We are no longer "blowin’ in the wind." A growing number of prominent physician-scientists, including several former journal editors, and New York Times columnists, have written sobering critiques about the corrupting impact pharmaceutical industry influence has had on medicine.
Five weeks after publishing a grossly dis-informative front-page report by Gina Kolata about Alzheimer’s research,The New York Times published a lengthy three paragraph correction.
According to a report by the Associated Press, the FDA has approved expanded use of Merck’s toxic antipsychotic drug, Saphris, for treating acute manic-depressive behavior in adults. Antipsychotics (neuroleptics) are a controversial class of drugs: Risperdal (approved in 1993), Zyprexa (1994), Seroquel (1997), Abilify (2002), and Saphris (2009). These drugs’…
"The current way that DSMBs are constituted and report has resulted in a loss of faith." NEJM
The catalyst for Dr. Elliott’s article was the tragic case of Dan Markingson, a 26-year old who committed suicide in May 2004, while enrolled in the CAFE trial, prescribed Seroquel. This case encapsulates the tragic consequences of a broken system which is not designed to detect the hazards for human subjects posed by market-driven research.
"He was one of the most prolific investigators in the area of postoperative pain management. His fraud sets back our knowledge in the field tremendously.” Dr. Steve Shafer, the editor in chief of Anesthesia & Analgesia.
New York Times reporter Gina Kolata, broadcasts medical hype on the front page of the paper much the way Judith Miller broadcast hype fed to her by Ahmed Chalabi and the Iraq war lobby.[1]
On March 22, 2010 the FDA recommended suspension in the use of GlaxoSMithKline’s Rotarix vaccine–to prevent rotavirus (diarrhea)–due to contamination with pig virus. Rotarix, one of two vaccines licensed in the U.S , has already been given to about 1 million U.S. children along with 30 million worldwide.
Why Has Columbia Expended So Much Effort to Avoid the Conclusion of Patient Harm?
Even worse, FDA officials, in collusion and collaboration with GSK, approved an unethical and exploitative clinical trial—TIDE, which is on-going.
Dr. Diane Harper advises AGAINST proposed NYS HPV legislationwithout parental consent.
Given multiple prior investigations of Dr. Wakefied’s 1998 paper, why did it take the Lancet editors 12 years to discover a lack of proper IRB approval?
