Pharmaceuticals

FDA Trying to Tarnish a Whistleblower?

by Diane Farsetta — November 24, 2004 - 12:00am

After challenging Food and Drug Administration policies that he claims leave the public "virtually defenseless" against questionable drugs, FDA drug safety official Dr. David Graham contacted the Government Accountability Project, a non-profit organization that protects whistleblowers.

Main Source:

Washington Post, November 24, 2004

Merck Toots Its Own Horn

by Diane Farsetta — November 22, 2004 - 12:00am

Merck's PR campaign around the Vioxx recall includes "three full-page ads in seven prominent newspapers," "several television appearances," and "testimony before Congress by the company's chief executive." But the president of a New York crisis-management firm says, "They really need some third-party endorsements."

Main Source:

Associated Press, November 22, 2004

Painful PR

by Diane Farsetta — November 19, 2004 - 12:00am

U.S. Food and Drug Administration reviewer David Graham told Congress that "at least five medications now sold to consumers pose such risks that their sale should be limited or stopped." They are the weight-loss drug Meridia, anti-cholesterol drug Crestor, acne drug Accutane, painkiller Bextra and asthma treatment Serevent. Pfizer just retained Ogilvy PR for its "pain franchise," which includes Bextra and Celebrex.

Main Source:

Associated Press, November 19, 2004

Stifled by the Menopause Industry

by Sheldon Rampton — November 17, 2004 - 2:19pm

"From oral contraceptives to estrogen therapy, Barbara Seaman has been exposing pharmaceutical industry cover-ups of drug health risks for 30 years," writes Linda Nathan. In response, pharmaceutical companies have exerted influence to get her fired from three different women's magazines -- Ladies Home Journal, Family Circle, and Hadassah -- where she wrote columns criticizing their products.

Main Source:

http://www.thejewishweek.com/bottom/specialcontent.php3?artid=815

Another Blow to Independent Science

by Diane Farsetta — November 12, 2004 - 12:00am

"A researcher who publicly questioned the safety of Pfizer Inc.'s painkiller Bextra was removed from a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel that will review it and similar products next year," reported the Wall Street Journal.

Main Source:

Wall Street Journal (reg. req'd.), November 12, 2004

Pfizer Doesn't Send Him Flowers, Anymore

by Diane Farsetta — October 13, 2004 - 11:00pm

Pharmaceuticals

"A lot of people cannot afford life-saving drugs. Drug re-importation provides an alternative supply at lower prices for people who cannot afford the full price," said Dr. Peter Rost, Pfizer's vice president of marketing for endocrine care and the first drug industry executive to publicly support reimporting drugs from Canada to America.

Main Source:

CounterPunch, October 14, 2004

Drug Ads Just Got Harder to Swallow

by Diane Farsetta — September 30, 2004 - 11:00pm

"Pharmaceutical advertising has exploded over the past decade to become the 10th-largest advertising category in the U.S. ... Last year, expenditures for prescription-drug ads jumped 24% to $3.21 billion." After Merck recalled its arthritis and pain medicine Vioxx, direct-to-consumer drug advertising is facing renewed scrutiny.

Main Source:

Wall Street Journal (reg. req'd.), October 1, 2004