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…
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…
Intimidation, Politics and Drug Industry Cripple U.S. Medicine – FDA Permits Dr. David Graham to publish Vioxx Report Wed, 5 Jan 2005 FDA officials could not maintain their iron grip in an effort to suppress evidence of far reaching lethal effects of Vioxx when their actions were in full public…
Cash Interests Taint Drug Advice – NATURE / Death a Risk of Antipsychotics – AP Sun, 23 Oct 2005 An investigation by the journal, NATURE (the largest of its kind) reveals that not only do conflicts of interest taint the conduct and outcome of clinical trials, the authors who formulate…
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…
Congress & the White House must remedy a prescription for danger – LA Times / CBS News Thu, 1 Apr 2004 For those who missed the CBS evening News broadcast (Tues March 30) about FDA’s suppression of evidence, a video of that powerful report can be viewed online. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/30/eveningnews/main609491.shtml CBS…
Two items in today’s New York Times illustrate the contrast between what the Administration claims it’s legislative / regulatory proposals will do for health care, and what they actually do after they’ve taken effect.
Abbott Seeks FDA approval for cancer drug despite failed trials – WSJ Mon, 12 Sep 2005 Abbott Laboratories is asking the FDA to approve a cancer drug even though it failed in clinical trials to demonstrate a benefit greater than placebo–which is a minimal FDA requirement. The Wall Street Journal…
New Diabetes Drug Increases Mortality / Morbidity – FDA “approvable” letter Challenged Fri, 21 Oct 2005 Today’s newspaper reports about a lethal new diabetes drug that the FDA was poised to approve makes abundantly clear that The New York Times got it wrong when it gave the FDA high marks…
“Lilly is Hiding Negative Information About Zyprexa” – SAPS Wed, 2 Nov 2005 From our colleague in Sweden: A published interview with Dr. Curt Furberg, Professor of Public Health Sciences Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, and Chair, Steering Committee, and Principal Investigator, of one of the most important studies…
Vioxx Fallout: Merck Officials Intervened–NYT / FDA Officials Intervened–Mother Jones Mon, 25 Apr 2005 Mother Jones and The New York Times focus on the Vioxx fall out–a case that encapsulates the corrupt practices in drug research. Merck and FDA officials intervened to conceal the lethal cardiac effect of Vioxx. Mother…
