Drug Lobbyists Go After the Brains of Children
Bill Haymin
March 09, 2008
Byron Richards, CCN
www.wellnessresources.com
Big Pharma´s drug lobby machine (the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America) increased its financial arm-twisting of Congress by 25% in 2007 – in an effort to ward off competition and lock in bogus psychiatric medication sales to children.
Drug companies are struggling because their products don´t work for preventive health and they can´t make money just using them for appropriate uses. Their main trade group spent $22 million in 2007 to buy favors from Congress.
Partly this money was spent trying to maintain a legal monopoly – such as blocking less expensive drug re-importation, preventing fair-price drug negotiations for Medicare, manipulating patent laws to extend drug profits, and ensuring direct to consumer ads continue.
However, most of the increase in spending was to get Congress to reauthorize the State Children´s Health Insurance Program, a program to get and keep low-income kids on mind altering drugs – a cash cow worth billions for Big Pharma. These drugs cause permanent adverse alterations in the developing nervous system of children. There is a reason every school-related mass murder involves shooters that have been on psych drugs.
I´m all in favor of needed health care for any child. However, psych drugs do not replace the responsibility of parents to provide a home and family, the quality of food fed to children, and learning skills about how to live. Solving this problem is easy – provide health care for children but don´t cover the sale of any psych medication. Immediately you would find that Big Pharma no longer cares about children´s health.
Supreme Court Sets an Ominous Tone Against Citizen Rights to Sue
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Byron Richards, CCN
Today the Supreme Court ruled on the first of several related issues that could undermine the rights of citizens to sue drug companies when they have been injured by drugs. Today´s decision was considered a "warm up" for what is soon expected, as the Court ruled that federal law bars lawsuits "challenging the safety or effectiveness of a medical device," as long as the FDA have given the device a premarket approval.
On a much larger and very similar legal topic the Supreme Court will rule on how these types of laws apply to drugs – with billions of dollars of product liability lawsuits hanging in the balance. The FDA wants laws that protect drug companies and prevent citizens from suing when they have been injured, all based on FDA approval. The Supreme Court is being asked to rule that federal laws can preempt state laws (nullify citizen´s rights in state courts). Today´s ruling means the Court is leaning towards supporting the FDA position on the larger drug-induced injury matter.
The FDA is a corrupt organization, failing to disclose information to the public about the dangers of commonly used drugs. Numerous injury scandals are currently being investigated by Congress – many of which caused needless death. The FDA wants Americans to "trust" its judgment, when it has proven over and over again it has almost no clue of the actual risks of almost any drug on the market because it has failed to demand obviously needed safety follow up studies and it has hidden dangers during the original approval process. Should the Court rule in favor of the FDA and Big Pharma, and against American citizens, as it appears it will – it will be time for a drug boycott until safety studies are actually completed.
Other Politics of Health News:
60 Minutes Blows the Lid Off the FDA´s Trasylol Scandal, Monday, February 18, 2008
60 Minutes told the world last night that FDA ineptitude over the heart-bypass drug Trasylol cost 1,000 American lives a month, killing at least 22,000 Americans while the FDA dragged its feet.
Congressman Calls for FDA Chief Resignation, Saturday, February 16, 2008
In the face of mounting drug scandals and perjured congressional testimony, a key House Democrat, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), told the Associated Press that FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach should step down. Stupak sites a "total lack of leadership" as it becomes plainly apparent that the FDA is unable to protect Americans from the dangers of drugs or ensure a safe food supply. The most troubling issue regarding FDA leadership is that many of these issues are due to gross negligence or taking the side of drug companies at the expense of human health.
Sickness Industry Reels from the Lack of Flu, Monday, February 11, 2008
The non-event of a flu season in 2008 shows just how sensitive health-related corporate America is tied to the profits of illness. A sad pallor set in over investor meetings as hospital chains such as Lifepoint and Health Management Associates reported very poor patient volume and low profits, especially in their cash cow businesses (children and the elderly). The reason for this stellar non-performance: virtually no flu season.
Heath Ledger Death Highlights Dangers of Medications, Wednesday, February 06, 2008
At least 100,000 Americans die every year from the expected as well as unknown side effects of toxic medications used primarily for symptom management. Another 3 million Americans require emergency room assistance to deal with injuries or severe side effects. In the case of Heath Ledger, the dangers in the combinations of the drugs he was taking are well known – except to him.
Vytoringate Builds Steam – Folic Acid Ignored, Friday, January 25, 2008
The Wall Street Journal now calls it Vytoringate – one of the biggest drug frauds in history. Merck and Schering-Plough sat on bad drug trial results of their cholesterol drug and raked in close to 10 billion dollars selling snake oil...Meanwhile, nobody seems to be mentioning that folic acid has already been proven to do what Vytorin was supposed to be doing.
Heath Ledger – Tragedy, with Controversy to Follow, Wednesday, January 23, 2008
The entertainment community is in shock over the loss of a rising star. Heath Ledger, dead at the age of 28, apparently from an accidental overdose of medication. Autopsy results have been delayed for 10 days, but enough information has already become public to understand what likely took place. Heath Ledger did not need to die…
Antidepressant Cover Up, Tuesday, January 22, 2008
The great majority of negative studies about popular antidepressants such as Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, and Effexor were never published according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, as reported in the New York Times.
Vytorin Fraud Places all Statin Therapy in Question, Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Excessively lowering cholesterol has been the mantra of Big Pharma gone wild. Congressional investigation into a fraudulent cover-up of Vytorin study results led Merck and Schering-Plough to reveal what everyone had been suspecting, the main ingredient in their 5-billion-a-year scam failed miserably to do anything useful.
FDA to Allow Unlabelled Cloned Meat and Milk,
The FDA has now plummeted to an all time low. This despicable band of industry promoters has no idea what real food is. In its financially motivated decree it is now telling Americans that that food from cloned animals is safe to eat and no different than food from normal animals. How dumb does the FDA think the American public is?
The FDA Attacks Women – Declares Estriol Illegal, Monday, January 14, 2008
In a shocking and blatant attack on women, the FDA has declared Estriol illegal. This move is designed to stop compounding pharmacies from making bio-identical hormone creams and will also stop over-the-counter Estriol-containing creams from being sold to women. The FDA has no report of any problem from these creams. It is acting on a complaint from Wyeth (the makers of estrogen-containing horse urine extract and Centrum vitamins). Millions of women are adversely affected.
The FDA is Sued – Is it the Start of a Trend?, Tuesday, January 08, 2008
The New Year brings a surprise for the FDA – a lawsuit filed by Public Citizen seeking to force the FDA to do its pretended job of protecting American citizens from the dangers of drugs. Of course, the real FDA job, as prioritized by top FDA management, is to protect the sales of Big Pharma and create new market opportunities for Big Pharma and Big Biotech while using Americans for experimental purposes…
Boston Medical Center Tries to Unplug Doctors from Free Handouts, Wednesday, January 02, 2008
UMass Memorial Medical Center is taking a stab at one form of cancer that permeates the medical profession – free "bribes" from drug companies and medical device makers.
Pfizer – Lipitor Suit Moves Forward while Officials Flee the Law in Nigeria, Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Lipitor for lowering cholesterol (a Statin) is the best selling drug of all time. A newly unveiled lawsuit based on information provided by a top former Pfizer exec now turned whistleblower is showing that this stroke of marketing genius was based on blatantly illegal marketing and pushing the drug on Americans who really did not need it. As the poster child for the Statin scam Pfizer has likely damaged the health of millions of Americans. Now there is an attempt to hit them where it counts, in the pocket book.
Corn – When is Food No Longer Food?, Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Farmers growing corn for ethanol are no longer farmers in any traditional sense; they are part of the oil industry. It is now being reported that the millions of pounds of nitrogen-based fertilizer needed to grow the corn are entering the Mississippi and going out into the gulf wherein they create a 7,900-square-mile "dead zone" void of oxygen wherein fish, crabs and shrimp suffocate and hostile algae grow.
Dietary Supplement Trade Group Promotes Food Coloring Use, Friday, December 14, 2007
The International Alliance for Dietary/Food Supplement Associations (IADSA) is actively supporting the use of food coloring in dietary supplements, guidelines that are being written up for the proposed Codex guidelines that pose a grave threat to free access to dietary supplements in America.
Spotlight Shines on Ineptitude of Medical Sinus Treatments, Monday, December 10, 2007
The Journal of the American Medical Association has just published a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study showing that the use of antibiotics and nasal steroids is ineffective at treating sinusitis.
Common Diabetes Drug Causes Bone Loss – Medical Profession in a Funk, Tuesday, December 04, 2007
The commonly used and much maligned diabetes drug, Avandia, just took another spill down the stairs. A new mouse study shows that the drug weakens bones and is likely to cause osteoporosis in the millions of users in the United States. The drug was shown to get directly in the way of healthy bone function, causing accelerated bone loss and slowed bone growth.
CT Scans: A Source of Medically Induced Cancer, Thursday, November 29, 2007
Does it upset anybody to know that 1000 cases of cancer per year are needlessly caused in children by the very doctors who the children are seeing for help? An additional 4000 cases of cancer are caused in children each year under the pretense that taking a picture of the child´s internal body is medically necessary. The frequency of cancer in the adult population from CT scans is 10-20 times the number for children (10,000-20,000 needless cases of cancer plus an additional 40,000-80,000 "justified" cases of cancer).
The Gullible Jennifer Garner Flu Shot Campaign, Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Flu shots remain a subject of intense controversy. Vaccinations of all types remain the centerpiece of the public health herd-mentality paradigm. Just wait until the Avian flu comes, then you will see public health at its finest. Yes, there will be police-state forced vaccinations with experimental vaccines and no right of recourse if you are injured. Thanks to our generally brain-dead Congress the laws are already on the books.
FDA Fails Women on Birth Control Safety, Wednesday, November 07, 2007
A preliminary study shows that for every 10 years of birth control pills there is a 20 – 30 percent increase in peripheral artery small plaques. The study was presented at the yearly meeting of the American Heart Association, placing it in the national news spotlight. News stations have been carrying the story and the typical medical spokespeople are trying to allay the fears of millions of birth control pill users. There are two main issues here: the FDA "ineptitude issue" and the "what to do about it issue."
Amazingly, FDA has Bayer Pull Trasylol from the Market, Monday, November 05, 2007
Is the FDA really changing? It´s hard to believe but the FDA finally acted in the best interests of consumers, shooting down a bio-tech drug that made Bayer millions and was at one time on the verge of becoming a blockbuster. I have openly criticized the FDA for some time on Trasylol, as it dragged its feet on this issue for almost two years.
Doctors Over-prescribe Reflux Meds to Infants 80% of the Time,
The IQ of doctors needs to be measured. Are they really this stupid, or are they just puppets of Big Pharma? A new study has found that doctors are handing out acid suppressing medication to children far in excess of what they should be doing, threatening the digestive health of a child for a lifetime. Sure the child has digestive symptoms. Quite frankly, this 80% over-prescription finding most likely relates to numerous medications. Doctors today have almost no clue how to fix health issues besides robotically writing a prescription for a symptom-suppressing medication.
The FDA Remains Broken, Trasylol, a Case In Point, Monday, October 29, 2007
Trasylol is a drug that promotes clotting and is given during heart bypass surgery. It is one of the new and expensive biotech drugs of Bayer. Patients generally don´t know they are getting it, and it significantly increases kidney failure and the likelihood they will die at a significantly increased rate in the next few years following surgery. You can imagine that giving a clotting drug to patients with clogged arteries may have some problems. There are other options that are inexpensive and don´t carry the risks.
Cancer Industry Lobbies for Profits that Kill, Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Billions of dollars of profit are at stake. The new generation of biotech drugs is upon us. Will they help or will they kill? The answer, it appears, depends on the dose. More importantly, the answer depends on the moral integrity of oncologists that treat their patients. What should society do with doctors that put money in their pockets as a priority over the lives of their patients?
Washington Post Calls the FDA´s New Reagan-Udall Center Rife With Risks, Monday, October 15, 2007
Since midsummer I was the primary drum beat warning of the grave consequences to health freedom and health in general about turning the FDA into a pseudo drug company by giving it control over the licensing, patenting, and profits of the very drugs it is supposed to be regulating. Congressional birdbrains failed to even debate the most sweeping change of the FDA in a hundred years!
China – Soon to Be the Drug Kingpin, Wednesday, October 10, 2007
The Wall Street Journal has outlined for the world the rapidly expanding Chinese drug market. Many of the ingredients in brand-name drugs people already take come from China. China is already the largest producer of chemicals for drugs. For example, AstaZeneca´s Seroquel, a powerful anti-psychotic medication that is routinely (and inappropriately) prescribed in an off-label manner to children for mild behavior issues is produced with chemicals that come from China.
FDA Condones Unsafe Human Experiments, Wednesday, October 03, 2007
The New York Times reports that the FDA fails to ensure the safety of millions of people who participate in experimental clinical trials. In fact, the government doesn´t even have any idea how many of these experiments are taking place. The FDA haphazardly follows up on less than 1%, and when problems are found little or nothing is done.
FDA, Bush, and Republicans Attack Citizen´s Health Rights, Wednesday, September 26, 2007
The FDA reform legislation passed by the House and Senate shows just how corrupt the politics for profit system in America has become. The idea that citizens would have no right to sue a drug company when they are injured or killed by a medication is a difficult pill to swallow. Especially in light of multiple scandals, many ongoing, wherein the FDA and drug companies selectively hide important risks from the public in an effort to protect the profits of Big Pharma at the expense of human health.
Media is Part of the Big Pharma Cartel, Friday, September 21, 2007
Have you ever wondered why the media speaks so highly of drugs and paints safe and effective dietary supplements as either not effective or even dangerous? As the House and Senate finally agreed to a near useless FDA reform and financing package it became painfully clear that advertising dollars were far more important than health or safety of Americans.
Wyeth Vaccine Causes Super-Strain Ear Infections, Tuesday, September 18, 2007
he vaccine model of health care has taken another nose five as researchers report that since 2000, when Wyeth´s bacterial strep vaccine Prevnar was put on the market, drug-resistant and rapidly mutating bacteria have moved in to fill the void left by those bacteria treated with the vaccine. While Wyeth sold $1.5 billion of its vaccine last year....
Drug-related Deaths and Serious Injuries Have Doubled, Tuesday, September 11, 2007
The FDA reports that between 1998 and 2005 deaths and serious injuries from drugs has doubled, a rate of injury significantly faster than the increase in prescriptions. 51 drugs are responsible for the increase, with new biotech drugs that modulate the immune system at the top of the list. 85% percent of those suffering did not have any label warning that the drug they were taking could produce the serious health problem, injury, or death....
FDA Unable to Monitor the Safety of Our Food Supply, Monday, September 03, 2007
Let´s face it, the only things that interest Commissioner of the FDA Andrew von Eschenbach are making new and experimental cancer drugs, turning the FDA into a drug development company, and rushing drugs to the market with less safety testing than already exists. What does he really care about the distraction known as the safety of the food supply?
The FDA Wants Your Medical Records, Wednesday, August 29, 2007
In an unprecedented move the Department of Defense has agreed to share at least some of its 9.1 million medical records of military personnel and their families with the FDA. The FDA says it wants the information for improved safety monitoring of drugs. This "safety excuse" is a cover for the FDA to set up the technology to efficiently track the entire population´s medical records. By working with the military records the FDA can set up and perfect the IT technology required to do this.
Mitt Romney Running on Vitamin Dollars, Saturday, August 25, 2007
Surprise – Of the 7 million dollars given to the 2008 presidential candidates so far by the health industry Mormon Mitt Romney has taken the lead with $80,000 coming from the Mormon state of Utah´s multi-level vitamin companies Xango, LLC and Melaluca, Inc. To my knowledge Mitt Romney has never taken any public position in support of dietary supplements on any key issue. Mitt Romney has just unveiled a health plan to…
The FDA Silently Sanctions Broad Use of Anti-Psychotic Medication in Children, Thursday, August 23, 2007
If any person was ever looking for evidence that the medical profession and the FDA were beholden to the drug companies at the expense of human health, the use of anti-psychotic medication in our children is the classic example. On August 22, 2007 the FDA approved Johnson & Johnson´s atypical anti-psychotic drug Risperdal for the treatment of schizophrenia in adolescents, ages 13 to 17, and for the short-term treatment of manic or mixed episodes of bipolar disorder in children and adolescents ages 10 to 17. In so doing the FDA has silently condoned the use of this class of powerful brain-altering drug to be given for off label use to treat temper tantrums and behavioral outbursts in children of all ages. This is sick beyond comprehension…
Merck Spends 1 Billion to Silence Vioxx Complaints, Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Merck´s Vioxx pain killer needlessly killed anywhere from 50,000 to 150,000 people. It was allowed on the market by the FDA even though FDA managers knew there were major problems. Merck certainly knew there were major problems. Those who were seriously injured or the families of those who were killed have sought monetary damages from Merck, rather than criminal prosecution of Merck executives and FDA managers....
Drug Companies Embark Upon the Era of Unprecedented Human Experiments, Monday, August 06, 2007
The Washington Post now reports the death of a 36-year-old woman who was the sole participant in another experiment with a biotech drug made of genetically altered viruses. The dead woman´s husband reports she was deceived as to the risks of the experiment. Consumers beware – this is the new era of biotech medicine…
FDA Mangers Earn Bonuses while Americans Die, Friday, August 03, 2007
The Washington Post reports that FDA managers are given preference for bonuses over technical and scientific staff, a practice that has been going on while the very same managers have been actively hiding safety data from the public and failing to act to inform the public when a drug is known to have an increased risk of death as a side effect....
The FDA – Culture of Corruption, Thursday, July 26, 2007
Question: What does the FDA do when a new potential blockbuster drug poses a significant risk for heart failure?
Answer: It removes the lead scientist from the drug´s approval process to silence the problem.
The House Version of S.1082 (H.R.2900) Continues the Attack on Dietary Supplements, Monday, July 02, 2007
Fake drug safety legislation now moves to the floor of the House (H.R. 2900). The Senate has already passed its similar version (S.1082). Within this legislation is a blatant attack by the FDA on dietary supplements. The FDA is seeking the power to brand dietary supplements as unsafe using drug related risk-benefit analysis. Unless the wording in the bill is changed the FDA will have the power to remove any dietary supplement from the market based on its opinion. The bill is expected to come to the floor of the House for debate and vote during the second or third week of July.
Wellness Resources Sponsors Aaron Russo film, America – Freedom to Fascism, Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Wellness Resources, Inc of Minneapolis, Minnesota announced their premier sponsorship of the 2nd Annual Solstice Film Festival from June 21st-24th in St. Paul, Minnesota, held at the historic Fitzgerald Theater. On Saturday, June 23, a special Spotlight Event will feature a screening of the powerful documentary, America: Freedom to Fascism.
Thousands Die While FDA has Mud on Its Face, Monday, June 11, 2007
The Avandia scandal took a new turn last week as the New York Times broke the story that Rosemary Johann-Liang, deputy director of the FDA´s Division of Drug Risk Evaluation, was reprimanded last year by FDA top brass for approving a black box warning to let doctors and patients know that Avandia causes an increased risk for heart failure. It is apparently the policy of dysfunctional FDA management to punish safety staff when they do something that may cost Big Pharma dearly so as to protect human health....
What does it take to get a Black Box Warning?, Thursday, June 07, 2007
Critics of the FDA and Big Pharma have for years complained that the FDA stifles needed health warnings so as to allow pharmaceutical companies to gain market share and profits at the expense of human health. This is certainly the case with antidepressants, ADHD drugs, and atypical antipsychotics. A classic example of this problem has come to light as part of the Avandia scandal.
FDA Allows Off-Label Narcotic Sales, Tuesday, November 21, 2006
The narcotic lollipop known as Actin, made by Cephalon, is approved to treat cancer pain. Its sales are booming, likely to hit 600 million dollars this year. Fewer than 20% of the drug sales are for cancer pain. Most are for off-label use such as headache, remedies widely promoted by the company´s sales force and in company-sponsored physician training vacations. The sales crew also promotes starting patients on eight times the recommended starting dose.
Big Pharma Tries to Buy Elections, Saturday, October 28, 2006
Big Pharma had already poured 8 million into vote buying, and the month of October hadn´t even started. At stake is the Bush-granted gravy train called Medicare, bilking older Americans by not permitting the government to negotiate drug prices with Big Pharma - one major item in a long list of Big Pharma thefts from American workers and retirees.
Disclaimer: Posting articles does not necessarily endorse or agree with every opinion expressed in every article. All articles that are posted are aimed at getting people to think & consider the various issues, ideas & factual research presented.
Reprinted by permission
Presented by Bill Haymin, 2008
www.wellnessresources.com
Big Pharma´s drug lobby machine (the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America) increased its financial arm-twisting of Congress by 25% in 2007 – in an effort to ward off competition and lock in bogus psychiatric medication sales to children.
Drug companies are struggling because their products don´t work for preventive health and they can´t make money just using them for appropriate uses. Their main trade group spent $22 million in 2007 to buy favors from Congress.
Partly this money was spent trying to maintain a legal monopoly – such as blocking less expensive drug re-importation, preventing fair-price drug negotiations for Medicare, manipulating patent laws to extend drug profits, and ensuring direct to consumer ads continue.
However, most of the increase in spending was to get Congress to reauthorize the State Children´s Health Insurance Program, a program to get and keep low-income kids on mind altering drugs – a cash cow worth billions for Big Pharma. These drugs cause permanent adverse alterations in the developing nervous system of children. There is a reason every school-related mass murder involves shooters that have been on psych drugs.
I´m all in favor of needed health care for any child. However, psych drugs do not replace the responsibility of parents to provide a home and family, the quality of food fed to children, and learning skills about how to live. Solving this problem is easy – provide health care for children but don´t cover the sale of any psych medication. Immediately you would find that Big Pharma no longer cares about children´s health.
Supreme Court Sets an Ominous Tone Against Citizen Rights to Sue
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Byron Richards, CCN
Today the Supreme Court ruled on the first of several related issues that could undermine the rights of citizens to sue drug companies when they have been injured by drugs. Today´s decision was considered a "warm up" for what is soon expected, as the Court ruled that federal law bars lawsuits "challenging the safety or effectiveness of a medical device," as long as the FDA have given the device a premarket approval.
On a much larger and very similar legal topic the Supreme Court will rule on how these types of laws apply to drugs – with billions of dollars of product liability lawsuits hanging in the balance. The FDA wants laws that protect drug companies and prevent citizens from suing when they have been injured, all based on FDA approval. The Supreme Court is being asked to rule that federal laws can preempt state laws (nullify citizen´s rights in state courts). Today´s ruling means the Court is leaning towards supporting the FDA position on the larger drug-induced injury matter.
The FDA is a corrupt organization, failing to disclose information to the public about the dangers of commonly used drugs. Numerous injury scandals are currently being investigated by Congress – many of which caused needless death. The FDA wants Americans to "trust" its judgment, when it has proven over and over again it has almost no clue of the actual risks of almost any drug on the market because it has failed to demand obviously needed safety follow up studies and it has hidden dangers during the original approval process. Should the Court rule in favor of the FDA and Big Pharma, and against American citizens, as it appears it will – it will be time for a drug boycott until safety studies are actually completed.
Other Politics of Health News:
60 Minutes Blows the Lid Off the FDA´s Trasylol Scandal, Monday, February 18, 2008
60 Minutes told the world last night that FDA ineptitude over the heart-bypass drug Trasylol cost 1,000 American lives a month, killing at least 22,000 Americans while the FDA dragged its feet.
Congressman Calls for FDA Chief Resignation, Saturday, February 16, 2008
In the face of mounting drug scandals and perjured congressional testimony, a key House Democrat, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), told the Associated Press that FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach should step down. Stupak sites a "total lack of leadership" as it becomes plainly apparent that the FDA is unable to protect Americans from the dangers of drugs or ensure a safe food supply. The most troubling issue regarding FDA leadership is that many of these issues are due to gross negligence or taking the side of drug companies at the expense of human health.
Sickness Industry Reels from the Lack of Flu, Monday, February 11, 2008
The non-event of a flu season in 2008 shows just how sensitive health-related corporate America is tied to the profits of illness. A sad pallor set in over investor meetings as hospital chains such as Lifepoint and Health Management Associates reported very poor patient volume and low profits, especially in their cash cow businesses (children and the elderly). The reason for this stellar non-performance: virtually no flu season.
Heath Ledger Death Highlights Dangers of Medications, Wednesday, February 06, 2008
At least 100,000 Americans die every year from the expected as well as unknown side effects of toxic medications used primarily for symptom management. Another 3 million Americans require emergency room assistance to deal with injuries or severe side effects. In the case of Heath Ledger, the dangers in the combinations of the drugs he was taking are well known – except to him.
Vytoringate Builds Steam – Folic Acid Ignored, Friday, January 25, 2008
The Wall Street Journal now calls it Vytoringate – one of the biggest drug frauds in history. Merck and Schering-Plough sat on bad drug trial results of their cholesterol drug and raked in close to 10 billion dollars selling snake oil...Meanwhile, nobody seems to be mentioning that folic acid has already been proven to do what Vytorin was supposed to be doing.
Heath Ledger – Tragedy, with Controversy to Follow, Wednesday, January 23, 2008
The entertainment community is in shock over the loss of a rising star. Heath Ledger, dead at the age of 28, apparently from an accidental overdose of medication. Autopsy results have been delayed for 10 days, but enough information has already become public to understand what likely took place. Heath Ledger did not need to die…
Antidepressant Cover Up, Tuesday, January 22, 2008
The great majority of negative studies about popular antidepressants such as Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, and Effexor were never published according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, as reported in the New York Times.
Vytorin Fraud Places all Statin Therapy in Question, Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Excessively lowering cholesterol has been the mantra of Big Pharma gone wild. Congressional investigation into a fraudulent cover-up of Vytorin study results led Merck and Schering-Plough to reveal what everyone had been suspecting, the main ingredient in their 5-billion-a-year scam failed miserably to do anything useful.
FDA to Allow Unlabelled Cloned Meat and Milk,
The FDA has now plummeted to an all time low. This despicable band of industry promoters has no idea what real food is. In its financially motivated decree it is now telling Americans that that food from cloned animals is safe to eat and no different than food from normal animals. How dumb does the FDA think the American public is?
The FDA Attacks Women – Declares Estriol Illegal, Monday, January 14, 2008
In a shocking and blatant attack on women, the FDA has declared Estriol illegal. This move is designed to stop compounding pharmacies from making bio-identical hormone creams and will also stop over-the-counter Estriol-containing creams from being sold to women. The FDA has no report of any problem from these creams. It is acting on a complaint from Wyeth (the makers of estrogen-containing horse urine extract and Centrum vitamins). Millions of women are adversely affected.
The FDA is Sued – Is it the Start of a Trend?, Tuesday, January 08, 2008
The New Year brings a surprise for the FDA – a lawsuit filed by Public Citizen seeking to force the FDA to do its pretended job of protecting American citizens from the dangers of drugs. Of course, the real FDA job, as prioritized by top FDA management, is to protect the sales of Big Pharma and create new market opportunities for Big Pharma and Big Biotech while using Americans for experimental purposes…
Boston Medical Center Tries to Unplug Doctors from Free Handouts, Wednesday, January 02, 2008
UMass Memorial Medical Center is taking a stab at one form of cancer that permeates the medical profession – free "bribes" from drug companies and medical device makers.
Pfizer – Lipitor Suit Moves Forward while Officials Flee the Law in Nigeria, Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Lipitor for lowering cholesterol (a Statin) is the best selling drug of all time. A newly unveiled lawsuit based on information provided by a top former Pfizer exec now turned whistleblower is showing that this stroke of marketing genius was based on blatantly illegal marketing and pushing the drug on Americans who really did not need it. As the poster child for the Statin scam Pfizer has likely damaged the health of millions of Americans. Now there is an attempt to hit them where it counts, in the pocket book.
Corn – When is Food No Longer Food?, Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Farmers growing corn for ethanol are no longer farmers in any traditional sense; they are part of the oil industry. It is now being reported that the millions of pounds of nitrogen-based fertilizer needed to grow the corn are entering the Mississippi and going out into the gulf wherein they create a 7,900-square-mile "dead zone" void of oxygen wherein fish, crabs and shrimp suffocate and hostile algae grow.
Dietary Supplement Trade Group Promotes Food Coloring Use, Friday, December 14, 2007
The International Alliance for Dietary/Food Supplement Associations (IADSA) is actively supporting the use of food coloring in dietary supplements, guidelines that are being written up for the proposed Codex guidelines that pose a grave threat to free access to dietary supplements in America.
Spotlight Shines on Ineptitude of Medical Sinus Treatments, Monday, December 10, 2007
The Journal of the American Medical Association has just published a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study showing that the use of antibiotics and nasal steroids is ineffective at treating sinusitis.
Common Diabetes Drug Causes Bone Loss – Medical Profession in a Funk, Tuesday, December 04, 2007
The commonly used and much maligned diabetes drug, Avandia, just took another spill down the stairs. A new mouse study shows that the drug weakens bones and is likely to cause osteoporosis in the millions of users in the United States. The drug was shown to get directly in the way of healthy bone function, causing accelerated bone loss and slowed bone growth.
CT Scans: A Source of Medically Induced Cancer, Thursday, November 29, 2007
Does it upset anybody to know that 1000 cases of cancer per year are needlessly caused in children by the very doctors who the children are seeing for help? An additional 4000 cases of cancer are caused in children each year under the pretense that taking a picture of the child´s internal body is medically necessary. The frequency of cancer in the adult population from CT scans is 10-20 times the number for children (10,000-20,000 needless cases of cancer plus an additional 40,000-80,000 "justified" cases of cancer).
The Gullible Jennifer Garner Flu Shot Campaign, Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Flu shots remain a subject of intense controversy. Vaccinations of all types remain the centerpiece of the public health herd-mentality paradigm. Just wait until the Avian flu comes, then you will see public health at its finest. Yes, there will be police-state forced vaccinations with experimental vaccines and no right of recourse if you are injured. Thanks to our generally brain-dead Congress the laws are already on the books.
FDA Fails Women on Birth Control Safety, Wednesday, November 07, 2007
A preliminary study shows that for every 10 years of birth control pills there is a 20 – 30 percent increase in peripheral artery small plaques. The study was presented at the yearly meeting of the American Heart Association, placing it in the national news spotlight. News stations have been carrying the story and the typical medical spokespeople are trying to allay the fears of millions of birth control pill users. There are two main issues here: the FDA "ineptitude issue" and the "what to do about it issue."
Amazingly, FDA has Bayer Pull Trasylol from the Market, Monday, November 05, 2007
Is the FDA really changing? It´s hard to believe but the FDA finally acted in the best interests of consumers, shooting down a bio-tech drug that made Bayer millions and was at one time on the verge of becoming a blockbuster. I have openly criticized the FDA for some time on Trasylol, as it dragged its feet on this issue for almost two years.
Doctors Over-prescribe Reflux Meds to Infants 80% of the Time,
The IQ of doctors needs to be measured. Are they really this stupid, or are they just puppets of Big Pharma? A new study has found that doctors are handing out acid suppressing medication to children far in excess of what they should be doing, threatening the digestive health of a child for a lifetime. Sure the child has digestive symptoms. Quite frankly, this 80% over-prescription finding most likely relates to numerous medications. Doctors today have almost no clue how to fix health issues besides robotically writing a prescription for a symptom-suppressing medication.
The FDA Remains Broken, Trasylol, a Case In Point, Monday, October 29, 2007
Trasylol is a drug that promotes clotting and is given during heart bypass surgery. It is one of the new and expensive biotech drugs of Bayer. Patients generally don´t know they are getting it, and it significantly increases kidney failure and the likelihood they will die at a significantly increased rate in the next few years following surgery. You can imagine that giving a clotting drug to patients with clogged arteries may have some problems. There are other options that are inexpensive and don´t carry the risks.
Cancer Industry Lobbies for Profits that Kill, Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Billions of dollars of profit are at stake. The new generation of biotech drugs is upon us. Will they help or will they kill? The answer, it appears, depends on the dose. More importantly, the answer depends on the moral integrity of oncologists that treat their patients. What should society do with doctors that put money in their pockets as a priority over the lives of their patients?
Washington Post Calls the FDA´s New Reagan-Udall Center Rife With Risks, Monday, October 15, 2007
Since midsummer I was the primary drum beat warning of the grave consequences to health freedom and health in general about turning the FDA into a pseudo drug company by giving it control over the licensing, patenting, and profits of the very drugs it is supposed to be regulating. Congressional birdbrains failed to even debate the most sweeping change of the FDA in a hundred years!
China – Soon to Be the Drug Kingpin, Wednesday, October 10, 2007
The Wall Street Journal has outlined for the world the rapidly expanding Chinese drug market. Many of the ingredients in brand-name drugs people already take come from China. China is already the largest producer of chemicals for drugs. For example, AstaZeneca´s Seroquel, a powerful anti-psychotic medication that is routinely (and inappropriately) prescribed in an off-label manner to children for mild behavior issues is produced with chemicals that come from China.
FDA Condones Unsafe Human Experiments, Wednesday, October 03, 2007
The New York Times reports that the FDA fails to ensure the safety of millions of people who participate in experimental clinical trials. In fact, the government doesn´t even have any idea how many of these experiments are taking place. The FDA haphazardly follows up on less than 1%, and when problems are found little or nothing is done.
FDA, Bush, and Republicans Attack Citizen´s Health Rights, Wednesday, September 26, 2007
The FDA reform legislation passed by the House and Senate shows just how corrupt the politics for profit system in America has become. The idea that citizens would have no right to sue a drug company when they are injured or killed by a medication is a difficult pill to swallow. Especially in light of multiple scandals, many ongoing, wherein the FDA and drug companies selectively hide important risks from the public in an effort to protect the profits of Big Pharma at the expense of human health.
Media is Part of the Big Pharma Cartel, Friday, September 21, 2007
Have you ever wondered why the media speaks so highly of drugs and paints safe and effective dietary supplements as either not effective or even dangerous? As the House and Senate finally agreed to a near useless FDA reform and financing package it became painfully clear that advertising dollars were far more important than health or safety of Americans.
Wyeth Vaccine Causes Super-Strain Ear Infections, Tuesday, September 18, 2007
he vaccine model of health care has taken another nose five as researchers report that since 2000, when Wyeth´s bacterial strep vaccine Prevnar was put on the market, drug-resistant and rapidly mutating bacteria have moved in to fill the void left by those bacteria treated with the vaccine. While Wyeth sold $1.5 billion of its vaccine last year....
Drug-related Deaths and Serious Injuries Have Doubled, Tuesday, September 11, 2007
The FDA reports that between 1998 and 2005 deaths and serious injuries from drugs has doubled, a rate of injury significantly faster than the increase in prescriptions. 51 drugs are responsible for the increase, with new biotech drugs that modulate the immune system at the top of the list. 85% percent of those suffering did not have any label warning that the drug they were taking could produce the serious health problem, injury, or death....
FDA Unable to Monitor the Safety of Our Food Supply, Monday, September 03, 2007
Let´s face it, the only things that interest Commissioner of the FDA Andrew von Eschenbach are making new and experimental cancer drugs, turning the FDA into a drug development company, and rushing drugs to the market with less safety testing than already exists. What does he really care about the distraction known as the safety of the food supply?
The FDA Wants Your Medical Records, Wednesday, August 29, 2007
In an unprecedented move the Department of Defense has agreed to share at least some of its 9.1 million medical records of military personnel and their families with the FDA. The FDA says it wants the information for improved safety monitoring of drugs. This "safety excuse" is a cover for the FDA to set up the technology to efficiently track the entire population´s medical records. By working with the military records the FDA can set up and perfect the IT technology required to do this.
Mitt Romney Running on Vitamin Dollars, Saturday, August 25, 2007
Surprise – Of the 7 million dollars given to the 2008 presidential candidates so far by the health industry Mormon Mitt Romney has taken the lead with $80,000 coming from the Mormon state of Utah´s multi-level vitamin companies Xango, LLC and Melaluca, Inc. To my knowledge Mitt Romney has never taken any public position in support of dietary supplements on any key issue. Mitt Romney has just unveiled a health plan to…
The FDA Silently Sanctions Broad Use of Anti-Psychotic Medication in Children, Thursday, August 23, 2007
If any person was ever looking for evidence that the medical profession and the FDA were beholden to the drug companies at the expense of human health, the use of anti-psychotic medication in our children is the classic example. On August 22, 2007 the FDA approved Johnson & Johnson´s atypical anti-psychotic drug Risperdal for the treatment of schizophrenia in adolescents, ages 13 to 17, and for the short-term treatment of manic or mixed episodes of bipolar disorder in children and adolescents ages 10 to 17. In so doing the FDA has silently condoned the use of this class of powerful brain-altering drug to be given for off label use to treat temper tantrums and behavioral outbursts in children of all ages. This is sick beyond comprehension…
Merck Spends 1 Billion to Silence Vioxx Complaints, Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Merck´s Vioxx pain killer needlessly killed anywhere from 50,000 to 150,000 people. It was allowed on the market by the FDA even though FDA managers knew there were major problems. Merck certainly knew there were major problems. Those who were seriously injured or the families of those who were killed have sought monetary damages from Merck, rather than criminal prosecution of Merck executives and FDA managers....
Drug Companies Embark Upon the Era of Unprecedented Human Experiments, Monday, August 06, 2007
The Washington Post now reports the death of a 36-year-old woman who was the sole participant in another experiment with a biotech drug made of genetically altered viruses. The dead woman´s husband reports she was deceived as to the risks of the experiment. Consumers beware – this is the new era of biotech medicine…
FDA Mangers Earn Bonuses while Americans Die, Friday, August 03, 2007
The Washington Post reports that FDA managers are given preference for bonuses over technical and scientific staff, a practice that has been going on while the very same managers have been actively hiding safety data from the public and failing to act to inform the public when a drug is known to have an increased risk of death as a side effect....
The FDA – Culture of Corruption, Thursday, July 26, 2007
Question: What does the FDA do when a new potential blockbuster drug poses a significant risk for heart failure?
Answer: It removes the lead scientist from the drug´s approval process to silence the problem.
The House Version of S.1082 (H.R.2900) Continues the Attack on Dietary Supplements, Monday, July 02, 2007
Fake drug safety legislation now moves to the floor of the House (H.R. 2900). The Senate has already passed its similar version (S.1082). Within this legislation is a blatant attack by the FDA on dietary supplements. The FDA is seeking the power to brand dietary supplements as unsafe using drug related risk-benefit analysis. Unless the wording in the bill is changed the FDA will have the power to remove any dietary supplement from the market based on its opinion. The bill is expected to come to the floor of the House for debate and vote during the second or third week of July.
Wellness Resources Sponsors Aaron Russo film, America – Freedom to Fascism, Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Wellness Resources, Inc of Minneapolis, Minnesota announced their premier sponsorship of the 2nd Annual Solstice Film Festival from June 21st-24th in St. Paul, Minnesota, held at the historic Fitzgerald Theater. On Saturday, June 23, a special Spotlight Event will feature a screening of the powerful documentary, America: Freedom to Fascism.
Thousands Die While FDA has Mud on Its Face, Monday, June 11, 2007
The Avandia scandal took a new turn last week as the New York Times broke the story that Rosemary Johann-Liang, deputy director of the FDA´s Division of Drug Risk Evaluation, was reprimanded last year by FDA top brass for approving a black box warning to let doctors and patients know that Avandia causes an increased risk for heart failure. It is apparently the policy of dysfunctional FDA management to punish safety staff when they do something that may cost Big Pharma dearly so as to protect human health....
What does it take to get a Black Box Warning?, Thursday, June 07, 2007
Critics of the FDA and Big Pharma have for years complained that the FDA stifles needed health warnings so as to allow pharmaceutical companies to gain market share and profits at the expense of human health. This is certainly the case with antidepressants, ADHD drugs, and atypical antipsychotics. A classic example of this problem has come to light as part of the Avandia scandal.
FDA Allows Off-Label Narcotic Sales, Tuesday, November 21, 2006
The narcotic lollipop known as Actin, made by Cephalon, is approved to treat cancer pain. Its sales are booming, likely to hit 600 million dollars this year. Fewer than 20% of the drug sales are for cancer pain. Most are for off-label use such as headache, remedies widely promoted by the company´s sales force and in company-sponsored physician training vacations. The sales crew also promotes starting patients on eight times the recommended starting dose.
Big Pharma Tries to Buy Elections, Saturday, October 28, 2006
Big Pharma had already poured 8 million into vote buying, and the month of October hadn´t even started. At stake is the Bush-granted gravy train called Medicare, bilking older Americans by not permitting the government to negotiate drug prices with Big Pharma - one major item in a long list of Big Pharma thefts from American workers and retirees.
Disclaimer: Posting articles does not necessarily endorse or agree with every opinion expressed in every article. All articles that are posted are aimed at getting people to think & consider the various issues, ideas & factual research presented.
Reprinted by permission
Presented by Bill Haymin, 2008
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