E-drug: Re: Germany's 45 000 drugs - all needed?
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As e druggers may remember the threat of lawsuits by manufacturers has
recently occurred in Canada. The head of a committee that was
developing guidelines for gastrointestinal drugs was threatened with a
suit by lawyers acting for AstraZeneca when the company heard that the
committee was going to conclude that all proton pump inhibitors
(AstraZeneca makes Losec (omeprazole)) are equally effective. In
another case, one of the companies making a statin went to court to try
and block the release of a report from the Canadian Coordinating Office
for Health Technology Assessment which concluded that all of the statins
are equally effective. Companies are clearly not afraid of using their
financial resources to block unfavourable reports and publications.
Sometimes the companies know that they won't win in court (the makers of
the statin lost) and sometimes they don't even follow through on their
threats (AstraZeneca never did anything after sending the letter) but
the companies delay the release of reports that might hurt the sales of
some of their drugs. They also create a climate of fear amongst
researchers and agencies which might inhibit further critical
evaluations. Unless these researchers have the backing of governments
or large institutions the drug companies have far more resources and are
willing to use them. Even working for a university does not seem to
offer protection as we can see from the cases of Betty Dong in
California and Nancy Olivieri in Toronto. Given what has just happened
in Germany and what has gone on before in Canada and elsewhere I am
particularly struck with the irony of one of the pieces in the latest issue
of Health Horizons which is published by the International Federation of
Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations. On the last page, the person
or persons known as "Contradictor" writes about "How to be an activist"
and says that an activist can "not let on you have your own agenda", and
can "bend the minds of simple people with goads and threats and methods
that offend." What's that about those who are without sin?
--
Joel Lexchin MD
Townhouse #2--40 Cedar Crescent
Glenside, S.A. 5065
Australia
Tel: +61 8 8338 0151
e mail: joel.lexchin@utoronto.ca
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