Guidant Didn’t Disclose a Flaw in Defibrillator for 3 Years – NYT / FDA Wrong on Crestor Safety

Guidant Didn’t Disclose a Flaw in Defibrillator for 3 Years_NYT / FDA Wrong on Crestor Safety Tue, 24 May 2005 The New York Times reports that the maker a a heart defirillator knew for 3 years about a malfunction and failed to inform physicians about It because the company “had…

Scientific Fraud & Corruption on Both sides of Atlantic: Merck / Proctor & Gamble

Scientific Fraud & Corruption on Both sides of Atlantic: Merck / Proctor & Gamble Sun, 11 Dec 2005 Two major cases of medical research fraud on each side of the Atlantic involve evidence of fraud and data tampering by pharmaceutical company giants. Both cases provide insight into the way in…

Prescription Drug Industfry: The Insiders – AARP Bulletin

Prescription Drug Industfry: The Insiders – AARP Bulletin Wed, 10 Nov 2004 Three pharmaceutical industry insiders blow the whistle in one of the most important articles you’ll ever read about the unethical marketing of prescription drugs. Peter Rost, M.D, a top marketing executive at Pfizer, Arthur Kuebel, a salesman who…

FDA’s Double Standard Re: Advisory Committee Membership

FDA’s Double Standard Re: Advisory Committee Membership Mon, 15 Nov 2004 FDA’s inexplicable actions–the latest being the removal of Dr. Curt Furberg from an FDA advisory committee for alleged "intellectual conflict of interest" – demonstrate hypocracy and intellectual dishonesty. Dr. Furberg independently analyzed the scientific data, concluding: "The result is…

Prologue – Selling sickness – Moynihan & Cassels

Prologue Selling sickness by Ray Moynihan and Alan Cassels Thirty years ago the head of one of the world’s best-known drug companies made some very candid comments. Close to retirement at the time, Merck’s aggressive chief executive Henry Gadsden told Fortune magazine of his distress that the company’s potential markets…

Pfizer PainKiller Bextra withdrawn from market, New Boxed Warnings for Celebrex

Pfizer PainKiller Bextra withdrawn from market, New Boxed Warnings for Celebrex Thu, 07 Apr 2005 Pfizer’s withdrawal of the COX-2 pain reliever, Bextra, from the market because of potentially lethal side effects, including increased risk of cardiovascular malfunction and severe rash, validates Dr. David Graham’s analysis. This FDA medical expert…

Documents Suggest Merck Tried to Censor Vioxx Critics – NPR

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4696609 Documents Suggest Merck Tried to Censor Vioxx Critics NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO All Things Considered, June 9, 2005 – Because of intense interest in this report, NPR has decided to present a full transcript. Introduction: At least 38,000 Americans are believed to have died from taking the pain pill Vioxx…

"Black Hole" of medical research–Negative Results Don’t get Published – JAMA, WSJ

“Black Hole” of medical research–Negative Results Don’t get Published – JAMA, WSJ Sat, 5 Jun 2004 “No one likes bad news. But in science, there is an ethical imperative to publish research, even if the findings aren’t what the researcher had hoped for.” The New York Times, which tends to…

Intimidation, Politics and Drug Industry Cripple U.S. Medicine – FDA Permits Dr. David Graham to publish Vioxx Report

Intimidation, Politics and Drug Industry Cripple U.S. Medicine – FDA Permits Dr. David Graham to publish Vioxx Report Wed, 5 Jan 2005 FDA officials could not maintain their iron grip in an effort to suppress evidence of far reaching lethal effects of Vioxx when their actions were in full public…

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FDA Is Flexing Less Muscle where Safety is the Issue – Wash Post

FDA Is Flexing Less Muscle where Safety is the Issue – Wash Post Thu, 18 Nov 2004 The Washington Post examines FDA’s record of surveillance and the evidence is clear: since 1992 when Congress required drug companies to pay users fees to the FDA, the agency’s focus changed from safety…

Despite Vow, Drug Makers Still Wtihhold Data – NYT letters

Despite Vow, Drug Makers Still Wtihhold Data – NYT letters Thu, 9 Jun 2005 An important article by Alex Berenson in The New York Times, “Despite Vow, Drug Makers Still Withhold Data,” corroborated the untrustworthiness of drug manufacturers. Their public pronouncements and promises to fully disclose their clinical trial data-including…