A documented report by David Armstrong of The Wall Street Journal (below) shatters the last glimmer of illusion about The New England Journal of Medicine as a bastion of scientific and moral integrity.
"Virtually every major scientific and medical journal has been humbled recently by publishing findings that are later discredited." NYT
“When Anita Louise Smith enrolled in an experimental drug trial in 2002 in Colorado, she had a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis but no symptoms and was looking to reduce the chances of being ravaged by the disease. Last year, she died at the age of 46 from an infection linked to the drug.”
"Lobbyists influence how the government spends your money, but financially conflicted physicians can threaten your well-being."
"My antennae are definitely up since the whole thing unfolded," acknowledged Rob Stein, science reporter of The Washington Post.
"During a hastily called press conference yesterday,” the FDA announced that it is considering ADDITIONAL warnings on the labels of SSRI drugs—Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, et al.
An independent review by a team of German analysts published in the American Journal of Psychiatry confirms that corporate bias is ubiquitous in clinical trials.
"modern pharmacological treatment may be no more beneficial than older ones, despite their added cost."
"32% of the advertisements [in peer reviewed journals] misled readers regarding efficacy, 40% did not provide balanced descriptions of the side effects, and 44% could lead to improper prescribing if the physician did not use other sources of information regarding the drug."
Correction! A panel calling itself the Institute of Medicine as a Profession (IMP) is calling for a ban on the intermingling of industry and academic scholars and physicians. This is NOT affiliated with the Institute of Medicine (IOM)
A critical editorial by Dr. Robert M Kacmarek, Head of Respiratory Care Services at Massachusetts General Hospital and professor at Harvard University—the coordinating center for the ARDS Network, calls into question the validity of the ARDS Network recommendation of treating all patients with ALI-ARDS with a fixed, low air ventilation setting (6 mL/ kg).
”SO WHY,” he asks, “DID American doctors prescribe $7 billion worth of Vioxx after Merck and the Food and Drug Administration knew all this?”
