How to Quit the Cure–Antidepressant Withdrawal – NewsWeek Wed Aug 3, 2005 The current issue of NEWSWEEK lets readers in on the dirty little secret about the prescribed antidepressants of the SSRI variety. Although psychiatrists shudder at calling a spade a spade, these prescribed drugs are physically addictive–as is evident…
Federal Study Finds No Benefit of New Antipsychotic Drugs – WashPost/Wall StreetJ/NY Times Tue, 20 Sep 2005 The findings of a $44 million government sponsored study, CATIE, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, comparing an older generic antipsychotic to four new atypical antipsychotics, undercut the legitimacy of psychiatry’s…
Glaxo Pricing Under DOJ investigation / GAO Report Says Medicaid Overpays for Drugs Wed, 9 Mar 2005 Reuters reports that GlaxoSmithKline is under investigation by the Department of Justice concerning Medicaid drug pricing. The skyrocketing cost of drugs is depleting Medicaid, the nation’s largest health insturance program paid for by…
Recent developments in gene transfer research: risk and ethics Mon, 10 Jan 2005 An analysis by Dr. Jonathan Kimmelman, in the British Medical Journal provides an illuminating, clearly articulated discussion about the ethical dilemmas that challenge gene transfer experiments – essentially a kind of human genetic engineering involving somatic cells,…
Pharma’s Pervasive Influence Corrupts Medicine both sides of Atlantic Tue, 4 Oct 2005 The focus of criticism in medicine has shifted from cost and barriers to access to treatments to an examination of the safety and benefit of current treatments. The pharmaceutical industry’s corrupting influence on physicians, academic researchers, the…
More than 100 top regulatory officials represented industry as lobbyists, lawyers… – Denver Post Mon, 24 May 2004 To understand why government policies affecting healthcare, drug safety, food safety and the environment appear to promote industry interests at the expense of public safety and health, the Denver Post has investigated…
GlaxoSmithKline CEO: “We had to absorb a number of hits” Mon, 16 Feb 2004 Antidepressant drug safety issues are beginning to have a financial impact. Dow Jones reports: “GlaxoSmithKline PLC said its net income fell 6% in the fourth quarter, hurt by previously announced legal costs related to its anti-inflammatory…
Leading ADHD Researcher Blows Whistle on Concerta & CHADD Fri, 3 Dec 2004 A newly released report by the Center for Disease Control – Health US 2004–reveals how effective the pharmaceutical industry is in marketing its drugs – whether or not they are beneficial; whether or not they cause severe…
GSK Sales Reps told NOT to Divulge Paxil Data / Merck Withdraws Vioxx Thu, 30 Sep 2004 The Associated Press reports: “Merck pulled Vioxx after admitting studies showed the drug raised the risk of heart attack. As recently as August, Merck “strongly” disagreed with studies showing the drug increased heart…
Conflicts of Interest policy – New York Times Sun, 28 Mar 2004 To: ‘Executive-editor@nytimes’; ‘gcollins@nytimes’; ‘arosenthal@nytimes’; ‘pboffey@nytimes’; ‘lchang@nytimes’; ‘oped@nytimes’ Cc: ‘Daniel Okrent’ ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION (AHRP) Promoting openness and full disclosure https://ahrp.org FYI Friday’s New York Times included the following Editor’s Note on the paper’s Op Ed page:…
Will 2 to 5 year old Amer. kids be exposed to Smallpox Vaccine? Israeli Intelligence says “No immediate threat” Sat, 28 Dec 2002 What is the Administration’s final decision regarding the proposed smallpox vaccine trial that would expose 40 children aged 2 to 5 years old to a controversial live…
Hormone Replacement “Bombshell” is Not and isolated incident Wednesday, July 10, 2002 Until a “bombshell” study overturned hormone replacement treatment (HRT), Premarin was the most prescribed drug in U.S. in the last decade (45 million Rx in 2001) and Prempro the most prescribed estrongen / progesterone combination (22 million Rx…
