Wednesday, August 29, 2007 - (Byron J. Richards, CCN)
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.
Saturday, August 25, 2007 - (Byron J. Richards, CCN)
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…
Thursday, August 23, 2007 - (Byron J. Richards, CCN)
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…
Tuesday, August 21, 2007 - (Byron J. Richards, CCN)
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....
Monday, August 06, 2007 - (Byron J. Richards, CCN)
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…
Friday, August 03, 2007 - (Byron J. Richards, CCN)
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....
