Testimony by Vera Hassner Sharav, President ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION (AHRP) www.ahrp.org Hearing of the NYS Assembly Committee on Health and Committee on Children and Families September 8, 2005 New York City I speak on behalf of the ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION (AHRP), the organization that filed the…
Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Orgs & NCQA Fri, 9 Sep 2005 After much hand wringing following public disclosrure that the current IRB (institutional review board) research review and approval process is so inadequate and unreliable, the (then) outgoing Secretary of Health and Human Services, Donna Shalala, acknowledged in…
On behalf of the Alliance for Human Research Protection, or AHRP, I want to thank the members of the Committee, for this opportunity to share with you our understanding of the complex problems presented by medical research involving vulnerable populations, such as prisoners and children. We appreciate your difficult job, and recognize that you will need to exercise courage in your assigned mission, which is to protect prisoners from research abuse and exploitation.
“Courage,” in this context, means the courage to acknowledge uncomfortable facts about current practice and to speak truth to power,
Tom Cruise re-ignited the debate about psychiatry–its false claims & drug hazards – Florida Medicaid restricts Fri, 01 Jul 2005 Tom Cruise “kicked off a debate over a subject that a lot of people don’t feel comfortable discussing: whether Americans are too quick to turn to prescription drugs and whether…
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/10/business/10drug.html?ei=5094&en=5475b3c17e50e692&hp =&ex=1118462400&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print THE NEW YORK TIMES June 10, 2005, front page Lucrative Drug, Danger Signals and the F.D.A. By GARDINER HARRIS and ERIC KOLI Dozens had died and more than 100 patients had suffered serious heart problems by March 1998 after taking Propulsid, a popular medicine for heartburn. Infants, given…
AMERICA’S OVERMEDICATED CHILDREN By Vera Sharav YOUTH and MEDICINES in June 1-3, 2005 KILEN: Consumers Institute for Medicines and Health SWEDEN “Forgotten Children” is an investigative report by Carole Keeton Strayhorn,[1] the Texas Comptroller (2004) who uncovered evidence that 60% of children in the Texas foster care system are being…
“Forgotten Children” is an investigative report by Carole Keeton Strayhorn,[1] the Texas Comptroller (2004) who uncovered evidence that 60% of children in the Texas foster care system are being drugged with powerful psychotropic drugs, most of which have not been tested in or approved for use by children. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acknowledges that many of these drugs have serious adverse side effects, both physical and psychological. The Comptroller said she was alarmed that in her review of a single month (November 2003), two powerful antipsychotic drugs — Risperdal and Zyprexa — made up half of the drugs prescribed to foster children in Texas. These two drugs have been approved only for adults for the treatment of psychosis – primarily schizophrenia – yet, she found that children as young as four, were receiving these powerful, mind-altering drugs.
A complaint filed by The Alliance for Human Research Protection led to a federal investigation, an Associated Press investigation, followed by nationwide press coverage, and a NYC ivestigation. (search AHRP website for documents)
THE ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION (AHRP) www.ahrp.org Proposed Changes to Subpart D Regulations Increase Risks to Children in Non-Therapeutic Research Statement of the AHRP Opposing the SACHRP Children’s Committee Recommendations April 18, 2005 The Alliance for Human Research Protection (AHRP) welcomes the opportunity to respond to the question “What…
The Alliance for Human Research Protection (AHRP) welcomes the opportunity to respond to the question “What is the Best Way to Protect Children?”
Our recommendation – which is backed up by evidence that children have suffered harm in medical research – is to significantly limit the discretion of IRBs to approve greater than minimal risk research without direct benefit for the child-subjects under 46.406.
We recommend staying the course in requiring that any such proposed experiment undergo a transparent open evaluation with ample opportunity for public oversight and comment – as required under the provisions of 46.407.
Acting EPA Chief Withdraws Controversial Pesticide Experiment – LAT / NYT Sat, 09 Apr 2005 “We are gratified that when this abominable experiment was exposed to the public, the pesticide industry and its EPA advocates had to surrender." Senator Barbara Boxer has expressed her concern “over the larger philosophy behind…
ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION (AHRP) Promoting Openness, Full Disclosure, and Accountability www.ahrp.org Statement by Vera Hassner Sharav Founder & President, AHRP April 1, 2005 Anthrax Band Reunion Press Conference New York City My name is Vera Hassner Sharav, and I am president of The Alliance for Human Research Protection:…
