“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…
AHRP Letter to Editor re: ARDS published NEJM Fri, 11 Jul 2003 A truncated version of a Letter to the editor submitted by John H. Noble, Jr., PhD and Vera Sharav appears in the current July 10, 2003, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. Note: On April 3,…
Jeffrey Drazen editor NEJM Turns Activist on Drug Trials Thu, 26 May 2005 Journal editors, one by one are trying to retrieve the integrity of their publications, at last recognizing that the pharamaceutical industry is a corrupting factor in medical research and the information disseminated about medicine. Jeffrey Drazen who…
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…
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…
OHRP Found NHLBI Lung Experiments Violated Informed Consent Mon, 7 Jul 2003 On July 3 the federal Office of Human Research Protections (OHRP) issued a stinging indictment of the research review and approval process at some of the nation’s most prestigious research institutions–including the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute…
How Genentech, Novartis Stifled A Promising Drug – WSJ Tue, 05 Apr 2005 A front page story in The Wall Street Journal should be distributed to every Congress person who will be considering Bioshield II providing yet additional financial incentives and give-a-ways to pharmaceutical companies. The story perfectly illustrates this…
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…
NHLBI director Dr. Lenfant is Retiring Thu, 3 Jul 2003 The retirement of Dr. Claude Lenfant, director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) was announced today. Not mentioned in the press release is the heated controversy surrounding two clinical trials sponsored by the NHLBI, conducted by the…
FDA Smoke & Mirrors Musical Chairs Wed, 16 Feb 2005 Amidst widespread public criticism of the FDA’s role as facilitators in the marketing of lethal drugs that killed thousands of people, the Administration made several announcements incorporating terminology (such as: “we’re in an era of openness” “transparency”). But politically correct…
Lies & Broken Promises_Drug firm Websites Fail to Disclose Test Data Sun, 9 Jan 2005 One year after PhRMA’s publicized proclamation of its “commitment to transparency” The Boston Globe reviewed pharmaceutical company websites searching for disclosure of clinical trial data. The Globe found that this voluntary approach failed miserably: “Last…
Parkinson’s fetal tissue transplant experiment fails – Nature Fri, 29 Aug 2003 The journal Nature reports about yet another Parkinson’s fetal tissue transplant experiment (at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in NY) that has failed to show any benefit for the patients. Indeed, in the latest such experiment 50% of…
