The Pharmaceutical "Business with Disease"
Up to date news and comment about the "Business with Disease".
» Archive 2007
August 12, 2008
Acid reflux drugs may heighten fracture risk
Drugs commonly prescribed to fight acid reflux disease may significantly increase the risk of fractures in people suffering from osteoporosis, a study by Canadian researchers reveals.
Read article in the Globe and Mail (Canada)
August 10, 2008
FDA Issues Alert On Drugs' Link To Muscle Injury
WASHINGTON -- Federal regulators continue to receive reports of muscle injury in patients taking a combination of simvastatin, which is used in the controversial cholesterol drug Vytorin, and the heart-rhythm medication amiodarone. Patients taking amiodarone and doses of simvastatin higher than 20 milligrams a day are at particular risk for suffering from a rare muscle injury that can lead to kidney failure or death, the Food and Drug Administration said in an alert to health-care professionals Friday.
Read article in the Wall Street Journal (USA)
Comment: We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: There’s no such thing as a safe drug. Given therefore that most drug combinations are almost invariably untested before being given to patients, doctors would clearly do well to remember this fact.
August 4, 2008
Cold medicine can be life-threatening for babies
Another study raises questions about the dangers of giving cough and cold medications to babies. A "surprising" number of small children taken to the emergency room after they stop breathing or lose consciousness have over-the-counter cold medications in their systems, according to the authors of an article in today's Pediatrics.
Read article in USA Today
August 1, 2008
House Panel Seeks Vytorin Study Data
The House Energy and Commerce Committee wants the Food and Drug Administration to turn over the results of an analysis looking into the potential links between cancer and the cholesterol drug Vytorin.
Read article in the Wall Street Journal (USA)
August 1, 2008
Grassley Intensifies Probe Into NIH & Stanford
The Senate Finance Committee is intensifying its investigation into research grants and conflicts of interest are managed by the National Institutes of Health and universities, whose academic researchers receive both NIH funding and have ties to drugmakers.
Read article at pharmalot.com
August 1, 2008
Britain's growing reliance on drugs from GPs
We are a nation of pill- poppers who are increasingly dependent on drugs to keep us plodding on, new figures show. In the past decade, prescribing by GPs has risen more than 50 per cent to 15.7 items per head – more than one item a month for every man, woman and child in the country – compared to 10.3 items in 1997. The findings show that 796 million prescription items were dispensed in 2007, at an average cost of £10.51.
Read article in The Independent (UK)
July 31, 2008
Biogen's Tysabri Causes Brain Infection In 2 Patients
Biogen and Elan have reported two confirmed cases of a deadly brain infection - progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy - in patients taking their Tysabri multiple sclerosis drug, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Read article at pharmalot.com
July 31, 2008
Lilly Trained Sales Force to Ignore Drug's Risks
Eli Lilly & Co. trained its sales force to downplay risks for Zyprexa and encourage doctors to prescribe the drug beyond approved uses for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, according to court documents.
Read article at bloomberg.com
July 31, 2008
Compulsive Gambler Wins Lawsuit Over Mirapex
A federal jury yesterday awarded $8.2 million to a plaintiff who claims that the Parkinson's disease drug Mirapex caused him to gamble compulsively, according to Mealey's Emerging Drugs & Devices.
Read article at pharmalot.com
July 29, 2008
Merck faces Canadian class-action Vioxx case
US drug maker Merck faces another Canadian class-action case over painkiller Vioxx
A Canadian court has certified another class-action lawsuit against Merck & Co. over its former painkiller Vioxx, for which the U.S. drug maker is doling out billions of dollars to cover American settlements. The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has certified a case involving Vioxx users outside the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Saskatchewan, where judges have already certified class-action personal injury cases.
Read article at cnn.com
July 25, 2008
European Regulators To Limit Antibiotics
The European Medicines Agency recommends restricting the use of antibiotics based on moxifloxacin because of the potential risk of liver damage, and also wants strengthened warnings.
Read article at pharmalot.com
July 22, 2008
Warning over epilepsy drug topiramate linked to birth defects
The babies of women who take an epilepsy drug while pregnant are at increased risk of birth defects, scientists warn. The drug topiramate, which is also used to treat migraines in some people, was linked to a significantly higher risk of cleft palate or lip and genital deformities.
Read article in the Daily Telegraph (UK)
July 21, 2008
Animal pharm: prozac for pets
Depressed dachshunds and anxious alsatians can now get their paws on a little pooch-me-up - thanks to the US drugs industry.
Back in the day - before Paris Hilton carried a pooch in her handbag, before professional dog-walking was a serious career, and before "doggy day-care" even existed - the most popular cure for an unhappy canine was, as the nursery rhyme goes, to give the dog a bone. How times have changed. A surge in the popularity of household animals, coupled with the licensing of several new veterinary drugs, is seeing thousands of American dog owners replace comforting marrow-bones with a chemically enhanced modern alternative: Pet Prozac. Lifestyle drugs to treat troubled canines for depression, anxiety, bad behaviour and even obesity are being launched by pharmaceutical firms anxious to cash-in on the nation's booming love affair with man's best friend.
Read article in The Independent (UK)
July 21, 2008
Gardasil Injection Followed by Stroke
Gardasil, the vaccine approved to target the human papillomavirus (HPV) is being criticized again for possible links to a 20-year-old woman who suffered a stroke after receiving a second Gardasil injection.
Read article at newsinferno.com
July 20, 2008
NH Legislators: Criminal Probe Into Antipsychotics
A group of 17 New Hampshire legislators want the state's Attorney General to pursue a criminal investigation into several drugmakers that sell antipsychotics after learning the state's Medicaid program has spent increasingly large amounts on these medications for children.
Read article at pharmalot.com
July 17, 2008
Merck To Start Making Vioxx Payments
After a couple of postponements, the drugmaker next month will begin issuing payments to people who claim they were harmed by the notorious painkiller as part of the $4.85 billion settlement reached last November.
Read article at pharmalot.com
July 16, 2008
Wyeth Settles Lawsuits Before Trial Over Menopause Medicines
Wyeth avoided a trial this week in Nevada by agreeing to settle two women's claims that its hormone-replacement drugs Prempro and Premarin caused their breast cancer. The company agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to Las Vegas residents Vesta Woodhouse, 71, and Annie Woods, 61, to resolve allegations that it failed to adequately warn them about the drugs' breast cancer risks.
Read article at bloomberg.com
Comment: Wyeth said in March that it's facing more than 5,000 lawsuits over the menopause drugs, which are still on the market. Its sales of the drugs topped $2 billion before a 2002 study found women using the medicines had a 24 percent higher risk of breast cancer.
July 14, 2008
Roche Pharma suspended from body
Swiss drug firm Roche Pharma has been suspended from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) for a minimum of six months. The ban is in connection with breaches of its code of practice, the ABPI said. It relates to activities between 2003 and 2005, including actions held to bring discredit on, or cut confidence in, the pharmaceutical industry.
Read article at BBC News (UK)
July 11, 2008
Actavis Sued Over Digitek Heart Drug
A growing number of lawsuits have been filed against the Icelandic drug maker over charges that its recalled heart med was dangerous and defective, and led to one death, the Associated Press reports.
Read article at pharmalot.com
July 10, 2008
Pharma Spending On Vermont Doctors Increases
A total of 84 drugmakers spent more than $3 million dollars in Vermont in fiscal 2007 to influence sales, a 33 percent increase over the previous year and a 42 percent jump from two years ago, according to a report issued by the state's attorney general. The money was used to pay for fees, travel expenses, gifts and other items to docs, hospitals, universities and others for marketing purposes. The top five spenders were Lilly, Pfizer, UCB, Novartis and Merck, and payments by these drugmakers represented 56 percent of the total amount reported by the 84 drugmakers that filed disclosures, according to the AG report.
Read article at pharmalot.com
July 10, 2008
New Pharma Code: No Pens, But Lunch Is Free
All those cheap pens and mugs, along with other gifts, given to doctors will no longer be allowed under new voluntary guidelines being issued by PhRMA, the US trade group. But there are no limits on speaking and consulting fees for docs, and routine free meals in physician offices - plus dinner invites to educational events - will still be permitted.
Read article at pharmalot.com
July 10, 2008
Widow Sues Pfizer Over Chantix Suicide
On January 3, David Collins killed himself with a shotgun, three months after he began taking Chantix, Pfizer's controversial smoking-cessation pill. Now, his widow, Linda, has filed what may be the first product-liability lawsuit against the drugmaker over Chantix side effects and an alleged failure to provide sufficient warnings. And her lawyer predicts many more such lawsuits are on the way.
Read article at pharmalot.com
July 9, 2008
Nigeria: Pfizer - Kano Govt, Victims Reject $10 Million Offer
Out-of-court settlement talks between pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and the Kano State government broke down at the weekend after the government and representatives of victims' families turned down an offer of $10 million compensation from the company.
Read article at allafrica.com
Comment: The victims' families have asked the Nigerian Federal Government to ban Pfizer products in Nigeria until it pays compensation and apologizes to Nigeria for using innocent children as guinea pigs. In this latest development, the chairman of the victims' association has stated that it is "amazing how the same company would offer to pay $21million for settlement of all legal fees incurred by both parties in the case, while paying a paltry $10 million to the 200 victims in Nigeria."
July 9, 2008
Drugmaker hit with $10 million fine for fraud
Leiner accused of falsifying expiration dates on its generic OTC medications
COLUMBIA --A federal judge on Tuesday ordered a drug manufacturer that operated a plant in Fort Mill to pay $10 million in connection with fraud. U.S. District Judge Joseph Anderson Jr. fined Leiner Health Products LLC $1 million and ordered the company to forfeit an additional $9 million in profits for falsifying information on expiration dates for its medications, U.S. Attorney Walt Wilkins said.
Read article in the Charlotte Observer (USA)
July 9, 2008
NY man claims drug caused compulsive gambling
A former Wall Street banker who said he lost $3 million from compulsive gambling caused by a popular drug used to treat Parkinson's disease is suing companies involved with the drug for his losses. The lawsuit, filed in New York State Court on Tuesday, accuses the privately held German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim, Pfizer and Pharmacia & Upjohn of breach of warranty, negligence and negligent misrepresentation.
Read news report at reuters.com
July 9, 2008
Glaxo Exec Resigns From UK Watchdog Group
Paul Blackburn, a Glaxo vp and financial controller, has left the board of Ofsted, the UK's official education watchdog agency, amid growing controversy that his appointment reflected improper ties between the governing Labor Party and the drugmaker.
Read article at pharmalot.com
July 8, 2008
FDA issues warning on Cipro, similar antibiotics
Federal drug safety officials have imposed the government's most urgent warning on Cipro and similar antibiotics, citing risks that they can cause tendon ruptures, a serious injury that leaves some patients incapacitated.
Read article at physorg.com
July 8, 2008
Pharma fallout: Drugmakers in N.J. to cut or relocate more than 1,100 jobs
With sales flagging for key products, pharmaceutical companies have notified New Jersey of plans to trim or relocate more than 1,100 jobs in the coming months. The biggest hit is from Schering-Plough, which plans to cut at least 500 jobs statewide as part of a previously announced reduction of 5,500 positions, according to spokesman Stephen Galpin. This is the first time the company, which has been hurt by declining sales of its cholesterol drug franchise, has given a threshhold number for layoffs in the Garden State.
Read article in The Star Ledger (New Jersey/USA)
July 7, 2008
Cholesterol Meds For The Youngest Children?
The nation's pediatricians are recommending wider cholesterol screening for children and more aggressive use of cholesterol meds starting as early as the age of 8 in hopes of preventing adult heart problems, The New York Times reports, adding that new guidelines are expected to be issued today by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Read article at pharmalot.com
Comment: There is no evidence that giving anti-cholesterol drugs (statins) to a child will lower his or her risk for heart attack in middle age. Worse still, evidence shows that the use of statins is associated with the development of chronic muscle diseases, psychic disturbances, a higher risk of developing cancer and Parkinson's disease, and numerous other health problems. To learn how high cholesterol levels can be eradicated naturally, click here.
July 6, 2008
Who's Minding The Children? In The UK, It's Glaxo?
A scandal is mushrooming because the Schools Secretary has appointed a Glaxo exec to the board of the government's official education watchdog agency, known as Ofsted. And the move occurred less than a month before the government awarded a reported $200 million contract to Glaxo for its HPV vaccine for school-age girls 12 years and older, which some parents fear will give a green light to teenage sex, The Daily Mail reports. The appointment also comes at a time when a growing number of families are filing lawsuits against Glaxo over its Paxil antidepressent, claiming the drug caused suicide or attempted suicides.
Read article at pharmalot.com
July 6, 2008
Massive jump in cancer jab reactions
THE new cervical cancer jab is believed to be behind a huge jump in the number of women and girls suffering bad reactions to vaccinations in NSW. The first annual State vaccination statistics to include Gardasil reveala 1600 per cent surge in reported adverse side-effects among young females who were immunised last year. These include allergic reactions, collapsing, dizziness, nausea and unexplained illnesses.
Read article in the Sunday Telegraph (Australia)
July 4, 2008
Sulston argues for open medicine
A Nobel Prize-winning scientist has hit out at what he terms the "moral corruption" of the medical industry. Britain's Sir John Sulston says that profits are taking precedence over the needs of patients, particularly in the developing world.
Read article at BBC News (UK)
July 3, 2008
Children's suicide attempts raise concerns about ADHD medication
New questions are being raised about the safety of a drug used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder amid reports that more than 40 Canadian children have attempted suicide after taking it.
Read article in the Globe and Mail (Canada)
July 2, 2008
Lilly Loses Appeal to Limit Damages in Canadian Suit
Eli Lilly & Co. lost an appeal to limit potential damages in a lawsuit filed by Canadian patients who claimed they developed diabetes after using its Zyprexa schizophrenia drug. An Ontario appeal court today affirmed a lower court's decision that plaintiffs in a class-action, or group, suit may try to recover money the Indianapolis-based company made from sales rather than get damages. The plaintiffs sought C$900 million in damages in their initial claim.
Read article at bloomberg.com
July 2, 2008
FDA Panel: Tighter Standards For Diabetes Drugs
An FDA advisory committee voted 14 to 2 that all new diabetes drugs should undergo longer studies to ensure cardiovascular risks aren't increased, a move that is expected to cost drugmakers untold millions of dollars to conduct additional clinical trials, the Associated Press reports.
Read article at pharmalot.com
July 1, 2008
Doctors, Pfizer in 'Suspicious' Sponsorship Deal
The Korean Medical Association, the nation's largest group of doctors, is under fire for allegedly receiving sponsorship from a pharmaceutical company for its no-smoking campaign. The association is blamed for trying to take a free ride without mentioning the sponsor while the company is accused of trying to gain publicity for its product that may not be advertised. According to Yonhap News, multi-national drug maker Pfizer producing smoking treatment Champix has been financing online, television and print commercials for the KMA's "Quit Smoking" campaign. However, there is no sign of its name in the ads.
Read article in the Korean Times (South Korea)
June 30, 2008
B.C. court clears path for cancer survivors to sue over hormone replacement
VANCOUVER - An international maker of a hormone replacement drug has lost its bid to block a B.C. lawsuit, clearing the way for a possible class-action suit on behalf of breast cancer survivors. Hundreds of B.C. women who claim they got breast cancer after taking the drugs Premarin and Premplus have contacted the law firm involvined in the B.C. Supreme Court lawsuit. David Klein, the lawyer for the women, said it means if the company is found at fault, the international firm would be held accountable in a Canadian court.
Read Canadian Press news story at yahoo.com
June 27, 2008
Drug licences for cash scandal unfolds in Italy
The director of Italy's medicines regulatory agency has been suspended along with another top official, as the drug licences-for-cash scandal surrounding the organisation continues to unfold. Nello Martini, director of Aifa (the Italian Agency for Pharmaceuticals), has been suspended along with Caterina Gualano, head of medicines registration for the agency. The development follows a two-year investigation in which police found evidence that money had changed hands in return for the falsification of clinical data required for drug licences.
Read article at pharmatimes.com
June 27, 2008
Pharma's Reputation Sinks A Little More
The latest Harris Interactive poll that examines American attitudes toward corporate America offers a sobering view of and for the pharmaceutical industry. Only 26 percent of Americans view the industry favorably which, of course, means that 74 percent have a negative or neutral impression. And 52 percent are firmly negative, which places pharma slightly below big oil, and above tobacco.
Read article at pharmalot.com
Comment: A moment's glance at the other pharma news items on this page should be enough to tell you that nobody should really be surprised by these findings. To view a table comparing the pharma industry's poll ratings with those of other industries, click here.
June 27, 2008
Antidepressants: Swedish FDA mobilized to save pharma
The news that antidepressants in actual fact don't work better than sugar pills and increase the risk of suicide has filled major media during the past year. Psychiatrists, Big pharma and medical agencies, responsible for distorting the facts for many years, are now working hard to save profits and careers, says Swedish independent investigator and reporter Janne Larsson.
Read article on Sepp Hasslberger's Health Supreme website
June 26, 2008
Failure To Warn: Glaxo, Paxil & Pregnancies
Much of the hoopla one reads about the controversial antidepressant concerns the risk of suicide and the extent to which the drugmaker disclosed - or did not disclose - meaningful clinical trial data. However, a pending lawsuit points up another issue - whether Glaxo adequately disclosed and investigated the risk of congenital abnormalities.
Read article at pharmalot.com
June 25, 2008
Parkinson's Drugs Again Linked to Compulsive Disorders
Impulsive gambling, shopping, sex and binge eating common among patients, study shows
People taking dopamine agonists to treat Parkinson's disease are at risk for impulse-control disorders such as compulsive gambling, buying and sexual behavior, University of Pennsylvania researchers report. In fact, people taking these particular medications are three times more likely to engage in these behaviors compared with Parkinson's patients not taking these drugs.
Read article on the U.S. National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of Health website (USA)
June 25, 2008
Senate Targets Stanford Psychiatrist Over Conflicts
The US Senate Finance Committee charges that Stanford University failed to properly monitor alleged conflicts of interest involving Alan Schatzberg, who chairs the psychiatry department at Stanford University and who owns about $6 million in stock in Corcept Therapeutics, which that participates in a National Institutes of Health study he oversees.
Read article at pharmalot.com
June 24, 2008
Controversial diet drug approved
An obesity drug has been approved for NHS use, despite links to an increased risk of depression and suicide.
Read article at BBC News (UK)
June 24, 2008
Pharma Sets Spending Record Lobbying Congress
The $168 million thrown at lobbyists amounted to a 32 percent jump over 2006, according to an analysis by the Center for Public Integrity, which was based on data obtained from the Senate Office of Public Records. In all, the group says that drugmakers have spent more than $1 billion lobbying the federal government over the past decade.
Read article at pharmalot.com
Comment: To see a breakdown showing the actual money spent on lobbying by individual pharmaceutical companies and industry organizations, click here.
June 23, 2008
Drug for treating HIV may raise heart attack risk, manufacturer warns
TORONTO - A drug used in combination with other antiretrovirals to treat HIV infection has been linked with an increased risk of heart attack, the medication's manufacturer warned Monday. GlaxoSmithKline, in conjunction with Health Canada, is advising patients taking abacavir-containing products - sold under the brand names Ziagen, Kivexa and Trizivir - of concerns raised by a recent study in The Lancet about the possible elevated heart attack risk.
Read Canadian Press news story at google.com
June 23, 2008
The hand of Pharma - US citizens have your say!
Two drug companies - one big, one small - have revealed their hand. One wants to ban a natural vitamin because it interferes with its patents. The other wants to ban health claims for slimming products because it wants to eliminate competition against its anti-obesity drug. Both are subject to citizen's petitions in the US. Have your say if you care...
Read article on the Alliance for Natural Health (ANH) website (UK)
June 20, 2008
Pharmaceutical industry spent $3.6M lobbying in 1Q
WASHINGTON - The pharmaceutical industry's main trade group spent more than $3.6 million lobbying the federal government in the first quarter, according to a recent disclosure form. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, whose members include Pfizer, Amgen Inc. and Eli Lilly & Co., lobbied on how prices are set for seniors' medications, rules governing drug imports and other issues.
Read article at forbes.com
June 20, 2008
Nigerian court says victims can be party in Pfizer case
ABUJA (AFP) - A Nigerian court on Friday granted the request of victims of an alleged 1996 Pfizer drug trial in the northern city of Kano, to be joined as party in the controversial lawsuit. "The applicant has sufficient interest in the suit to warrant this court to join them as additional respondent in the case," Abuja Anwuri Chikere, presiding judge of the federal high court, said. "The applicant's presence in the suit is important for effective and effectual determination of the case. The application for joinder is therefore granted," she added. Friday's ruling followed an application by the lawyer representing the victims of the alleged illegal drug trial which led allegedly to the deaths of about 11 children, while almost 200 others were reportedly left with some degree of disability or deformity.
Read AFP news report at yahoo.com
June 20, 2008
US Investigation Into Glaxo And Paxil Widens
A Justice Department investigation of Glaxo's handling of the marketing and safety research of its antidepressant, appears to be widening, The
Wall Street Journal reports. The drugmaker confirmed that a previously disclosed Colorado-based Justice Department investigation of marketing practices also includes the US Attorney's office in Boston and is being coordinated by the agency in Washington.
Read article at pharmalot.com
June 20, 2008
Doctor Advised Neurontin Warning But Was Ignored
A UK neurologist who analyzed effects of the controversial epilepsy drug told a court that he advised Warner-Lambert, which is now part of Pfizer, to include a warning on the label for potential side effects of depression and aggression, but his advice wasn't followed, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Read article at pharmalot.com
June 19, 2008
Review ordered for dementia drugs
The government today ordered an immediate review into the use of antipsychotic drugs to calm the behaviour of people with dementia. The drugs, also known as neuroleptics, have been labelled a "chemical cosh" by dementia charities and older people's campaigners, and some have severe side-effects, which include strokes and even death.
Read article in The Guardian (UK)
June 19, 2008
Sanofi Heart Drug Worsens Heart Failure
File this under tough sell. The drug more than doubled the risk of death in people with heart failure in a study that was terminated early in 2003 due to safety concerns, Dow Jones reports.
Read article at pharmalot.com
June 17, 2008
Doctors 'ignoring drugs warning'
Doctors are regularly prescribing two powerful psychiatric drugs to elderly dementia patients despite a safety warning in 2004, the BBC has found.
Read article at BBC News (UK)
June 17, 2008
'Lab Rats At $30 A Month:' The VA And Chantix
The government is testing drugs with severe side effects like psychosis and suicidal behavior on hundreds of military veterans, using small cash payments to attract patients into medical experiments that often target distressed soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, according to an investigation by The Washington Times and ABC News.
Read article at pharmalot.com
June 17, 2008
Topanga Family Argues Motrin Blinded Their Child
Malibu -- A Topanga Canyon girl was left blind and scarred by a rare allergic reaction to Children's Motrin, and a Johnson & Johnson drug division "purposefully and callously" hid medical reports about the dangers of ibuprofen from federal regulators, an attorney told a Malibu jury Tuesday to open trial of a product-liability lawsuit.
Read article at myfoxla.com
June 16, 2008
FDA Warns Over Antipsychotics, Dementia & Death
The agency is requiring manufacturers of "conventional" antipsychotic drugs to change the labeling to warn about an increased risk of death associated with the off-label use to treat behavioral problems in older people with dementia. In 2005, the FDA announced similar labeling changes for "atypical" antipsychotic drugs. At that time, Black Box warnings were added, and will now be added to the older "conventional" antipsychotics. The warning for both classes of drugs will say that clinical studies indicate that antipsychotic drugs of both types are associated with an increased risk of death when used in elderly patients treated for dementia-related psychosis, according to an FDA statement.
Read article at pharmalot.com
June 16, 2008
Chronic muscle diseases associated with statin exposure
Statin use is twice as high in patients with chronic muscle diseases as in unaffected controls, according to a report in the May issue of the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. Some clinical reports have suggested that statins can trigger chronic muscle diseases, including dermatomyositis and polymyositis, the authors explain, but no previous study has investigated exposure to statins in patients who develop a chronic muscle disease.
Read article at medicalimagingmag.com
June 15, 2008
Britain's child victims of the chemical cosh
Powerful anti-psychotic drugs designed for adults are being used to treat children, including those with learning difficulties.
The number of powerful psychiatric drugs prescribed to England's children has risen by more than half in four years, government figures have revealed. GPs in England are handing out prescriptions for anti-psychotic drugs for children as young as seven at the rate of 250 a day, according to figures obtained by The Independent on Sunday.
Read article in The Independent on Sunday (UK)
June 14, 2008
Legal Drugs Kill Far More Than Illegal, Florida Says
MIAMI - From "Scarface" to "Miami Vice," Florida's drug problem has been portrayed as the story of a single narcotic: cocaine. But for Floridians, prescription drugs are increasingly a far more lethal habit. An analysis of autopsies in 2007 released this week by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission found that the rate of deaths caused by prescription drugs was three times the rate of deaths caused by all illicit drugs combined.
Read article in the New York Times (USA)
June 12, 2008
FDA, Pfizer Told of Chantix Safety Concerns a Year Ago
Doctor Warned Medical Community of Drug's Adverse Effects Last Year
A physician and top smoking cessation researcher says U.S. regulators and a drugmaker brushed aside his concerns a year ago about possibly dangerous side effects from longer-term use of the stop-smoking drug Chantix. Now a new report from the nonprofit organization Institute for Safe Medicine Practices cites nearly 1,000 adverse event reports associated with Chantix. That report, released late last month, has prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to ban the drug's use among commercial pilots.
Read article on the ABC News website (USA)
June 12, 2008
Grassley Probes Paxil Suicide Risks
The Republican Senator from Iowa wants the agency to "carefully scrutinize" info from Glaxo after reviewing a report about suicide risks among adults using the antidepressant. Chuck has also asked the FDA to review findings released earlier this year by UK regulators, which charged the drugmaker with knowing about suicide risks in children since 1998, but failed to pursue criminal charges.
Read article at pharmalot.com
June 11, 2008
Reminder Bill Raises Privacy Concerns In California
Privacy concerns have been raised about a bill moving through the California Legislature that would let pharmacies partner with drugmakers to send reminder letters to patients to refill their scrips, The Sacramento Bee reports. The senate bill is sponsored by a medical information company facing an invasion of privacy class-action suit, which alleges some of the same practices the legislation would make legal.
Read article at pharmalot.com
June 10, 2008
Glaxo Cuts 40 Percent Of Research At Some Sites
And so the Avandia fallout continues. Having already whacked a factory and thousands of employees, particularly sales reps, the drugmaker is slashing all sorts of science jobs at its US facilities - Research Triangle Park in North Carolina and Philadelphia. At least 350, or 2 percent of global R&D, not counting cuts in prior months.
Read article at pharmalot.com
June 8, 2008
Researchers Fail to Reveal Full Drug Pay
A world-renowned Harvard child psychiatrist whose work has helped fuel an explosion in the use of powerful antipsychotic medicines in children earned at least $1.6 million in consulting fees from drug makers from 2000 to 2007 but for years did not report much of this income to university officials, according to information given Congressional investigators.
Read article in the New York Times (USA)
June 6, 2008
FDA To Add Suicide Warning For Epilepsy Drugs
The agency is finalizing plans to add suicidal behavior to the labels of 11 epilepsy drugs, reflecting concerns that the meds are also widely used for other maladies, such as chronic pain, The Wall Street Journal reports. "We are working on the labeling changes that we want to get to the companies," Russell Katz, director the FDA's neuropharmacological drug division, tells the paper, which adds that several drugmakers believe the FDA may even propose the changes before a July 10 advisory committee meeting. Katz defended the agency's decision earlier this year to alert doctors and patients to a potential link to suicidal behavior, despite concerns from some drugmakers about the small increase in risk drawn from the FDA's analysis and the potential impact on drug revenues, the paper writes. "Everything points in the direction of an increase in what we call suicidality," Katz tells the paper. He was referring to the FDA's combined analysis of 199 clinical trials that included 43,892 patients. The results showed a "trend across the board" in differences in behavior between patients who took a placebo and those who took one of the 11 medications, the Journal writes.
Read article at pharmalot.com
June 6, 2008
Paxil Babies: The Dangers of Antidepressants
Mothers suffering from depression are increasingly pushed into taking pills, at great potential risk to themselves and their infants.
Today in the United States, 11 percent of women take antidepressants, the use of antidepressants by pregnant women has dramatically increased, and postpartum depression -- rare in those cultures in which women receive high levels of social support following childbirth -- has become so staggeringly common among U.S. women that Congress is legislating increased medical treatment.
Read article at alternet.org
Comment: In 2006 the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine reported that 30 percent of infants who had prenatal exposure to antidepressants experience some withdrawal symptoms, with 13 percent of them experiencing severe ones, most notably tremors, respiratory distress, gastrointestinal problems, sleep disturbances, and high-pitched crying. Other withdrawal symptoms include rapid heart beat, irritability, feeding difficulties, and profuse sweating.
June 5, 2008
Is It A Study Or An Ad? Only Pharma Knows For Sure
Open a prestigious and reliable medical journal and you expect to find real studies, yes? Okay, there are also ads for all sorts of items - drugs, for instance. But it should be easy enough to distinguish between the two - unless someone is trying to pull a fast one. And that's what Geraint Lewish of New York University and Peter Hockey of Harvard Medical School allege in a letter to the BMJ, in which they complain that two ads were dressed up to look like studies. It was only upon closer inspection did they realize the papers didn't state funding sources, competing interests, ethical approval or peer-review status.
Read article at pharmalot.com
June 5, 2008
Novartis Says MS Drug Linked to Death, Infection
Novartis SA, Switzerland's second- largest drugmaker, said a patient died and another developed a serious infection in tests of its experimental multiple sclerosis treatment FTY720.
Read article at bloomberg.com
June 4, 2008
Sanofi-Aventis Diet Pill Linked To Deaths
Acomplia, which was rejected last year by an FDA panel, was linked to five deaths by the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency since the pill went on sale two years ago. There were 720 reports of adverse drug reactions, some of which involved more than one side effect, bringing the total to more than 2,100. Five cases were fatal, including one suicide. The data, covering reports from the June 2006 introduction to May 9, was released on the MHRA web site.
Read article at pharmalot.com
June 4, 2008
Court Dismisses Vioxx Medical Monitoring Suit
The New Jersey Supreme Court has booted a lawsuit that sought to force Merck to pay for electrocardiograms and follow-up medical care, because the plaintiffs had not suffered any injury. The ruling, which is a big win for the drugmaker, reverses a decision by an appellate court, which found that a trial court dismissal in 2005 was premature.
Read article at pharmalot.com
June 4, 2008
FDA: TNF Blockers May Cause Lymphoma In Kids
The agency is conducting a safety review of Enbrel, Humira, Cimzia and Remicade for a possible association with lymphoma and other cancers in children and young adults who have Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis and Crohn's disease. So far, the FDA has received 30 reports over the past 10 years, and about half of the cancers were lymphomas and included both Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Read article at pharmalot.com
June 3, 2008
Canadian media giant in court to demand DTC rights
CanWest Mediaworks, Canada's largest newspaper publisher and owner of more than 30 television stations, is suing the federal government for not permitting direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs because, it says, this breaches its freedom of expression under Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Along with every country in the world apart from the USA and New Zealand, Canada does not permit DTCA of prescription drugs. However, CanWest is arguing in the Ontario Superior Court that this prohibition, which is enshrined in the Food and Drugs Act, places it at a competitive disadvantage to US newspaper and magazines which are sold on Canadian newsstands, because it prevents it from selling advertising space to pharmaceutical manufacturers.
Read article at pharmatimes.com
May 29, 2008
Exploiting a Research Underclass in Phase 1 Clinical Trials
In November 1996, the Wall Street Journal reported that Eli Lilly was paying homeless alcoholics from a local shelter to participate in safety testing of new drugs at its trial site in Indianapolis. "These individuals want to help society," asserted Lilly's director of clinical pharmacology. The subjects, however, said they took part for easy money and free room and board. Although Lilly reportedly offered the lowest per diem in the business, it managed to attract poor subjects from all over the country. The medical director of the local Homeless Initiative Program said Lilly had created a "shadow economy" of paid human subjects.
Read article in the New England Journal of Medicine (USA)
May 27, 2008
Short-term use of antipsychotics in older adults with dementia linked to serious adverse events
Older adults with dementia who receive short-term courses of antipsychotic medications are more likely to be hospitalized or die than those who do not take the drugs, according to a report in the May 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Read article at pharmalot.com
May 23, 2008
Bayer & Glaxo Linked To Bribes In Italy
A drug licences-for-cash scandal has engulfed Italy's medicines regulatory agency with leading officials arrested along with people linked to major drugmakers, PharmaTimes writes. The most senior figure to have been held is Pasqualino Rossi, vp of Aifa, the Italian Agency for Pharmaceuticals, and one of Italy's most senior reps at the European Medicines Agency. Five lobbyists have also been arrested, and an eighth person is being sought. Arrest warrants were issued after an investigating judge saw a 400-word police report suggesting money had changed hands in return for falsifying clinical data required for drug licences, according to PharmaTimes.
Read article at pharmalot.com
May 22, 2008
FAA bans anti-smoking drug Chantix
The Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday removed the smoking cessation drug Chantix from the list of medications considered safe for pilots and air-traffic controllers after a new study linked the medication to mental confusion and other problems that could put passengers at risk. FAA spokesman Les Dorr said the agency took that step after reviewing the study, which raises concerns about Chantix use by people operating vehicles.
Read article in USA Today
May 21, 2008
Smoked: Chantix May Cause Many Serious Problems
The smoking-cessation drug has generated headlines over links to suicide, but the Pfizer pill is now being tied to other serious adverse events reported to the FDA, according to a study published in Drug & Therapeutics Bulletin. And the authors urge the FDA and Pfizer to conduct epidemiological studies to assess further risks and to issue new warnings. Wall Street, meanwhile, is worried the study will cause Chantix sales to go up in smoke. Chantix is suspected of causing a "wide spectrum of injuries," including serious accidents and falls, potentially lethal cardiac rhythm disturbances, severe skin reactions, acute myocardial infarction, seizures, diabetess, psychosis, aggression and suicide, the authors write.
Read article at pharmalot.com
May 21, 2008
Strattera Adverse Events: Deaths Mount - Will EU Health Authorities Intervene?
Will European Health Authorities act on reports of serious side effects and deaths connected with the ADHD drug Strattera? Are 95 deaths, 965 reports of suicidal behavior and some 60,000 reported adverse events enough to take action, asks Swedish researcher Janne Larsson in a letter to the UK's Medicines Agency.
Read article on Sepp Hasslberger's Health Supreme website
May 20, 2008
Merck Pays $58M To States Settle Vioxx Fraud
The drugmaker reached the deal with attorneys general from 29 states and the Washington DC to "fully resolve" investigations under state consumer protection laws related to marketing the notorious Vioxx painkiller. The agreement also calls for Merck to adhere to unspecified compliance measures that are supposed to supplement exisiting practices.
Read article at pharmalot.com
May 15, 2008
J&J Loses To Red Cross Over Symbol Dispute
This is an embarassing defeat for the health care giant. A federal judge ruled today that the American Red Cross can continue using its iconic symbol, 10 months after J&J filed a lawsuit demanding the relief agency halt its use of the red cross emblem on products it sells to the public and licensed to others. Amid a flurry of negative publicity, J&J claimed the Red Cross violated its trademark and was barred from using the symbol for commercial purposes. The health care giant claimed a congressional charter issued to the relief agency in 1900 didn't empower the Red Cross to engage in commercial activities competing with a private business. But US District Judge Jed Rakoff disagreed, noting that the Red Cross had used the emblem for more than a century and was authorized to do so by various Geneva Conventions and the US Congress.
Read article at pharmalot.com
May 14, 2008
Study likely spells end for anti-bleeding drug
An anti-bleeding drug probably will stay off the market, experts say, after a rigorous study found patients getting the medication during heart surgery were much more likely to die than patients given other drugs. Bayer AG, the maker of the drug Trasylol, said it is still deciding what to do and is awaiting details from the Canadian study. Bayer faces dozens of lawsuits claiming Trasylol led to excess deaths and that the company hid evidence of harm. But experts in Canada and the United States say the study appears to seal the drug's fate, given that several prior studies linked Trasylol to an elevated risk of death after surgery - and studies that didn't find a higher risk had many weaknesses.
Read article at physorg.com
May 14, 2008
Betablockers 'have caused 800,000 deaths'
At least 800,000 deaths worldwide have been caused by drugs used to cut the risk of a heart attack after surgery, experts have claimed.
Read article in the Daily Telegraph (UK)
May 12, 2008
Celebrex For Alzheimer's? Forget About It
Neither the Pfizer painkiller of Naproxen, the widely used generic most often sold as Aleve, prevent deterioration of memory and reasoning in older adults with a family history of Alzheimer's disease, according to a study in the Archives of Neurology.
Read article at pharmalot.com
May 12, 2008
Glaxo 'downplayed' warning on heart-attack risk from Aids drug
The multinational drugs company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) downplayed an early warning about the rising number of people who have suffered heart attacks after using one of its drugs, abacavir.
Read article in The Independent (UK)
May 8, 2008
Group asks U.S. to pull birth-control patch from market
A consumer advocacy group petitioned the U.S. government Thursday to pull the birth-control patch off the market, calling it far riskier than the pill. "Ortho-Evra is a poor choice for women," Dr. Sidney Wolfe of Public Citizen wrote the Food and Drug Administration. Warnings about the Ortho-Evra weekly patch have escalated since a 2005 investigation by the Associated Press found patch users suffer higher rates of life-threatening blood clots than women who take birth-control pills.
Read article in USA Today
May 8, 2008
Merck Deceived FDA, Researchers Say
WASHINGTON - Researchers who have studied documents gathered from lawsuits over the painkiller Vioxx are alleging that the drug's manufacturer, Merck, purposefully deceived Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials in the company's effort to approve and promote the drug. Vioxx (rofecoxib) - a COX-2 inhibitor commonly prescribed for arthritis pain - was voluntarily removed from the market by Merck in 2004 after studies found it increased the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients taking the drug. Two teams of researchers published findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) last month, suggesting that Merck conspired to deceive FDA officials as to the safety of the drug prior to its withdrawal from the market.
Read article at usmedicine.com
May 5, 2008
The New Psychiatric Bible And Author Conflicts
More than half the 28 new members of writers of the next edition of the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) have ties to the drug industry, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest's Integrity in Science Watch.
Read article at pharmalot.com
May 4, 2008
Commonly used medications associated with impaired physical function in older adults
Older adults who take drugs designed to block the
neurotransmitter acetylcholine - including common medications for
incontinence, high blood pressure and allergies - are more likely
to be dependent in one or more activities of daily living and to walk
slower, according to new findings from researchers at Wake Forest
University School of Medicine and colleagues.
Read article at physorg.com
May 3, 2008
Eli Lilly Funds Medscape, American Psychiatric Association, Harvard, NAMI National
Eli Lilly's report detailing the company's contributions to various health care organization and advocacy groups for the first three months of 2008 is out now--and it's a doozy. Among the top recipients is the American Psychiatric Association, Harvard University's Massachusetts General Hospital psychiatry department, Medscape and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).
Read article at furiousseasons.com
Further information: Click here to read the report.
April 30, 2008
Johnson & Johnson Cuts Another 400 Jobs
The healthcare giant yesterday notified employees it will consolidate the sales and marketing operations of two subsidiaries, Ortho Biotech and Centocor, leading to roughly 400 job cuts nationwide, The Star-Ledger of New Jersey reports. The move is a response to the declining sales of its Procrit anemia med, a spokesman tells the paper. Procrit scrips fell sharply last year after the FDA issued new safety warnings, which were also placed on anemia meds sold by Amgen. More recently, an FDA panel recommended that current use should be restricted over concerns the drugs can increase the risk of tumor growth and death.
Read article at pharmalot.com
April 30, 2008
EU launches $3 billion project to boost drug discovery
Europe is launching a 2 billion euros ($3.1 billion) scheme to boost drug discovery in a bid to re-establish itself as the "pharmacy of the world" and close a growing gap with United States and Asia. The Innovative Medicines Initiative, being unveiled in Brussels on Wednesday, offers grants to academic institutes and small companies to research ways of beating bottlenecks in the drug development process.
Read article in the International Herald Tribune
Comment: Almost needless to say, the scheme's main beneficiaries will be multi-trillion dollar drug industry and its shareholders. Consumers, meanwhile, will continue to be harmed and even killed from the side-effects of patented toxic synthetic drug medicines.
April 29, 2008
Studies shed light on risks of common drugs
Two studies provide new evidence of risks associated with drugs commonly used to treat diabetes and osteoporosis, researchers said on Monday. In one study, U.S. researchers found women who took Merck & Co Inc's osteoporosis drug Fosamax, or alendronate sodium, were nearly twice as likely to have a type of abnormal heartbeat known as atrial fibrillation. In another, Swiss researchers found the diabetes drugs Avandia, or rosiglitazone, from GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Actos, or pioglitazone, from Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd can more than double the risk of bone fractures.
Read Reuters news report at yahoo.com
April 29, 2008
Genentech, Biogen Drug Fails As Lupus Treatment
Investors are upset. Rituxan, which is already approved to treat non-Hodgkins lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis, failed to prompt a response in patients when compared with placebo in a late-stage, 52-week study. Not only that, the drug failed to meet any of its six secondary goals. Genentech and Biogen Idec shares dove on the disclosure.
Read article at pharmalot.com
April 28, 2008
HRT Increases Stroke Risk
No matter when postmenopausal women start hormone replacement therapy (HRT), high doses of the treatment increase their risk of stroke, a new study finds.
Read article in the Washington Post (USA)
April 28, 2008
Pfizer seeks settlement over drugs trial: Nigerian official
KANO, Nigeria (AFP) - US pharmaceuticals company Pfizer Inc. and the Nigerian state of Kano resumed talks aimed at reaching an out-of-court settlement over an alleged illegal drugs trial, an official said Monday. The alleged illegal clinical trial was carried out in 1996 and left 11 children dead and some 180 others with a deformity or handicap. Kano state justice commissioner Aliyu Umar said state government officials met Pfizer representatives last month in the federal capital Abuja, where the drug company made a financial offer which Kano rejected as inadequate.
Read AFP news report at google.com
April 28, 2008
Medical School Group Urges Freebie Ban
Drug and device makers shouldn't be allowed to offer freebies - including meals, gifts, travel and ghost-writing helps - to docs, staffers and students in any or all 129 of the nation's medical colleges, according to a new report from the Association of American Medical Colleges, which spent two years on the project.
Read article at pharmalot.com
April 27, 2008
MPs urge cut in dementia drug use
MPs have urged the government to stop the "dangerous over-prescribing" of antipsychotic drugs to people in care homes with dementia. The All Party Parliamentary Group on Dementia said the drugs should only be used as a last resort. Research published earlier this month said the drugs had no benefits, and could even worsen patients' condition.
Read article at BBC News (UK)
April 25, 2008
Whistleblower Lawsuit Filed Over Baycol Fraud
The suit was brought by Laurie Simpson, a former Bayer strategic research analyst who joined the drugmaker just after the controversial cholesterol pill was launched in 1998, and she accuses Bayer of violating the federal and state False Claims Act.
Read article at pharmalot.com
April 23, 2008
Researchers Develop Breath-Monitoring Device To Monitor Treatment Adherence Among HIV-Positive People
Researchers at the University of Florida and Xhale have developed a breath-monitoring device that can detect whether people living with HIV/AIDS adhere to their treatment regimens, ANI/Thaindian News reports.
Read article at kaisernetwork.org
Comment: A disturbing development. Not only is the device programmed to record the results of a breath test that measures whether patients have taken their antiretrovirals, it can also contact treatment coordinators to indicate when they have not done so. The pharma cartel will now no doubt be rubbing its hands with glee, as this device seemingly takes it one step nearer to its cherished dream of antiretroviral drugs being made compulsory for the treatment of HIV/AIDS.
April 23, 2008
Glaxo hit by Avandia sales fall
GlaxoSmithKline said first quarter profits dropped 13% after results showed a sharp fall in sales for under-fire diabetes treatment Avandia. The group revealed Avandia sales dived by 56% to £191 million in the first three months of the year, after demand for the product suffered in the wake of claims made last year that the drug increased the risk of heart attack.
Read UK Press Association news report at google.com
April 22, 2008
'Brain damage risk' with chemotherapy drug
A chemotherapy drug used to treat thousands of cancer patients could cause serious brain damage with effects that are felt for years, research suggests today. The drug, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), which is one of the most commonly prescribed anti-cancer medicines, is used for tumours of the breast, ovary, colon, stomach, skin, pancreas and bladder. However, tests showed that it destroys brain cells and could be responsible for side effects known as "chemo brain", which include memory loss, poor concentration, and in more extreme cases, seizures, impaired vision and dementia.
Read article in the Daily Telegraph (UK)
April 22, 2008
Fifty years on, thalidomide is back. Now they say it's a good thing
Thalidomide, the drug that blighted a generation of children half a century ago, is back on the market in Europe as a powerful cancer treatment.
Read article in The Times (UK)
Comment: "Powerful" is certainly the right word to use when describing thalidomide. Originally marketed in the late 1950s as a treatment for morning sickness in pregnant women, the drug was eventually banned in 1962 after it was found to cause grievous birth defects. In all, it caused deformities in up to 12,000 infants. Of these, 5,000 survived beyond childhood. Clearly therefore, only in a system of medicine whose main purpose is making multi-billion dollar profits would a dangerous patented synthetic chemical drug proven to cause birth defects be put back on the market and given to cancer patients. As such, if anybody still needs proof that the European drug agency is acting in the interests of the pharmaceutical business with disease rather than in those of patients - this must surely be it.
April 21, 2008
New Jersey AG Is The Latest To Probe Vytorin
The line is growing ever longer. First, the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Finance Committee opened investigations into the controversial Vytorin trial, known as Enhance. Then, the New York and Connecticut Attorneys General begin their own probes into the handling of study data and the marketing of the expensive cholesterol med. Earlier this month, New Jersey's Anne Milgram, issued her own subpoenas to Merck and Schering-Plough, according to the Merck earnings statement that was released this morning.
Read article at pharmalot.com
April 20, 2008
Wyeth ordered to post $58M bond
A Washoe District judge ordered pharmaceutical giant Wyeth to post a $58 million bond and pay $1.6 million in attorney fees in a landmark case against the drug company. According to court documents, Washoe District Judge Robert Perry ordered Wyeth to pay more than $1.6 million in fees to the lawyers who represented Arlene Rowatt, 67, of Incline Village; Pamela Forrester, 65, of Yerington, Nev.; and Jeraldine Scofield, 74, of Fallon, Nev., at trial last September. The judge said the company's refusal to accept the plaintiffs' offer of a $499,000 settlement each amounted to "bad faith."
Read article in the North Lake Tahoe Bonanza
April 18, 2008
Chicago to test water for drugs
Chicago water officials said they're testing Lake Michigan drinking water for the presence of pharmaceutical drugs and other unregulated chemicals. The announcement Thursday came on the heels of a Chicago Tribune report that found trace amounts of prescription drugs and other chemicals in local drinking water, the newspaper reported.
Read article at physorg.com
Comment: Contamination of the water supply with pharmaceutical drugs is a growing worldwide problem. In Dallas, Texas, for example, a vast array of pharmaceuticals - including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones - have been found in drinking water supplies. Similarly, in the UK, powerful cancer and psychiatric drugs have been found in tap water, leading doctors to express concern about exposing pregnant women to drugs that could harm an unborn child.
April 18, 2008
Thalidomide compensation demanded
Dozens of people born with deformities due to the drug thalidomide have demanded compensation from the company that invented the drug 50 years ago. Campaigners gathered at London's German embassy to ask for £3bn from firm Grunenthal and the German government. Sadie Galvin, whose son Dominic was born brain damaged after she took the drug, said: "These people must be made to pay for their crime." Grunenthal said it acknowledged no basis for the campaigners' demands.
Read article at BBC News (UK)
April 17, 2008
Generation RX
Common Radius Films is a private documentary and media development company based in Vancouver, British Columbia. GENERATION RX marks the first film partnership between the company and international award-winning writer/producer/director Kevin P. Miller. This film explores how children have been caught in the middle of an unprecedented change in Western culture: that of drugging children with psychiatric medications earlier - and more often than ever before.
Watch trailer at generationrxfilm.com
Comment: GENERATION RX has already garnered the support of some of the most respected names in Hollywood, including writer/director Paul Haggis, who won back-to-back Academy Awards for "Million Dollar Baby," and "Crash." GENERATION RX, Mr. Haggis said, "is a powerful and often chilling eye-opener. Weeks after viewing, the stories continue to haunt me."
April 17, 2008
Study links incontinence drugs with memory problems
Commonly used incontinence drugs may cause memory problems in some older people, a study has found.
Read article at physorg.com
April 16, 2008
Drug firm accused of death rate data failures
· Company gave selective trial results, papers show
· Reports in journals were written by employees
A multinational drug company that made a painkiller that had to be withdrawn from sale because it was found to cause heart attacks may have hidden the death rate from the authorities for several years, it was claimed yesterday. Internal company documents released during litigation in the US suggest that Merck, makers of Vioxx, gave the US Food and Drug Administration only selected data on deaths in its clinical trials, and failed to include people who had a fatal heart attack soon after coming off the drug. The documents also show that papers published in journals on the results of Vioxx trials were ghostwritten by employees or contracted medical writers, and that leading doctors were later invited to be named as authors. Financial links were sometimes but not always declared.
Read article in the Guardian (UK)
April 16, 2008
Antipsychotic Drugs Increase Risk Of Developing Pneumonia In Elderly, Study Suggests
Elderly patients who use antipsychotic drugs have a 60 percent increased risk of developing pneumonia compared to non-users.
Read article at sciencedaily.com
April 16, 2008
Many Ads For Psych Meds Are Unsubstantiated
A new study finds that the accuracy of ads for antidepressants and antipsychotics often make claims that can't be verified and attempts to obtain data cited in the ads from the drugmakers were rarely successful.
Read article at pharmalot.com
April 15, 2008
IMS Health Reports Global Prescription Sales Grew 6.4 Percent in 2007, to $712 Billion
IMS Health, the world's leading provider of market intelligence to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, today announced that the 2007 global prescription market grew 6.4 percent over the prior year. This takes the estimated total global prescription market to $712 billion based on sales, an increase of $178 billion over the past five years.
Read press release at imshealth.com
Comment: What this press release fails to mention is that year on year growth for the global prescription market is now down to 6.4%, from 7.1% in 2006. Moreover, having been 11.8% in 2001, it has been falling almost constantly ever since. Seen in this light, the aim of the latest attempt to discredit vitamin therapies could not be clearer: to avert the eventual collapse of the fraudulent pharmaceutical Investment "Business with Disease".
April 15, 2008
Vioxx Studies: Ghostwriters And Merck Sponsorship
So you thought all those Vioxx studies in medical journals were independent, hands-off affairs? Not necesssarily. An examination of medical journal articles about Vioxx and court documents from Vioxx lawsuits found that Merck employees or ghostwriters were frequently involved in various articles, but the primary authors were often academics who actually had little to do with the studies or didn't always disclose financial ties to Merck.
Read article at pharmalot.com
April 15, 2008
Risk of death from rofecoxib in some trials may have been misrepresented by study sponsor
A comparison of internal company documents, data submitted by the company to the FDA, and published clinical trial results indicates that the risk-benefit profile of rofecoxib in clinical trials involving patients with cognitive impairment may have been misrepresented by study sponsor Merck, according to an article in the April 16 issue of JAMA.
Read article at physorg.com
April 15, 2008
Use of ghostwriters, guest authors appears frequent for studies involving rofecoxib
An examination of medical articles about rofecoxib (a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug) and court documents from litigation related to this product indicates that company employees or other unacknowledged authors were frequently involved in writing clinical trial articles and review articles, but that primary authorship was often attributed to academically affiliated investigators who may have had little to do with the study, or who did not always disclose financial support from the sponsor of the study, according to an article in the April 16 issue of JAMA.
Read article at physorg.com
April 15, 2008
Organon Allegedly Covered Up Raplon Side Effects
Here's more trouble for Schering-Plough. The drugmaker just spent $14.3 billion to buy Organon, which now faces allegations that the number and severity of serious adverse events associated with its troubled neuromuscular blocking agent known as Raplon were not disclosed before or after FDA approval, according to a whistleblower lawsuit filed in federal court in New Jersey.
Read article at pharmalot.com
April 14, 2008
FDA looks at link between medications, depression
Federal regulators warn that an array of drugs could play a role in spurring thoughts of suicide or other psychiatric symptoms
As symptoms of depression go, there is none much clearer than having thoughts of suicide. But a spate of recent announcements from federal health officials suggests a surprising new interpretation of suicidal fantasies and the depression they are thought to signal: Sometimes, sadness, anxiety and self-destructive thoughts are not symptoms but side effects - of medicine.
Read article in the Los Angeles Times (USA)
April 14, 2008
Diuretics associated with bone loss in older men
Older men who take loop diuretics, commonly prescribed drugs for heart failure and hypertension, appear to have increased rates of hip bone loss than men who are not taking this medication, according to a report in the April 14 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Read article at physorg.com
April 11, 2008
Drugmakers To Spend $1B On Direct Marketing
What will that get them? With revenues forecast to hit $10.6 billion, the return on investment is forecast to reach $10.27 on each $1 spent, according to a new report by the Direct Marketing Association. And between 2007 and 2012, direct marketing-driven sales are projected to compound 9.4 percent annually.
Read article at pharmalot.com
April 11, 2008
GlaxoSmithKline chief JP Garnier granted options that could pay £2.5m
JP Garnier, the head of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), who has had a fraught relationship with investors over his pay, will bow out of the pharmaceutical giant on a sour note after being granted options that could entitle him to be paid up to £2.5 million long after his retirement. It emerged yesterday that Dr Garnier, who will retire next month, was granted share options last year after saying in 2006 that he planned to retire. The options will not pay out until the end of the 2009-10 financial year, even though any improvement in the share price will be on the watch of Andrew Witty, GSK's European head, who is to become chief executive.
Read article in The Times (UK)
April 11, 2008
California Dreaming: Pharma Evades Gift Rules
The Golden State passed a bill four years ago that made binding PhRMA's marketing guidelines and requires drugmakers to set an upper limit on the dollar value of gifts they could give to a doc in a given year. To prove compliance, drugmakers must provide a plan, choose and abide by annual per-doctor gift limits, and post the info on their web sites declaring they're in compliance. But in a new report, Calpirg, a consumer advocacy group, claims that the limits are riddled with exceptions, and that some drugmakers have evaded even the least restrictive limits on their marketing.
Read article at pharmalot.com
April 10, 2008
Genzyme CEO gets $12.6M in 2007 pay
The chief executive of biotechnology company Genzyme Corp. received total compensation valued at $12.6 million in 2007, 16 percent less than in 2006, according to a filing Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Cambridge, Mass.-based company gave Henri A. Termeer a base salary of $1.5 million and a performance-based bonus of about $2.1 million. He also garnered $105,773 in 'other' compensation, which included $66,420 for a personal driver and vehicle expenses, $28,103 for life and disability insurance and a company contribution to a 401(k) plan.
Read article at cnn.com
April 9, 2008
EU parliament approves new health chief
Parliament has formally endorsed the appointment of new Cypriot commissioner Androula Vassiliou. She replaces Markos Kyprianou, who recently left Brussels to take up the post of foreign minister in the newly elected Cypriot government. At their mini-plenary in Brussels on Wednesday, MEPs overwhelmingly voted in favour of approving the appointment of the newest member of José Manuel Barroso's 27-strong executive.
Read article at theparliament.com
Comment: Mrs Vassiliou's Curriculum Vitae states that in 2002 the Cyprus Government jointly with the Board of Directors of the Bank of Cyprus appointed her Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Cyprus Oncology Centre - the main patient services provided by whom consist of radiotherapy, chemotherapy and hormone therapy. As such, anyone expecting her to take significant action against the pharmaceutical investment business with disease might be well advised not to hold their breath…
April 9, 2008
Scientists attack 'breakthrough' cancer drugs
Exaggerated claims are being made for new cancer treatments that are not justified by the evidence, scientists warned yesterday. Drugs hailed as breakthrough treatments for cancer, Britain's biggest cause of death, may be less effective and cause more harm than suspected, they said.
Read article in The Independent (UK)
Comment: Cancer is a multi-billion dollar business. The drugs used in chemotherapy kill cancer cells - but they also kill healthy cells too. That fact alone is bad enough, but it doesn't stop there. The drugs used in chemotherapy also have side-effects and many cause new cancers and new diseases, leading to the use of yet more drugs which in turn have new side effects. It's a vicious circle and a license to print money for the pharmaceutical industry. To learn the facts on chemotherapy drugs used as treatments for cancer, click here.
April 8, 2008
EU plan may let drug firms sidestep ban on advertising
Drug companies will be allowed to sidestep the ban on advertising drugs to the public under new European proposals, consumer groups warned yesterday. The European commission plans to allow drug companies, which have a history of failing to warn about the risks of their medicines, to give "information" about their drugs to the public on TV, the internet and in print.
Read article in The Guardian (UK)
April 7, 2008
Tranquillisers putting children's lives at risk
· Anti-psychotics may cause long-term harm, say critics
· Youngsters under 6 being given unlicensed drugs
New evidence has shown children's lives are being put at risk by a surge in the use of controversial tranquillising drugs which are being prescribed to control their behaviour, the Guardian has learned. The anti-psychotic drugs are being given to youngsters under the age of six even though the drugs have no licence for use in children except in certain schizophrenia cases, the report says. The number of children on the drugs has doubled since the early 1990s as the UK begins to follow a trend started in the US, but critics say they are a "chemical cosh" that could cause premature death.
Read article in The Guardian (UK)
April 7, 2008
Doctors demand freeze on use of diabetes drug for heart patients
SCOTTISH doctors have said there is "no defence" for the use of a widely prescribed diabetes drug after warnings that it should not be used in patients with heart problems, The Scotsman can reveal. The consultants, who work in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area, recommend no new patients are given Avandia - also known as rosiglitazone.
Read article in The Scotsman (Scotland/UK)
April 7, 2008
2.5m children on drugs in US
Antipsychotic drugs for children have taken off in the US on the back of a willingness to diagnose those with behavioural problems as having manic depression. Even children barely out of babyhood are getting a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, the modern term for the condition.
Read article in The Guardian (UK)
April 7, 2008
Medicine Mix-Ups Harm Hospitalized Kids
Medicine mix-ups, accidental overdoses and bad drug reactions harm roughly one out of 15 hospitalized children, according to the first scientific test of a new detection method.
Read article at physorg.com
April 7, 2008
Anti-psychotics may speed Alzheimer's decline
Anti-psychotic drugs frequently used in nursing homes to treat aggression in Alzheimer's patients don't provide any benefit and seem to lead to a marked decline in verbal ability, a report says.
Read article in USA Today
April 4, 2008
Where The Jobs Aren't: The Latest Layoff Tally
C is for contraction. C is also for convulsion. Both describe what pharma is experiencing these days. And the number of jobs being cut makes it all too clear. The trend - whether one calls it layoffs, restructuring, downsizing or reorganization - was under way a few years ago, of course, when Merck began eliminating thousands of jobs. But since early last year, the bloodletting has been particularly severe, which is only reinforced by the latest cuts by Wyeth and Schering-Plough.
Read article at pharmalot.com
April 3, 2008
Adverse drug reactions cost NHS £2bn
The NHS is spending nearly £2bn a year treating patients who have had an adverse reaction to drugs prescribed for them by doctors, according to new figures from the centre-left thinktank Compass.
Read article in The Guardian (UK)
Comment: The figures show that 6.5% of hospital admissions in the UK are a result of an adverse reaction. Total admissions in 2006 were 16 million, which means that 1,040,000 patients were there as a result of the drugs they were prescribed. As such, when one factors in that the drugs bill to the UK's National Health Service (NHS) now stands at £11bn, there can be few better illustrations of why a new global healthcare system - based on scientific breakthroughs in the areas of vitamin research and cellular health - is urgently needed.
April 3, 2008
Glaxo adds warnings of psychiatric problems to Relenza flu drug label
Under pressure from regulators, drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline has added warnings of reported psychiatric problems to the label for its flu drug Relenza. The new language lists seizures, hallucinations and delirium as among the problems seen in patients taking the drug. The Food and Drug Administration highlighted the changes Wednesday in a posting to its Web site.
Read article cnn.com
April 2, 2008
Schering-Plough Cutting Jobs, Plants To Save $1.5B
The drugmaker, which is reeling from the controversy over Vytorin and the ensuing drop in prescriptions, is closing plants and cutting 10 percent of its workforce of 55,000 in order to save up to $1.5 billion.
Read article at pharmalot.com
Comment: Schering-Plough CEO Fred Hassan openly admits that his whole company is built around cholesterol. As such, given that the cholesterol theory of heart disease has been exposed as a fraud, he's clearly now got a major problem on his hands - especially so following the announcement that credit rating agency Fitch Ratings has just placed the company on negative rating watch.
April 2, 2008
NHS bill for statins 'could soar'
Government plans to extend health screening could see an extra 4 million people taking cholesterol-lowering statins, the BBC has discovered. Everyone in England aged 40 to 74 will be offered checks for heart disease - with statins a treatment option. The drugs are already the biggest single item in the NHS drugs budget, costing around £500m a year. The new policy could cost billions of pounds in the long term - but critics say it may have little health impact. They say the vast majority of people taking statins will not derive any benefit, and that prevention takes resources away from the sick and may end up costing more.
Read article at BBC News (UK)
Comment: Coronary heart disease occurs not through a lack of statins but for exactly for the same reason that clinical (early) scurvy does - a deficiency of vitamin C in the cells composing the artery wall. To learn more, click here.
April 2, 2008
EU follows U.S. with review of Glaxo AIDS drugs
The European Medicines Agency said on Wednesday it was seeking further information about the safety of certain GlaxoSmithKline Plc AIDS drugs, after a study showed a higher heart-attack risk compared with other HIV medicines. The move follows a similar review announced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last week. The concern arises from a study of more than 33,000 patients that found those taking medicines containing the active ingredient abacavir had a greater chance of developing a heart attack.
Read article at reuters.com
April 1, 2008
Sanofi diet drug misses mark in heart study
Sanofi-Aventis SA's weight-loss drug rimonabant failed to slow heart disease by a key measure in obese patients with fat around the middle, and it significantly raised the risk of anxiety and depression, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday. More than 40 percent of patients who took the drug, sold as Acomplia in Europe, developed psychiatric problems, and one committed suicide, the researchers told an American College of Cardiology meeting in Chicago.
Read article at reuters.com
April 1, 2008
New Study Says AIDS Drug Nearly Doubles Heart Attack Risk
A popular anti-HIV drug, Abacavir, appears to dramatically increase the risk of heart attack, a new study says. The anti-retroviral drug is used in many anti-AIDS regimens worldwide but Danish researchers have found that it almost doubled patients' chances of heart problems.
Read article at allheadlinenews.com
Comment: The study additionally found that an AIDS drug made by Bristol-Meyers Squibb (Didanosine, also known as Videx) increased heart attack risk by about 50 percent. Abacavir, also known as Ziagen, is made by GlaxoSmithKline.
April 1, 2008
Drugs 'kill 23,000 Alzheimer's victims a year'
More than 23,000 elderly people with Alzheimer's could be dying prematurely in care homes each year after being given drugs to keep them quiet, a report claims today. Anti-psychotic drugs, which are not licensed to treat dementia but are prescribed to control agitation, sleep disturbance and aggression, are being given to 100,000 elderly people to keep them "quiet and manageable", says a report by Paul Burstow, the Liberal Democrat MP and a campaigner for the rights of elderly people. Despite studies that show the drugs can increase the risk of strokes and have other harmful side effects, the report claims the Government has failed to act to stem their use. The report comes as research by three universities says long-term use of anti-psychotics offers "no long-term benefit for most patients".
Read article in the Daily Telegraph (UK)
March 31, 2008
US wasted billions on ineffective cholesterol drugs
Spiralling health care costs are sure to be a big issue in the coming US presidential election. So here's a number for the candidates to debate: $1.5 billion. That is the unnecessary sum spent on cholesterol-lowering pharmaceuticals in the US in 2006 alone, thanks to the marketing of a drug that doesn't actually seem to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Read article in the New Scientist
March 28, 2008
Drugmakers Spend Lavishly On Docs Down Under
Australian drug companies forked out more than $30 million in six months hosting doctors at controversial "educational" events, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. Medicines Australia, the industry trade group, has been forced to detail spending on doctor seminars of up to $2,500 a head, often hosted at expensive hotels and in exotic locations. A report prepared for Medicines Australia by international consulting firm Deloitte shows that 42 companies spent $31 million, including $16.4 million on direct hospitality costs like meals, flights and hotels, in the second half of last year.
Read article at pharmalot.com
Comment: Click here to see which drugmaker spent how much.
March 27, 2008
FDA Looking At Diabetic Foot Drug and HIV Drugs
The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it's conducting a safety review of Regranex, a Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) gel approved to treat diabetic foot and leg ulcers after a study suggested the product might increase the risk of cancer-related deaths. The agency said it received information from a study that was conducted using a health insurance plan database of patients with diabetes who were at least 19 years of age and did not have a history of cancer. The study showed patients who were prescribed Regranex three or more times had an increase in the number of cancer-related deaths compared to those not receiving the product.
Read article at cnn.com (USA)
March 27, 2008
FDA probes suicide risk in Merck Singulair
U.S. health regulators are probing a possible connection between Merck & Co's Singulair asthma drug and suicidal behavior, the Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday. The FDA said it is reviewing the issue after receiving reports of mood and behavior changes, suicidal thinking and suicide in patients who took the drug, which is used to treat stuffy nose, sneezing and other allergy symptoms as well as asthma.
Read news story at reuters.com
March 27, 2008
Six baby cough medicines pulled
Cough remedies aimed at very young children are to be removed from shelves amid fears of accidental overdose. The Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has ordered six products be permanently removed from sale for children aged under two.
Read article at BBC News (UK)
March 24, 2008
FDA issues alert about HIV drug Prezista
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued an alert concerning reports of liver injury in patients taking Prezista. The FDA said Prezista (darunavir), an anti-retroviral drug used to treat for the human immunodeficiency virus HIV, is suspected of contributing to several hepatic events, including liver failure, destruction of liver tissue, cirrhosis, hepatitis and jaundice.
Read article at physorg.com
Comment: All anti-retroviral drugs are highly toxic. For further information on these dangerous synthetic chemicals, click here.
March 21, 2008
Call for drug reaction deaths probe
The Government is facing calls for an investigation after it was disclosed that the number of patients dying as a result of a reaction to the drugs they were being treated with had doubled over the past 10 years. Figures released by the Department of Health in a parliamentary answer showed that 1,031 patients died last year as a result of an adverse drugs reaction (ADR) compared to 447 in 1997, a 131% increase. Over the same period, the number of ADR cases requiring prolonged hospitalisation rose from 2,484 to 4,545 - an 87% increase - while the total number of reported ADRs was up 30% from 16,627 to 21,600.
Read UK Press Association news report at google.com
Comment: These UK statistics are almost certainly a severe underestimate, as medical experts warn that as few as one in 10 deaths and other serious complications are being reported.
March 20, 2008
Another Bad Break For Merck?
Researchers report that long-term use of its Fosamax osteoporosis drug is associated with unusual fractures of the thigh bone, HealthDay writes. The fractures were low-energy fractures, meaning that they all occurred from a fall from standing height or less, and the bone cracks were in an unusual horizontal pattern. About one-third of women with these types of fractures were on long-term therapy to prevent osteoporosis, and of these women, two-thirds were taking Fosamax for an average of more than seven years.
Read article at pharmalot.com
March 18, 2008
Adverse Drug Reactions Are A Big Killer: Study
More than 3 percent of all deaths seem to be caused by adverse reactions to medical drugs, according to new research, according to a report in Nature. If substantiated by further work, this would make fatal adverse drug reactions the 7th most common cause of death in Sweden, where the research was done. James Ritter, the editor-in-chief of the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, which published the research, calls the finding "striking." "It is a surprisingly high figure," Donald Singer, a pharmacology expert at the University of Warwick, tells Nature, while wondering if the results can easily be generalized to other areas.
Read article at pharmalot.com
Comment: These Swedish statistics seem very likely to be representative of those in other areas of the industrialized world. In the United States, for example, serious and fatal adverse drug reactions have already been shown to be between the fourth and sixth leading cause of death, whilst doctors, hospitals and their treatments are known to be the third leading cause of death after deaths from heart disease and cancer.
March 11, 2008
Post-Op Chemo Fails to Boost Survival in Stomach Cancers
Chemotherapy following surgery does not improve survival in stomach cancer patients, says an Italian study.
Read article in the Washington Post (USA)
March 3, 2008
US VACCINE MAKER TARGET OF HOMOCIDE INVESTIGATION
In a criminal case guaranteed to send shockwaves throughout the international pharmaceutical industry, French authorities are targeting a US-based drug company and its executives in a homicide investigation. The multi-billion dollar corporation GlaxoSmithKline and one of its key executives are facing possible manslaughter charges stemming from allegations that the company failed to fully disclose side effects from an anti-Hepatitis "B" vaccine distributed between 1994 and 1998. Also being investigated is the French-based drug company Sanofi Pasteur, which also sold doses of the Hepatitis "B" vaccine, according to French news sources
Read article at newswithviews.com
March 14, 2008
Panel Seeks New Limits on Anemia Drugs
A federal advisory panel, in response to mounting safety concerns, called on Thursday for additional restrictions on the use of anemia drugs by cancer patients. The recommendation by a committee that advises the Food and Drug Administration could lead to an additional decline in sales for the drugs: Aranesp, made by Amgen, and Procrit by Johnson & Johnson.
Read article in the New York Times (USA)
Sinus bug antibiotics 'no good'
Doctors should cut down on antibiotic prescriptions for a common infection because the drugs do not work, researchers say. Around 90% of people with sinusitis in the UK are prescribed antibiotics. But an analysis of nine trials published in The Lancet shows the drugs make no difference even if the patient has been ill for more than seven days.
Read article at BBC News (UK)
U.S. drug sales in 2007 grow at slowest rate since 1961
Sales of prescription drugs in the United States grew just 3.8% in 2007, marking the lowest growth rate since 1961, according to data compiled by IMS Health and released Wednesday. The 3.8% growth rate compares with 8% growth seen in 2006.
Read article in USA Today
Comment: With safety concerns cited as one of the reasons for this decline, this report is clearly bad news for the fraudulent ‘Business with Disease’. To read the IMS Health press release, click here.
March 13, 2008
Novartis sued in Calif. over kids' cough medicine
A California mother has sued drug maker Novartis AG in what the company believes to be the first proposed class action involving its Triaminic children's cough and cold medicines since overdose fears prompted a recall of the drugs. The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, said several studies have shown deaths and serious injuries linked to over-the-counter children's cold remedies. As a result, Novartis "either knew ... or reasonably should have known that their cough and cold products were ineffective and dangerous when used by children under the age of six," the lawsuit said.
Read article at reuters.com
March 11, 2008
Nigeria Vows To Summon Pfizer’s Bill Steere
The complex litigation over the controversial Trovan clinical trials in Nigeria is proceeding at a snail’s pace, but the federal government isn’t backing down from its promise to pursue criminal charges against several former and current Pfizer personnel. And topping the list is Bill Steere, the former ceo who still sits on the board who, any day now, may receive a summons to appear in Nigeria.
Read article at pharmalot.com
Connecticut sues Eli Lilly over Zyprexa marketing
The state of Connecticut sued Eli Lilly and Co on Tuesday, accusing the drugmaker of illegally marketing and concealing serious side effects of its top-selling schizophrenia medicine, Zyprexa. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who announced the suit, is seeking to recover "millions of taxpayer and consumer dollars improperly spent on Zyprexa as a result of its illegal marketing, and millions more spent for treatment of serious side effects from Zyprexa," according to a press statement from his office. Lilly is already in court against the state of Alaska in a trial that began earlier this month in which it is facing similar accusations involving marketing and side effects associated with the antipsychotic drug.
Read article at reuters.com
March 10, 2008
Study finds pharmaceutical drugs in tap water
A vast array of pharmaceuticals – including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones – have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows.
Read article in the Dallas Morning News (USA)
Comment: Far from being limited to the United States, contamination of the water supply with chemical drug medicines is now a worldwide problem. In the UK, for example, powerful cancer and psychiatric drugs have been found in tap water, leading doctors to express concern about exposing pregnant women to drugs that could harm an unborn child.
Big Pharma really makes me feel sick
FOR CLARITY'S sake, remind yourself that nobody at GlaxoSmithKline, Britain's biggest pharmaceutical company (2006 revenues: $42.8 billion; income $10.135bn), is to face prosecution. The company insists that it did nothing wrong with regard to the anti-depressant drug Seroxat. The Medical and Healthcare Regulatory Agency believes, on the other hand, that the company withheld the full results of trials, particularly those suggesting that the medication could increase the chances of suicide among teenag |
