct and outcome of clinical trials, the authors who formulate…
Calls Mounting for FDA Revamp / Americans Are the most medicated population in the world – DHHS Sun, 26 Dec 2004 A government survey by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, confirms that Americans are the most medicated population in the world – 44 percent of Americans had…
