David Steinman
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 For this reason, drugs like Vioxx and Celebrex, big moneymakers for Merck and pfizer, respectively, are now either off the market or come with big black warnings that should scare the daylights out of anybody with arthritis or other inflammatory conditions who intends to use them. Unfortunately, safer, less selective, older nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs like aspirin and ibuprofen help with inflammation but cause stomach bleeding and ulcers, something that the new generation of selective COX-2 inhibiting drugs was thought not to cause. |
Gerald E. Markle and Frances B. McCrea
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 On these two points, both pfizer and the jury agree?''
Whatever their effectiveness, one thing is sure: SSRIs are used more than ever to treat depression in children and adolescents. Between 1995 and 2002, "drug mentions per physician visit" grew by only 29% among the elderly, and faster for each younger age group; for young people— age 18 and under, use of SSRIs increased by a whopping 124%. Even after the controversy began over suicide, sales continued to increase. |
Melody Petersen
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 Harvard, for one, has a lecture hall named for pfizer in a building named for Mallinckrodt, another company.
The industry's cash-filled coffers have given it a stranglehold on medical science. Most of the nation's best academic medical minds have at some time been on the industry's payroll as consultants. As the drug companies' influence has grown inside our universities, research priorities have abruptly shifted to hurt the public's interest. Professors see more money in working on the next blockbuster heartburn medicine than in studying the environmental causes of cancer. |
| For example, Pfizer's marketers expanded sales of Zoloft, its antidepressant, by having scientists perform studies aimed at showing that it not only eased depression but also relieved fear in people who were extremely shy and suffering from what had become known as social anxiety disorder. These clinical trials performed after a drug is approved by the FDA are known in the industry as Phase IV research studies. |
| How can we best reach men in a way where they're receptive:1"
By 2005 it was clear that pfizer and its competitors had found their answer. They were spending tens of millions of dollars to mimic the marketers of Buicks and Budweisers and hustle fans at professional sporting events, from football and baseball to yacht racing and golf.
Consider, for example, the professional golf tournament known as the John Deere Classic, which takes place in the Iowa and Illinois towns known as the Quad Cities each July. |
| There was a good chance that any churchgoer found to have signs of the eye disease would be prescribed Xalatan, Pfizer's high-priced prescription eyedrops.
The pharmaceutical companies had also become among the biggest advertisers in the spiritual magazine called Guideposts, which was founded in 1945 by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale. The magazine attracted millions of readers with stories of hope and divine guidance like one entitled "What Prayer Can Do. |
| For more than seven years, Thomas Greene and the other lawyers on his small staff fought efforts by Warner-Lambert, and later by pfizer, to have the case thrown out of court. The corporate lawyers argued that marketing had nothing to do with how doctors had prescribed Neurontin. Instead, physicians had independently prescribed the drug, they said, on the basis of their personal professional judgments.
The corporate lawyers also argued that the cash payments to physicians were not illegal kickbacks for prescribing Neurontin but compensation for their services to the company. |
| Jones explained, "because as I understand it, we learned that another company—I think it was pfizer?had rented a naval aircraft carrier in New York harbor for a major reception for psychiatrists, and we wanted to do something to counter that."
Mr. Jones said the companies were providing far more to physicians than mere entertainment. Most of the leading physicians in the various medical specialties, he said, were now paid consultants to one or more pharmaceutical companies. "The reach goes very, very far," the former executive said. |
David Steinman
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| The pharmaceutical COX-2 drugs from mega pharmaceutical corporations pfizer and Merck once were hyped (just like any dietary supplement) for their wondrous ability to knock out the COX-2 enzyme cascade that causes inflammation and leads to many disorders, including arthritis, heart disease, and cancer. The trouble is that for users, it is like playing Russian roulette. Vioxx and other COX-2-inhibiting drugs have been alleged in articles in The New England Journal of Medicine and other mainstream medical journals to increase a user's risk of a heart attack. |
J. Douglas Bremner
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 A study completed by pfizer in 1999 that was never published and was not posted on the Internet until 2004 randomized 425 patients to 400 mg of Celebrex a day or a placebo for one year for the prevention of Alzheimer's disease. Thirteen out of 285 (4.6%) patients on Celebrex died compared to 4 out of 140 (2.9%) on placebo. There was a greater than twofold increase in heart attacks, arrhythmias, heart failure, and/or cerebrovascular events with Celebrex. |
| The drug's manufacturer, pfizer, argued that Bextra should have a lower risk of heart attacks than Vioxx. This claim has not been supported by research. In fact, Nussmeier and colleagues studied 1,671 patients randomized to parecoxib (Dynastat, a COX-2 inhibitor that is given intravenously to surgical patients) or valde-coxib (i.e., Bextra). Patients with parecoxib or valdecoxib showed a 3.7-fold increase in heart attack or stroke. |
| Nevertheless, on October 14, 2004, as reported in the New York Times on October 16, 2004 (Reed Abelson, "Pfizer Warns of Risks from Its Painkiller"), it sent a 'Dear Doctor' letter to health-care professionals warning of the possible risk of heart attack with Bextra.
Bextra also has been associated with rare occurrences of Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a potentially fatal condition involving blistering all over the skin, mouth, and eyes. This and other problems led FDA whistle-blower Dr. David Graham to cite Bextra as one of the five most dangerous drugs on the market in November 2004. |
| VARDENAFIL
Vardenafil (Levitra) has a time effect and profile similar to those of Viagra—the one thing that the pfizer spokesperson was right about. All ED drugs (Levitra, Cialis) have the same mechanism of action as Viagra; there is no evidence that one is more effective or safer than another, and all have the same potential side effects. Like Viagra, Levitra can also be used for one-time-only sexual intercourse. There have been no reported cases of NAION with Levitra.
TADALAFIL
Unlike Viagra and Levitra, Tadalafil (Cialis) acts for up to forty-eight hours. |
| Celebrex (or celecoxib, the generic name), marketed by pfizer and Pharmacia, is a COX-2 inhibitor still on the market in the U.S. In 2000, a large review of the drug, called the Celecoxib Long-term Arthritis Safety Study (CLASS), which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, reported a 50% reduction of ulcers and stomach bleeding with celecoxib as compared to NSAIDS.7 Patients taking aspirin lost the protection afforded by Celebrex. This study looked at one year of treatment, but only the results found after six months were published. |
Gerald E. Markle and Frances B. McCrea
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| In 2002, the CEO of pfizer rhapsodized over Celebrex: "Millions of people who were once crippled with arthritis can now work, walk, garden, and do all the little things that make life worthwhile."37
Amidst the explosion of sales and use, especially for the relief of pain from arthritis and other chronic conditions, there were rumblings of problems. In 2001, a team of researchers led by Eric Topol38 published a meta-analysis in JAMA showing that Vioxx use increased the risk of heart attacks fivefold.39 In response, Merck conducted its own study which found a much smaller risk. |
J. Douglas Bremner
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| This statement upset the makers of Viagra so much that pfizer spokeswoman Janice Lipsky told Times reporter Gardiner Harris that Levitra had benefited from "false claims and public relations in which they inaccurately state that Levitra works faster and is better, neither of which is true. |
Attaining Medical Self SufficiencyDuncan Long
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| For example, several years ago it came to light that corporate giant pfizer paid a PBM (PCS Health Systems) $10 million to move several pfizer drugs to the company's list of formularies and to treat Pfizer's other pharmaceuticals "in a favorable manner."183
When this fact came to light, a spokesman for PCS claimed such payments were "essentially volume discounts... that $10 million goes back to our customers."184
Perhaps. |
T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. and Thomas M. Campbell II
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 Corporate members include Coca-Cola, Taco Bell, Burger King, Nestle, pfizer and Roche Vitamins.9 Some drug companies sponsored the report directly, in addition to their support through the International Life Sciences Institute. I don't recall private corporations providing financial support for the NAS expert panels that I served on.
It seems as if there is no end to this story. The chair of the FNB has been an important consultant to several major dairy-related companies (e.g. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Such a warning would not only harm the stock price of pfizer, but it would also reduce the sales of the drug. Of course this is the kind of warning that should have been on the drug in the first place. And it is only now, after the FDA is under intense scrutiny for the Vioxx scandal with Merck, that this black-box warning is finally being enforced with companies like pfizer.
It appears that drug companies are getting financially hammered, and for the first time, this information is getting widespread publicity. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 The stock prices of pfizer and Merck benefit; in fact, they shot up the moment this decision was made by the FDA advisory panel. The real benefit of these drugs is that they generate profits for the pharmaceutical industry, which the FDA seems sworn to protect. The pharmaceutical industry is the one reaping a benefit.
What about the risks of the drugs? Well, it's very clear that the FDA takes no risk in allowing these drugs to be used. The pharmaceutical companies take no risk in allowing them to be used. The only people taking the risks are the patients themselves. |
T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. and Thomas M. Campbell II
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| The massive drug company pfizer had $32 billion in revenue in 2002, while Eli Lilly & Co. chalked up over $11 billion. Johnson and Johnson collected over $36 billion from selling their products. It's not an overstatement to say over a trillion dollars every year is riding on what we choose to eat and how we choose to treat sickness and promote health. That's a lot of money.
There are powerful players that compete for your food and health
289 dollars. |
Dr. Timothy Scott
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 I have no idea how Eli Lilly and pfizer came up with such minimal numbers when every study I have read points to dramatic effects for large numbers of both men and women. (Actually, I do have some idea how they managed this since I understand some of the clinical trial tricks commonly used.39) What treatment options are available? One review of the research concluded that "few proposed treatment options, apart from avoidance, have proved effective for antidepressant-associated sexual dysfunction."40 And the problem rarely improves on its own. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 As long as they can prevent too many people from rocking the boat, companies like Monsanto, DuPont, Kraft, pfizer, Merck, Exxon Mobil and countless others can continue to reap illicit profits on the backs of misinformed consumers who have been brainwashed into a state of compliance by advertiser-friendly media propaganda. They don't call it television "programming" for nothing.
But here at the NewsTarget Network, we're all about positive change. |
Bob LeBow, M.D., M.P.H.
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 Pfizer's "Sharing the Care" program in community health centers, including ours. pfizer and other pharmaceutical companies have now come out with a low-cost (in Pfizer's case, $15 a drug) prescription offer for low-income Americans—likely a response to the hullabaloo raised by windmill chasers. These programs do help low-income people, and they cost the drug companies almost nothing. The people affected would have been unable to afford the medicines anyway. Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical companies earn brand loyalty from the clinicians who prescribe their drugs. |
Attaining Medical Self SufficiencyDuncan Long
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| For example, several years ago it came to light that corporate giant pfizer paid a PBM (PCS Health Systems) $10 million to move several pfizer drugs to the company's list of formularies and to treat Pfizer's other pharmaceuticals "in a favorable manner."183
When this fact came to light, a spokesman for PCS claimed such payments were "essentially volume discounts... that $10 million goes back to our customers."184
Perhaps. |
Paula Begoun
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 Do keep in mind that pfizer, the makers of Rogaine, does not hold a patent on minoxidil, and thus it is available for use by other companies. You can find store-brand "generic" versions with 5% minoxidil for half the price of Rogaine. Also note that, for men, Rogaine works best on hair loss at the crown area rather than thinning that begins at the temples and moves back.
© $$$ Men's Hair Regrowth Treatment, Regular Strength ($24. |
Dr. Timothy Scott
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| Click on Social Anxiety Disorder, and pfizer will inform you that "Social Anxiety Disorder is a real medical condition."35 And how do you identify it? To help you determine if you have this disorder, a description is provided. It does not focus on blood cell counts or even serotonin, norepinephrine or
BOX #4-4
Isolated Explosive Disorder
For many years I have introduced students to the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual and its mental disorders by presenting case studies and asking them to find the diagnosis. |
| My interpretation: "We helped out pfizer, Merck and Wyeth. We can't say no to Forest Labs just because their research is garbage also.")
Not a New Finding
"The Emperor's New Drugs" was not the first study to report that antidepressants appeared to have little real value. Nearly a decade earlier another study sought to determine how effective Prozac was compared to a placebo. Roger Greenberg, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at the State University of New York, led that investigation. |
| Those ten experts voted 10-0 in favor of keeping Pfizer's two Cox-2 inhibitor drugs on the market and 9-1 in favor of allowing Vioxx to be made available again. No one can prove that the financial ties influenced the votes of these panel members, and all of those willing to discuss it claimed it had no influence on their votes. However, none of us is as objective as we think we are. Those ten experts should have simply said they had a conflict of interest and felt it improper to vote. But then Vioxx would have been rejected by a vote of 8 to 14. |
Phyllis A. Balch, CNC
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 Macugen was co-developed by Eyetech Pharmaceuticals and pfizer, Inc., and will be co-marketed by both companies in the United States.
Q Coenzyme Qio improves retinal function in patients with age-related macular degeneration, according to Dr. Janos Feher, a researcher at the University of Rome, Italy. A small study, reported in the journal Ophthalmologica, compared a group getting a C0Q10 preparation to a control group getting vitamin E alone. |
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