Pharmaceutical companies write their own drug information labels and leave out side effect information
socialist that fear the truth and want the new Holocaust for 9/11
out side effect information
Two doctors from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical
Practice recently reported that many prescription drug labels do not contain
accurate information about all side effects and the true severity of listed
side effects, and they fail to mention that certain medicines are not truly
effective.
Tuesday, Nov 24th, 2009
Two doctors from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical
Practice recently reported that many prescription drug labels do not contain
accurate information about all side effects and the true severity of listed
side effects, and they fail to mention that certain medicines are not truly
effective.
A long standing problem, drug companies are in charge of writing their own
drug information which is then presented to the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) for final approval. Though tasked with negotiating accurate and
sensible wording, the FDA often lets slide inadequate information that is
both misleading and outright deceptive.
Lunesta, a prescription sleeping drug created by Sepracor Inc., is touted on
its information label as being superior to placebo in alleviating insomnia
and inducing restful sleep. Test results from the most comprehensive study
performed on the drug revealed that the drug did not reduce insomnia and
that there were no meaningful improvements in next-day functioning and
alertness as drug advertisements claimed.
Even though the study's findings were provided to the FDA for further
review, the FDA allowed misleading information to be published on Lunesta's
information sheet anyway. In response to allegations that the company is
misleading the public about Lunesta, Sepracor retorted that information
above and beyond what is required by the FDA is always available to those
who request it.
Rozerem, another insomnia drug produced by Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.,
omitted similar information from its drug information sheet. Though no
empirical sleeping improvements occurred in test patients who received
treatment with Rozerem, the company did not disclose this fact on the
product label. Takeda continues to market the product untruthfully.
Other examples of drug label deception include Novartis' Zometa bone cancer
drug. The drug's information label states that ingesting the 8-milligram
dose poses a greater risk of kidney damage with no explanation about how
great a risk. Truth be told, 33 percent of patients in a test study died
when taking the 8-milligram dose of Zometa.
As disturbing as all of this is, it illustrates the grave failure of the FDA
in performing its job. Drug companies seemingly run the show from start to
finish, researching, manufacturing, and self-regulating their own products.
The FDA time and time again has caved at the behest of corporate pressure.
The FDA must be held responsible for its utter failure to function as it
should. In direct opposition to its own mission statement which summates its
purpose as defender of public health, the FDA operates as a corporate lapdog
to pharmaceutical interests. It is time that the people demand the
dismantling of this corrupt organization and the formation of a new one.