Documents Suggest Merck Tried to Censor Vioxx Critics – NPR

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4696609 Documents Suggest Merck Tried to Censor Vioxx Critics NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO All Things Considered, June 9, 2005 – Because of intense interest in this report, NPR has decided to present a full transcript. Introduction: At least 38,000 Americans are believed to have died from taking the pain pill Vioxx…

Penn Psychiatrist Files Whistleblower Lawsuit – Investigtion Confirms Medicare Chief Lied

Philadelphia Daily News Pharma Influence: Penn Psychiatrist Files Whistleblower Lawsuit – Investigtion Confirms Medicare Chief Lied to Congress Wed, 7 Jul 2004 “Drug companies not only write checks to hospitals, they write checks to politicians…They write checks to both sides of the aisle.” Two separate news reports provide a glimpse…

Advisory Committee tells FDA: strengthen warnings on SSRI drug labels now

Advisory Committee tells FDA: strengthen warnings on SSRI drug labels now Wed, 4 Feb 2004 On February 2, more than 60 families and children from all across America testified at a public FDA advisory committee hearing describing (in 2 minutes) how their children suffered drug-induced harm after being prescribed an…

|

FDA Underhanded Tactics Against Medical Officer Who Blew the Whistle

FDA Underhanded Tactics Against Medical Officer Who Blew the Whistle Mon, 29 Nov 2004 The Food and Drug Administration is the epicenter of a collision between medical officers in the drug safety office and senior officials in managerial positions whose focus is on facilitating new drug approvals. Officials at the…

FDA Bad Faith – Daniel Troy’s pre-emption defense – Nat’l Law Journal

FDA Bad Faith – Daniel Troy’s pre-emption defense – Nat’l Law Journal Fri, 26 Mar 2004 Federal regulations require drug label warnings if there is “reasonable evidence” of a link between adverse effects and drug action. An article in the National Law Journal shows how s FDA’s chief counsel, Daniel…

Not-So-Public-Relations: Drug Industry & Bioethics – is it casuistry or sophistry?

Not-So-Public-Relations: Drug Industry & Bioethics – is it casuistry or sophistry? Fri, 19 Dec 2003 Carl Elliott is a clear eyed academic who teaches bioethics at the University of Minnesota . He is currently a visiting associate professor at School of Social Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton….

Natrecor found to worsen kidney function, hasten death – NYT

Natrecor found to worsen kidney function, hasten death – NYT Tue, 17 May 2005 Natrecor, a drug approved by the FDA for treating patients with heart failure, is being widely prescribed off label for unapproved uses. The drug is prescribed for so-called “tune-ups” in outpatient clinics – although that use…

Antidepressants Pregnancy Risk: Babies Adversely Affected

Antidepressants Pregnancy Risk: Babies Adversely Affected Sat, 5 Feb 2005 Thanks to the BBC 3-part Panorama series (beginning October 2002), it is no longer a secret that coming off SSRI antidepressants can cause serious symptoms of withdrawal in some users. Christopher Pittman is on trial for killing his grandparents while…

Federal Court (Illinois) Rejects FDA-Daniel Troy Preemption Argument

Federal Court (Illinois) Rejects FDA-Daniel Troy Preemption Argument Fri, 11 Nov 2005 In yet another federal case (Zikis v Pfizer)  involving the company’s failure to warn physicians and the public about the increased risk of suicide effects for pediatric patients prescribed Zoloft, the court rejected Pfizer’s argument that it didn’t need to war…

FDA Tones Down Warning–Shyra Kallas an SSRI Suicide Victim

FDA Tones Down Warning–Shyra Kallas an SSRI Suicide Victim Fri, 4 Mar 2005 In his recent testimony before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee, Dr. David Fassler, representing the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), misrepresented the scientific facts about…

Statin-Cholesterol Guidelines–Industry influenced?

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…