Elliott Spitzer walks away from prosecuting coporate crimes Sat, 25 Dec 2004 “After nearly three years of high-profile prosecutions of investment banks, mutual funds and insurance companies, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer of New York said yesterday that he is ready to cede those investigations to federal regulators.” Whatever Eliot Spitzer…
Doctors On the Take-Engaging in Vairous Dubious Activities for Cash / Stock Options Tue, 16 Aug 2005 A series of current articles in The Wall Street Journal, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), and the New York Times describe the many questionable non-medical income-producing activities that America¹s physicians…
Zolft pediatric study in JAMA challenged by peers – JAMA letters Fri, 9 Jan 2004 At the time that two manufacturers publicly acknowledged that their antidepressant drugs (Paxil / Seroxat and Effexor) were unsafe, and ineffective for children, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published a clinical trial…
Duke Survey Clinical trials: Research Conflicts of Interest Violate ethical Guidelines_UPI Sun, 27 Oct 2002 A major Duke University survey of 108 U.S. medical schools reveals that medical institutions fail utterly to meet international standards aimed at ensuring the integrity of clinical research and the safety of the subjects. Conflicts…
FDA Underhanded Tactics Against Medical Officer Who Blew the Whistle Mon, 29 Nov 2004 The Food and Drug Administration is the epicenter of a collision between medical officers in the drug safety office and senior officials in managerial positions whose focus is on facilitating new drug approvals. Officials at the…
AHRP Position Statement on Mental Health Screening – FDA Hearing Re: Drug Advertising Wed, 02 Nov 2005 FDA is holding public hearings (Nov 1, 2) Re: Direct-to-Consumer Promotion of Medical Products at: National Transportation Safety Board Boardroom and Conference Center 429 L’Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 2 Time: 9:00 –5:00….
Lead author of JAMA article rethinks positive Zoloft report – Guardian Wed, 1 Oct 2003 In August 2003, the Sertraline Pediatric Study Group reported: “Sertraline-treated patients experienced statistically significantly greater improvement than placebo.” Their report was published in the authoritative Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The authors claimed…
Lawsuit filed re: ALLHAT Hypertension research death of human subject Thu, 17 Jul 2003 The Bureau of National Affairs reports: “Just months after a groundbreaking blood pressure study made headlines across the nation, a principal investigator in the trial and his team have been sued in connection with the death…
How Did the Vioxx Debacle Happen? USA Today / Lancet Tue, 12 Oct 2004 Dr. Eric Topol of the Cleveland Clinic: “The senior executives at Merck and the leadership at the FDA share responsibility for not having taken appropriate action and not recognizing that they are accountable for the public…
European perspective: Bird Flu–BBC Panoarama / German skeptics / Rumsfeld Tamiflu stock $5 to $25 million Sat, 5 Nov 2005 As the media continues its senstional coverage of the “Bird Flu pandemic”, healthy skeptics are examining the evidence. Two European examinations–The BBC Panorama will air a program, Lessons from Vietnam,…
Broken Brains or Flawed Studies? Thu, 24 Jul 2003 Broken Brains or Flawed Studies? A critical review of ADHD imaging studies by Jonathan Leo, Ph.D and David Cohen, Ph.D methodically demonstrates how scientifically flawed methodology undermines the integrity and claimed findings of over 30 imaging studies that are the basis…
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…
