Trial Lawyers Are Taking Aim at the Drug Industry_NYT Sun, 18 May 2003 It appears that trial lawyers will produce the results that government oversight agencies–in particular, the FDA–have failed to do. Namely, to protect the public against an increasing number of unsafe drugs. The pharmaceutical industry whose efforts to…
Pfizer PainKiller Bextra withdrawn from market, New Boxed Warnings for Celebrex Thu, 07 Apr 2005 Pfizer’s withdrawal of the COX-2 pain reliever, Bextra, from the market because of potentially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…
Bioethics Debate: Ethics of U Penn Surgical “Drug Implant” Experiment This debate between AHRP President, Vera Sharav and Bioethicist, Paul Root Volpe, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, was prompted by an October 7 infomail. The reasons for AHRP’s opposition to drug implants for psychiatric patients are explained here: https://ahrp.org/ahrpspeaks/drugimplant1103.php —–Original Message—–…
Unhealthy Ethics? The Price of NIH Credibility_ Editorials: WashPost / Los Angeles Times Mon, 11 Apr 2005 Compare and contrast two editorials that focus on the new conflict of interest rules that were adopted by Dr. Elias Zerhouni, director of the National Institutes of Health, to rein in the corrupting…
Cymbalta Contract: How Eli Lilly Influences What Prescribers Learn about Lilly’s drugs Fri, 5 Aug 2005 The Wall Street Journal reports that not only do drug manufacturers control what the public is told about patented drugs, but companies, such as Eli Lilly and Pfizer dictate by contract what doctors are…
THE CONSTANT GARDENER–John le Carre’s novel about Big Pharma gets rave reviews Sat, 3 Sep 2005 Constant Gardener, the movie based on the novel by John le Carre, about the pharmaceutical industry’s immoral and even criminal activities, opened nationwide. It has already received rave reviews. Below are two reviews…
Lilly Shares Fall After BMJ Report About Prozac Documents – NYT Sat, 1 Jan 2005 The New York Times reports that Jeanne Lenzer’s investigative report in the current (Jan 1) British Medical Journal, citing Eli Lilly secret documents showing that company officials knew since 1988 that Prozac increased violent and…
US Preventive Services Task Force: No evidence that screening for suicide reduces suicide Fri, 21 May 2004 The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) issued its findings and recommendation against screening for suicide. The USPSTF findings corroborate those of the Canadian PSTF. “USPSTF found no evidence that screening for suicide…
Big Pharma’s Dirty Little Secret Mon, 27 Dec 2004 Dr. Peter Rost, Vice-President marketing, Pfizer, has taken a principled stand by speaking out against his industry’s “drity little secrets:” “Our dirty little secret is that the drug industry already sells its products, right here in the U.S., at the same…
Bad Medicine – Editorial – Guardian UK Sat, 12 Jun 2004 New York State Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer, is being recognized as a hero on both sides of the Atlantic. That’s because, unlike FDA officials, he knows how to use a “smoking gun” to affect change in corporate practices to…
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…
Leading Antipsychotic Drugs Come Under New Scrutiny – NYT Tuesday, May 20, 2003 A front page article in The New York Times reveals that the pillars of American psychiatry–including Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, Dr. John Kane, Dr. William Carpenter–are acknowledging that evidence is lacking to support the claims that the new…
