Health

Merck Unconvincingly Clears Execs of Vioxx Wrongdoing

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

Although the pharmaceutical company Merck spent $21 million on a 20-month investigation led by a former U.S. district judge, the report's conclusion that "executives at Merck had not knowingly put Vioxx patients in cardiovascular danger" may not boost the drugmaker's sagging reputation. "Some critics say the report is not credible because of Merck's board's involvement" and point out that Debevoise & Plimpton, the firm whose lawyers carried out the study, has a "pro-corporate" reputation.

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Main Source: 
PR Week (sub req'd), September 21, 2006
Topics: 
Health
Pharmaceuticals
Public Relations

If We Stop Using Highly Toxic Chemicals, the Terrorists Will Have Won

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

"An analysis by the Department of Homeland Security found 272 chemical plants nationwide at which an attack or accident could affect at least 50,000 people and an additional 3,400 plants at which more than 1,000 people were at risk," reports the New York Times.

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Main Source: 
New York Times, September 21, 2006
Topics: 
Terrorism
U.S. Congress
Environment
Health
Lobbying

Medical Journal's Spin Doctors Promote Controversial Studies

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

Cartoon doctorWriting on her blog "Honest Medicine," Julia Schopick points out that the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) used video news releases (VNRs) to promote two studies that later proved controversial, because the authors had neglected to disclose their financ

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Main Source: 
Honest Medicine blog, July 30, 2006
Topics: 
Health
Pharmaceuticals
Video News Releases

Breathless Audacity

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

The largest study yet of lung problems among 9/11 rescue workers shows bad news. "Nearly 70 percent of the rescue and cleanup workers who toiled in the dust and fumes at ground zero have had trouble breathing, and many will probably be sick for the rest of their lives," reports Amy Westfeldt. The study, conducted by the Mount Sinai Medical Center, monitored the health of nearly 16,000 ground zero workers.

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Main Source: 
FireDogLake, September 6, 2006
Topics: 
Terrorism
Environment
Ethics
Health

Drug Company SLAPP's Over Lindane For Lice

Submitted by Bob Burton on

The specialty drug manufacturer Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals has filed a legal suit against the Ecology Center of Ann Arbor, Michigan. The drug company is upset at the Center's opposition to the continued use of lindane as a fallback treatment for head lice.

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Main Source: 
Metro Times (Michigan), August 23, 2006
Topics: 
Activism
Corporations
Health
Pharmaceuticals

FDA Goes, Hat in Hand, To the Drug Industry

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

Prescription pills"Regulators usually don't negotiate their budgets with the industries they oversee," writes Anna Wilde Mathews, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does. In the early 1990s, drug companies started paying the FDA millions of dollars in user fees, to speed the drug approval process.

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Main Source: 
Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), September 1, 2006
Topics: 
Corporations
Health
Pharmaceuticals
U.S. Government

Roche PR Spins Straw into Golden Cure

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

Pat Thomas writes that the breast cancer drug Herceptin "prolongs a few lives for an average of four months at a cost of £400,000 per life extended, and for the majority of women for whom it does not work there is an increased risk of severe heart damage and the spread of their cancer to the central nervous system." Yet, the British press has declared it a "miracle cure," thanks to savvy PR.

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Main Source: 
The Ecologist (UK), July / August 2006
Topics: 
Health
Pharmaceuticals
Public Relations

Drug Company's Hearing Too Sensitive For Criticism

Tebonin Pharmacy PromotionOne of the marketing success stories in the world of herbal pills is the hype and advertising that has made Tebonin one of the big-time sellers. If you believe the ads, popping a Tebonin pill a day will relieve tinnitus (the ringing sound some people have in their ears), dizziness and even improve mental alertness. The promoters claim the drug, which is based on a patented extract from the ginkgo biloba tree, improves "impaired micro-circulation," reduces "free radicals" and "promotes optimum cell function."

According to the German manufacturer, Dr. Willmar Schwabe GmbH & Co KG, eight million pills are consumed every day. Schwabe, like so many companies in the herbal supplements sector, trades on its feel-good image. "From Nature, For Health," its website claims. That's the story the company wants you to hear. However, when a small group of Australian doctors and pharmacists, AusPharm Consumer Health Watch, drafted a report raising doubts about the benefits of Tebonin, they discovered a company that was not so warm and fuzzy. Soon after sending a copy of their draft report to the company, they were hit with a writ seeking an injunction that may bury their critical assessment forever.

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