Pesticide firms want to test chemical toxicity on humans instead of rats Sat, 4 Jan 2003 Count the reasons why not human pesticide experiments: 1) quantum increase in commodification of subjects, 2) presumptive utter absence of benefit to subjects, 3) end term purpose of inquiry is forensic (e.g. the San…
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…
Hoffman LaRoche Rebuffed Call to Monitor Accutane Users – USA Today Tue, 7 Dec 2004 An investigative cover story in USA Today – Drugmaker Rebuffed Call to Monitor Users–affirms the indispensable role of litigation in bringing the facts about adverse drug effects to public knowledge. Lawsuits against Hoffman-La Roche, manufacturer…
Bayh-Dole Act: The Law of Unintended Consequences – Fortune Sun, 25 Sep 2005 The author of this Infomail is Dianne N. Irving, M.A., Ph.D. Revisiting the Bayh-Dole Act (1980): Spawned Big Biotech, Now Has Opposite Debilitating Effects Today’s specter of harmful and inordinately priced drugs pressed on legislators and the…
Bill would shield some drug firms from punitive damages Wed, 29 Dec 2004 A proposed bill in Congress would be another disincentive for pharmaceutical companies to disclose drug safety problems. Those promoting the bill should be asked to disclose their financial ties to drug companies. In 2000, a mysterious clause…
Medicare Rx Drug Bill Shaped by Drug Industry Blocks Elderly Bargaining Power – NYT Fri, 5 Sep 2003 A drug industry lobbyist is quoted in The New York Times stating: “Having both houses of Congress Republican-controlled was great. Like in Monopoly, when you get to add hotels.” The Medicare prescription…
Merck / Johnson & Johnson/ Lilly-Zyprexa: $690 Million settlement / a Flowering of Diabetes Drugs Fri, 10 Jun 2005 A cluster of news reports about three pillars of the pharmaceutical industry– Merck, Eli Lilly, and Johnson & Johnson–leave no doubt that this industry has shown its disregard for the welfare…
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…
Science & Ethics Hold Up EPA Nomination: pesticide experiment draws fire Fri, 08 Apr 2005 The Los Angeles Times reports that Senator Bill Nelson of Florida is equally outraged about the Environmental Protection Agency pesticide experiment that would expose 60 poor babies to pesticides to study how much harm they…
Disingenous Remarks from AMA President on Tort Reform – letter BMJ / NYT Test a Lawyer’s Ingenuity Sun, 6 Mar 2005 Responding to an article in the BMJ about President Bush’s bill to restrict class action suits for medical malpractice-http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/330/7490/499-c – the president of the American Medical Association, Dr. John…
Daniel Troy Legacy: Public Virtually Defenseless against Unsafe Drugs Thu, 18 Nov 2004 The Associated Press reports that at a Congressional hearing today, Dr. David Graham a drug safety expert at the FDA told the Senate Finance Committee that the public is “virtually defenseless” if another medication such as Vioxx…
Pfizer Nears Drug Settlement Sun, 16 Mar 2003 A 7-year lawsuit filed by Dr. David Franklin, the former Harvard fellow turned whistle blower, may be reaching a resolution. The suit accuses Warner Lambert (now Pfizer) of illegally promoting the epilepsy drug, Neurontin, for conditions not approved or tested. His lawsuit…
