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First off, please accept my apologies for there being no newsletter
for the last couple of months. I've been very busy and had health
problems, and Shar has had health and computer problems!
We now have over 1500 subscribers! If you know anyone
who might like to join us, just send them along to http://www.uklupus.co.uk/bnews.html
The Healthcare Holdup/Your Money AND Your Life
Have you ever entered a medical examination room,
stripped down to slip on that drafty little gown and then been hit
on by a pharmaceutical salesman who mistook you for a guinea pig?
The thought of drug dealers staking out the doctor's office might
seem farfetched but, for some, it's just business as usual. A former
employee of prominent drug manufacturer Warner-Lambert, has blown
the big whistle on the cozy financial relationships between drug
makers and medical professionals around the globe.
Documentation supplied by Dr David P Franklin shows
that, in return for payment, doctors have allowed drug company salespeople
to read several hundred individuals' medical charts, meet with patient/clients
in examination rooms to discuss their treatment and recommend medication.
There's no indication that those patient/clients chosen as subjects
or their parent/guardians were fully informed of these activities
and the potential dangers at any time.
Authorities say that these drug company representatives
set out to persuade doctors into prescribing specific drugs for
unapproved illnesses, in a camouflaged effort to increase product
sales and boost company profits. For one, Warner-Lambert produces
Neurontin (gabapentin), which is approved by the United States Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) specifically and only as an anti-convulsant
used to treat epilepsy. W-L extended Neurontin's marketability by
blocking generic versions and inflating the cost (another lawsuit)
and getting physicians to prescribe it for at least 12 other unstudied,
unapproved illnesses including Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome,
Bipolarism, Lyme Disease and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. Thus,
the doctors' unsuspecting clients were, in effect, enrolled in an
unauthorized clinical trial, without informed consent or protective
oversight. The "Kick Me" signs were slapped on their backs for free.
The New York Times reported on the criminal and civil
investigation of Warner-Lambert by the U.S. Attorney General in
Boston, Massachusetts. You can read a summary at http://query.nytimes.com/search/abstract?
res=FB0B11FF385D0C768DDDAC0894DA404482 In activities admittedly
long popular throughout the medical industry, Warner-Lambert lavishly
rewarded those physicians who significantly increased Neurontin's
sales. In exchange for access to doctors' patient/clients and their
medical records, W-L hired those doctors as consultants, set up
speaking engagements for them and, as always, doctors were also
paid well for those clients they entered into authorized clinical
trials. W-L also paid physicians to "write" glowing articles on
Warner- Lambert products, for publication in medical journals, with
the articles' first drafts often prepared by advertising companies.
Pfizer, Inc., which has acquired the besieged Warner-Lambert,
says that any criminal or civil misconduct is at least 6 years old,
that it therefore all occurred well before they entered the picture
and besides that, they say, it's all untrue. While Pfizer insists
they would never condone or encourage such practices, they're also
involved in legal actions filed against Pfizer drugs.
As for the medical journals which published those
disguised sales pitches, the prestigious Journal of the American
Medical Association, has now affirmed that such puffery for pay
is commonplace in these publications and is often sponsored by drug
makers. JAMA editors expressed concern that drug makers influence
study results and suppress findings unfavorable to their own ends.
See JAMA's story at http://jama.amaassn.org/issues/v287n21/ffull/jtw20017.html
and the CNN article at http://www.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/06/04/medical.journals.ap/index.html
The desire for profit often supercedes the interests
and wellbeing of the public, an attitude generally known as, "business
as usual". Whether these acts are seen as criminal collusion or
single-minded support of selfish self-interests, when drug companies,
physicians and medical journals are so self-focused, just who's
looking out for us? It's as if three wheels just fell off the crash
cart and the Hippocratic Oath hit the floor, in dire need of resuscitation.
Many pharmaceutical companies may be based in the
U.S. but theirs is a profit-driven worldwide industry and such practices
are not confined to American shores. In the passion for profit,
there must always be a new panacea, a "wonder drug" to promote and
while that medication's effectiveness and safety may be our own
first concern, it's unwise to assume that concern is mutual or paramount
in this process. Harvard Medical School, http://www.harvardmedicalinfo.com/
and The Public Citizen, an American non-profit consumer advocacy
organization at http://www.citizen.org/hrg/ have cooperated in a
study determining the safety of new drugs created to treat illnesses
worldwide. The study focused on 548 drugs approved by the FDA over
the past 25 years. Those findings, accurately published in JAMA,
verify not only that 20% of all new drugs have serious or life endangering
side effects but that these effects are often unknown or unrevealed
even after their approval by the FDA.
Usually, adverse effects are only detected after the
drugs have been in use on millions of individuals for up to seven
years or when too many folks drop dead. Approximately half those
drugs are withdrawn within their first two years on the prescription
market but by then, much damage has been done. Of the drugs reviewed
in the Harvard/Public Citizen study, just seven of them may have
contributed to as many as 1,000 or more deaths. It's no wonder,
since the common side effects of these hazardous drugs include heart,
bone marrow and liver damage and serious injury to pregnant women.
While at the Public Citizen website, Americans can
check on physicians in their Questionable Doctors Online data bank
and the Congress Watch page to see which team your elected congressional
representatives are playing on. Wherever we live, as long as we've
got the vote, we can make sure politicians realize that our health
will seriously impact their own, at the polls.
Drugs that have outlived their shelf life or proven
to be dangerous by U.S.F.D.A. standards and should be destroyed
may still be prescribed in the U.S. or in other countries or may
wind up on the black market. According to CNN, http://www.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/06/03/mexican.aspirin.ap/index.html
the fever fighter/pain reliever Metamizole or dipyrone, which drastically
reduces white blood cells and can be deadly, has been banned by
the U.S.F.D.A. since 1979. However, this drug is obtainable by unscrupulous
physicians and is still dispensed within American borders, primarily
to immigrants and in other countries, among those who are unlikely
to be aware of the dangers.
If this news is making your little heart flutter,
perhaps you forgot to take your aspirin today. Several studies have
shown that just one aspirin a day can reduce the risk of stroke
or heart attack due to cardiovascular complications. Plavix, heavily
publicized at $3.22 a pill, U.S., has not proven itself against
the lowly little aspirin, which only costs about 4 cents per tablet.
The New York Times Health News article at http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/health/AP-Bristol-
Myers-Drug.html defines the differences.
You can also visit http://www.nofreelunch.org and
check out No Free Lunch, an activist organization of healthcare
providers adamantly opposed to the unhealthy influence of drug companies.
Please, take the time to read their "Facts and Fallacies" page for
the lowdown on big bucks and modern medical care. Their "User Guide"
page explains how Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Partnership,
makers of Plavix, contrived to present an "insignificant" difference
as substantially more effective than aspirin.
Warner-Lambert needn't feel singled out for budget
cuts and striped suits. Bristol-Meyers is being sued by 29 American
states, for deliberately keeping generic versions of Taxol, their
powerful and high-priced cancer fighting medication, unavailable,
thereby forcing those in need to pay dearly for their life-extending
medication. If thoughts of legal battles trouble B-M, it's doubtful
an aspirin a day would do them much good ~ you've got to have a
heart to start with.
The expensive Arthritis drugs, Celebrex, from Pharmacia,
Arava, from Aventis Pharma and Rofecoxib/Vioxx from Merck & Co.,
are loaded with super serious and fatal side effects and are the
subjects of current lawsuits. They've also shown no evidence of
being appreciably better at easing inflammation than cheaper and
safer non-prescription anti- inflammatories such as ibuprofen.
The diet drug, Meridia, from Abbott Laboratories,
is also associated with severely adverse effects and deaths. While
you're at the Public Citizen website, you can run your own searches
on these and other drugs. And please check out the eye-popping New
York Times editorial and article posted at http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/06/opinion/06THU3.html
and http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/04/business/04DRUG.html
While greed pushes the costs of medications ever higher
and with millions of us underinsured or not insured at all, there
are now plenty of discount medicine offers but not all deliver as
promised and some make us jump through more hoops than a circus
poodle. Consumer websites Needymeds.com at http://www.needymeds.com/Index.html
and RxAssist at http://www.rxassist.org/default.htm provide links
and information on discount medication programs and how to make
them work for you. NeedyMeds.com also provides links to assistance
with Medicaid while RxAssist is physician oriented but informative
for those who study the site.
This article may read like a horror tale but the pages
are packed with useful detecting tools. If this information is scary
at first, it is surely educating and this knowledge is ammunition
for us in our struggle to improve the quality of life with Lupus
or any other illness. Those of us who are best informed and don't
hesitate to ask picky questions are least likely to be deceived.
Those of us who keep our own medical journals and let our care providers
know that we do, keep them alert and on their toes. In other words,
those who won't take double talk for an answer have the best chance
to survive and thrive. It's long past time for those "Kick Me" signs
to switch backs.
Once we decide to become our own experts and investigate
our options creatively, we can discover or re-invent even more of
them. I've lived under threat of death since I was a child and have
been diagnosed as "terminal" for over 30 years yet here I am today,
doing my bit to teach Ol' Wolfie and the system that's grown up
around him a few new tricks. Life's teaching me valuable lessons
and my friends are my mentors. Lessons learned so far include ~
accept no wooden nickels, the pea is never hidden under any of the
three walnut shells and above all, let no one define you but you.
Listen to your body, cherish your spirit, trust and hone your instincts.
This article is copyright 2002 Shar Phoenix. I apologize
for the gap in BN issues; I was ill and my pc was even sicker. As
I've mentioned in previous articles/emails, I've been working on
a book about life with Lupus and on how we can thrive despite our
illness. These B.N. articles are excerpted from that book. Some
truly wonderful lupies are participating in this project and we'd
love for you to join us. We lupies communicate on a common ground
of trust we have ourselves created and which we lovingly protect.
Every one of us who speaks out against the silence is joined in
partnership with the others, even if we're involved in separate
projects or simply seeking information. We are a community of friends
and warriors, on our own and each other's behalf. As we recognize
and honor our shared goals, we can unite to improve the healthcare
system and life with Lupus. If you have any comments or questions,
please email me at [email protected] or [email protected]
I'm still having trouble with my email so I'm trying to confuse
IT, for a change.
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NEW LUPUS BOOK
'New Hope For People With Lupus'
An excellent book, which I highly recommend.
I'll be featuring a review of the book in the next issue, but meanwhile
if you want to buy a copy-
US customers- http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/076152097X/thelupussite-20
UK customers- http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/076152097X/thelupussite-21
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Butterfly News
The Lupus Site http://www.uklupus.co.uk
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