IMembership in the American Association for Health Freedom is strongly
encouraged as it is one of the few organizations protecting your
freedom of choice in medicine. You probably will not find this report
in your local newspaper.

Ensnared by an Undercover Investigation, Drug Study Reviewer Halts Many
of Its Review Operations

A previous Pulse of Health Freedom issue mentioned the uncover
operations of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) which ensnared
Coast IRB, LLC, of Colorado Springs. The GAO created a fake medical
study of a fake product to see whether for-profit review boards
adequately supervised medical trials. Two firms turned it down but
Coast IRB took it.

Coast IRB has now voluntarily halted many of its review operations at
the FDA’s request. Up to 300 trials could be affected. The company has
issued a statement that it caught the “sting” internally and had
launched an internal investigation.

In the wake of an adolescent’s death in a gene therapy drug trial, the
safety of human volunteers in clinical trials has come under increasing
scrutiny, and many are worried about the objectivity of the results
presented to the FDA.

The influence of vested interests, particularly in medical research, is
also of great concern. Educators like John Abramson, MD, author of
Overdosed America, have clearly documented that vested interests skew
medical school education, medical research, medical journal
publication, and clinical practice guidelines. When guidelines become
mandatory or coercive, which is the current direction the government
and insurers are taking, it gives vested interests a chance directly to
control medical care. All Americans deserve an objective assessment of
their potential treatment options in order to make an informed decision
about their health.

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Posted By Jeff Sutherland to Dr. Jeff Sutherland's Electronic Medicine
at 4/28/2009 09:04:00 PM