THE NEW YORK TIMES February 12, 2005 Drug Regulators Are Trying to Quash Study, Senator Says By GARDINER HARRIS WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 – The tension and intrigue surrounding a crucial federal drug advisory committee meeting next week, already high, reached a boil on Friday when Senator Charles E. Grassley charged…
Corporate Welfare Runs Amok – NYT Editorial Sun, 30 Jan 2005 The administration has gone another step toward doing away with corporate taxes – by offering a “tax holiday” to America’s richest multinationals. The 35% corporate tax rate is being winnowed down to the “puny rate” of 5.25% for corporations…
Bad Medicine: A Gift for Drug Makers–Malpractice Bill Shields Drugmakers Sat, 15 Jan 2005 Knowledgable critics – among them practicing physicians, health care analysts, medical journal editors, journalists, and lay citizens–have reached the conclusion that America’s for-profit health care system – which eats up 16% of the budget–has failed to…
Doctors, Too, Ask: Is This Drug Right? Thu, 30 Dec 2004 Much to their professional embarassment, doctors are finding that they have been fed a pack of lies by smooth talking pharmaceutical company sales reps, who persuaded them that the new, and (always) more expensive drugs provided a greater benefit…
What’s a Patient to Think? Prescription for Confusion – NY Times Editorial Tue, 28 Dec 2004 At long last, The New York Times has validated the well-placed anger and frustration that patients feel at having their trust in medicine and the nation’s oversight agents betrayed: “Now I just don’t trust…
Children’s Mental Health in the 108th Congress: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Wed, 15 Dec 2004 AHRP board member, Dr. Karen Effrem, provides a succinct overview of actions – the good, the bad, and the ugly–taken by the 108th Congress will have an impact on children’s health and…
Sen Grassley to Offer Mandatory Drug Data Registry Bill Fri, 10 Dec 2004 AHRP applauds Senator Chuck Grassley for spearheading legislation that will require pharmaceutical companies to register ALL drug trials and report their results in a public database. Given the record of deception and concealment of adverse data, anything…
FDA Protects Pfizer: Removes Advisory Panelist for Citing Evidence Bextra Similar to Vioxx – WSJ Fri, 12 Nov 2004 Even as the Vioxx casualties are still being counted, even as FDA’s conduct is under Congressional investigation, the FDA office of new drugs has taken action to obstruct evidence-based safety evaluation…
Govt Prozac study Recommends MANDATORY Screening & Drugs – “Overdosed America”_OpEd NYT Sun, 19 Sep 2004 FDA’s Review of Safety & Efficacy Concerns in Anti-Depressant Use by Children is the subject of a second Congressional hearing by the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight / Investigations on September 23,…
Conflict of Interest: Profits vs Safety Congressional Investigations US Senators Pharmaceutical industry holdings, 2004: http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/SenPharma.pdf Oct 12: How Did the Vioxx Debacle Happen? USA Today / Lancet Oct 4: Op Ed: Psychiatry on the Ropes–WP / Evidence-based Psychiatry Oct 3: BBC PANORAMA TONIGHT – Taken on Trust – 13 years-Medical…
VIOXX – Merck–MEDCO – a case study Wed, 13 Oct 2004 Vioxx: A case study in how a lethal drug is marketed and dispensed – without MINIMAL safeguards to protect people’s lives. Merck marketed and sold billions of dollars worth of Vioxx through MEDCO–the largest Medicare Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM)…
July 15, 2002 Short Drug Tests, Fatal Flaws. Thomas J. Moore. Op Ed. Boston Globe. FYI “We need new laws, a national scientific program, and money to assure that every important drug intended for long-term use receives the same long-term testing as was provided for hormone replacement therapy.” An Op-ed…
