It only within the last few months that I have been made aware of the huge scandal that arises from the promotion, sales and use of the painkillers, opioids in the USA. It has been described by Time Magazine as “the deadliest drug crisis in American history” Overdoses of this drug are responsible for the […]
Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) Two years ago, the results of SPRINT were announced in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) (1). In this trial, the blood pressure (BP) medication is adjusted to achieve a target systolic BP of 120 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). The investigation continued for 8 years and the
In 1999, the pharmaceutical company Merck introduced the drug Vioxx (Rofecoxib) to be used as an anti-inflammatory treatment for pain associated with osteoarthritis. It was claimed to be effective and safer than other treatments already available. Subsequently it was found to increase the risks and deaths due to cardiovascular disease and was withdrawn from the
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) In 2012, GSK agreed to plead guilty and to pay $3 billion to resolve its criminal and civil liability arising from the company’s unlawful promotion of certain prescription drugs, its failure to report certain safety data, and its civil liability for alleged false price reporting practices. This blog is based on the press
250. Big Pharm. The Great Big Drugs Rip-off (Part 3) Read More »
Johnson & Johnson In November the USA Department of Justice announced that Johnson & Johnson (J&J) would pay more than $2.2 billion as a result of criminal and civil offences in the way certain drugs were promoted and marketed. This blog has been prepared using material from the official press release issued on 4 November
249. Big Pharm. The Great Big Drugs Rip-off (Part 2) Read More »
The major international drug companies have an appalling record with respect to compliance with the law. On many occasions they have been called to account and required to pay massive sums as a result. This record is convincing evidence that these companies cannot be trusted to operate ethically. This blog and the next two will
248. Big Pharm. The Great Big Drugs Rip-off (Part 1) Read More »
I have recently been writing letters to our local newspaper “The Craven Herald” (1) in which I have advocated a fundamental shift in NHS policies. My stance is that pouring more and more money into the system is a dead end approach. In particular, there needs to be a switch in emphasis towards prevention at
A report from the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee concludes that information is routinely withheld from doctors and researchers about the methods and results of clinical trials on treatments currently prescribed in the United Kingdom (1). Invariably the bodies responsible for the approval of new drugs only have access to the results of studies
In a previous blog (1) I explained how concerns about the increased incidence of heart attacks associated with treatment for diabetes by the drug Rosiglitazone (marketed by GSK under the brand name Avandia) had resulted in an investigation by the US Senate Finance Committee. The committee staff had access to about 250,000 documents and produced
147. Avandia: More Bad News About the Drug Industry Read More »
One of the commonly used statins is rosuvastatin, which has the brand name Crestor and is produced by AstraXeneca. It was evaluated in the trial known as JUPITER, which has been subject to considerable criticism (1). In a review of several key aspects, Michel de Lorgeril and colleagues concluded that the results of the trial