Wall street journal symptoms and conditions

October 2, 2008, 7:26 pm
FDA Contract: Prescription for a Big Headache
Alicia Mundy reports on drug regulation.

It’s unusual for a regulator and the industry it regulates to share the same public relations firm.

But that’s just what’s happened with the Food and Drug Administration and the pharmaceutical industry’s lobbying arm.

Qorvis Communications, an influential PR group in Washington, was hired this year by the FDA as a subcontractor to help heal the agency’s ailing image with a $300,000 “FDA 2008 Public Awareness Campaign.” Qorvis, however, has been working for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the Washington-based lobby for drug makers, since 2006.

Ironically, the FDA has been under fire for being too lax in enforcing drug safety regulations with PhRMA’s members – and the big effort to burnish its reputation has backfired.
Qorvis also has been representing UST Inc., whose U.S. Smokeless Tobacco unit is the largest American maker of chewing tobacco, which supports a controversial bill in Congress that would allow the FDA to regulate the tobacco industry. The FDA commissioner has opposed the bill. UST is being acquired by Altria Group...........................this was in yesterdays Wall Street Journal...maybe if they did their job right they wouldn't need a publi relations group to up its image,maybe if they separated themselves from the drug companies we would believe them

Class-Action Lawsuit Challenges Pfizer's DTC Ad Claim of Lipitor's Effectiveness in Reducing Cholesterol Levels, Wall Street Journal Reports
29 Sep 2005

A lawsuit filed by consumer advocates in U.S. District Court in Boston alleges that Pfizer marketed the cholesterol drug Lipitor to women and the elderly without proof that Lipitor reduces the risk of heart disease in those groups, the Wall Street Journal reports. The plaintiffs -- which include advocacy group Health Care for All and health plans for a New Jersey Teamsters union local, a Brooklyn woman and an elderly Massachusetts man -- allege that Pfizer's sales and marketing campaigns focused on cholesterol reduction and suggested that the medication protects against heart disease. However, there is a lack of proof that Lipitor's effect on cholesterol protects against heart attacks and strokes in women and the elderly with no prior history of the diseases, according to the suit. It also alleges that the company's marketing campaigns violated state consumer protection laws against unfair and deceptive trade practices. The plaintiffs state that although studies show the medication is helpful in lowering cholesterol in men with a high risk of cardiovascular disease, no such proof exists for women or the elderly. The groups are seeking compensation for women and the elderly who paid for Lipitor and insurance companies that paid for the medication on their behalf. A Pfizer spokesperson declined to comment on the suit, saying that the company had not been served, the Journal reports (Hensley, Wall Street Journal, 9/29).

This article was published by the Wall Street Journal some time ago...but the point being if clinical studies of Mercks were questionable for want of a better word ..cheating..why would you go back to review old studies ...as surely now they are all suspect...............................................This week’s JAMA lands with one article that says some published studies of the drug were actually written by uncredited ghostwriters hired by the company, and a second piece arguing that Merck didn’t appropriately report mortality data from two studies of Vioxx in Alzheimer’s patients................................................

The following article in the WSJ may explain the reason for the significant number of Adverse Reactions to statin drugs.

Why You Can't Tell Where
Your Medication Was Made
April 8, 2008; Page D1- Wall Street Journal
Bananas come with those little stickers listing their country of origin. Why not pharmaceuticals?
That's what some consumers -- and even some physicians -- are asking since the Food and Drug Administration linked the deaths of 19 people to contaminated batches of the blood thinner heparin from China.
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I encourage every patient with a bad experience taking statins to contact the FDA (see, July 1, 2008 posting for FDA contact info).

The following article in the WSJ may explain the reason for the significant number of Adverse Reactions to statin drugs.

Why You Can't Tell Where
Your Medication Was Made
April 8, 2008; Page D1- Wall Street Journal
Bananas come with those little stickers listing their country of origin. Why not pharmaceuticals?
That's what some consumers -- and even some physicians -- are asking since the Food and Drug Administration linked the deaths of 19 people to contaminated batches of the blood thinner heparin from China.
******

I encourage every patient with a bad experience taking statins to contact the FDA (see, June 29, 2008 posting for FDA contact info).

I have been on here for 6 months now. Please read the rest of my postings. My son is now 5 and doing great! I have my child back. He has been off Singulair since October 07. It took a few days to see little improvement. It took a month to make strides. And now we are almost home. Thank God. I too until I found this website was so distraught. My son had every test in world, comes from about as stable as you can get happy loving catholic home. We eat healthy organic foods and I am a medical professional to top it off. So for anyone to get on here and questions a parents "parenting" or to call them ignorant for not stating their complaints until now is simply a moron! I see the side effects first hand this has had on children. I too was unaware of the problem myself until my son became the victim at only the innocent age of 4. Merck knows what is going on. There needs to be a class action lawsuit. I am so proud of Kate whose son became the victim of Merck who took his innocent life. She went beyond blogging and took it to media. Imagine if all of us became motivated enough to realize the drug company used and abused our children or selves. Write oprah, bill o riley, merck the fda, everyone. Everyone I come in contact with I warn them. I email everyone I know and urge them to forward it and so on. The one god given duty that we were given was to protect our children. WE NEED TO DO THAT!! I am so proud of the parents who are speaking out and realizing their kid is not a pyscho. Kudos to you!! I am holding Merck responsible for this traumatic event it caused my entire family let alone my four year old son. They owe us big time, not just for the medical bills that endowed for all the tests, doctor visit, and psychiatric visits. But also for our mental anguish!! Be active and we will make progress!!!