1999: Experiments on the most vulnerable The research community has consistently demonstrated its disregard for individual patient-subjects’ safety.  1999: One hundred babies are test subjects of the drug, Propulsid One hundred infants were enrolled by Dr. Susan Orenstein at Children’s Hospital (Pittsburgh) in a clinical trial testing Propulsid for…
Part II. What Do We Get for All That Money? A preventable epidemic of injury and death from prescription drugs; FDA’s contribution to the epidemic; Big Pharma’s business model: manufactured myths, propaganda and a hidden agenda;
Why didn’t Barbara Starfield’s Findings (JAMA 2000) cause a major overhaul of US medicine?
List of FDA-licensed prescription drugs withdrawn from US market for safety issues:
Between 1973 and 1991 (18 years) —16 drugs were withdrawan; Between 1992 and 2011 (19 years)—28 drugs were withdrawn.
The question is can these visits overcome industry's propaganda delivered under the guise of continuing medical education (CME) courses which physicians must take?
Documents uncovered during the course of litigation shed light on real risks of drug-induced harm that would not otherwise be known.
Drug Warnings: Are They Effective? USA Today Tue, 26 Apr 2005 How effective are drug warnings? USA Today reports that experts are unsure. For example, a study in the January issue of Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety focused on Ohio Medicaid claims for Rezulin prescriptions – the diabetes drug had been…
Merck / Johnson & Johnson/ Lilly-Zyprexa: $690 Million settlement / a Flowering of Diabetes Drugs Fri, 10 Jun 2005 A cluster of news reports about three pillars of the pharmaceutical industry– Merck, Eli Lilly, and Johnson & Johnson–leave no doubt that this industry has shown its disregard for the welfare…
Mosholder Suppressed Report Posted/ Bush Moves to Block Medical Suits – NYT Mon, 26 Jul 2004 The New York Times reports that the Bush administration is actively blocking individual citizens who have been seriously harmed from drug-related hazards from suing drug manufacturers. The administration argues that “if a local judge…
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…
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…
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…
