Just Say No – Forbes Tue, 16 Nov 2004 When Mrs. Nancy Reagan coined the phrase, Just Say No, she was referring to illicit drug pushers. The current Forbes cover story–Just Say No–refers to the prescription drug industry. "In a perverse kind of symbiosis, the cascade of disease and medical…
UK reports the FDA Conceals Vital Data on Prescription Drugs – Independent Sun, 12 Jun 2005 The entire world has trusted the FDA to ensure that only safe and effective drugs are approved for marketing–other agencies, lacking the necessary resources often followed FDA’s lead. However, such deferrence is no longer…
Pfizer Statements RE: Bextra, Celebrex, Neurontin Shown to be Lies Fri, 08 Apr 2005 The New York Times reports that “as recently as Tuesday [Pfizer] assured Wall Street that sales of Celebrex and Bextra would soon rebound. It was the latest in a string of announcements by the company regarding…
Merck Baby Vaccines Not Pure – LAT/ FDA Advisory-Crestor / Zyprexa Lawsuit charges Lilly concealed Diabetes risk Fri, 11 Mar 2005 The FDA’s failure to carry out its watchdog responsibility to protect the public from unsafe drugs, has encouraged the pharmaceutical industry to conceal the risks and deceive the public….
Prescriptions And Profit_CBS News 60 Minutes Tue, 16 Mar 2004 “Americans pay far more for their prescription drugs than citizens of any place on Earth.” That’s because “The United States is the only industrialized country without some form of control on the prices of drugs.” No wonder the U.S. accounts…
A Disease for Every Pill – FDA Hearing Drug Advertising Wed, 5 Oct 2005 The FDA has called for a public hearing to address direct to consumer drug advertising. Hearing Date: November 1 and 2, 2005 Hearing Name: Direct-To-Consumer Promotion Location: National Transportation Safety Board Boardroom and Conference Center 429…
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…
Suicide Rate Unchanged in 10 Years–JAMA / AMA Considers Stand Against Warning Labels on Antidepressants Thu, 9 Jun 2005 A major report in the Journal of the American Medical Association shatters all claims about the effectiveness of antidepressants as a treatment for the prevention of suicide. A comparison of the…
Drugmakers Go Furthest to Sway Congress: 1,274 Lobbyists – USA Today Tue, 26 Apr 2005 USA Today provides a glimpse into the way the pharmaceutical industry controls health care policy by buying influence at the highest level of government, and underwriting professional and lay healthcare organizations whose spokespersons parrot industry’s…
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…
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…
Statin-Cholesterol Guidelines–Industry influenced? Wed, 14 Jul 2004 Scientific journal editors are scrambling about how to react to bad publicity emanating from public disclosure that the scientific reports they have published are likely to be biased because the authors’ had financial ties to the companies whose drugs / devices they report…
