[GN] DRUG COMPANIES
Marc Stauffer
of the medical establishment. We've seen it in the fraud of viatical
settlements for Gay Men and the price of AIDS drugs. It's hard to maintain
trust in those given responsibility and to whom much has been given when
the trust is betrayed. Disinformation, Spin Doctoring ( a nice name for
propaganda) there are times that in the course of human events that
separation is necessitated by those who think they are absolute monarchs.
Revolution???? I won't go there yet - but at times it can be tempting.
"Grass Roots Seeded by Drugmaker"
Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) (09/12/00) P. A1;
O'Harrow, Robert, Jr.
New healthcare groups are calling attention to hepatitis C
virus (HCV), as they form coalitions in 11 states, distributing
information packets. These coalitions are not formed by
citizens, but are part of a marketing campaign by Schering-Plough
to sell their HCV therapy, called Rebetron, which costs $18,000 a
year. The coalitions, the first of which began in 1997, are
receive funding from the drug company, including toll-free phone
numbers paid for by Schering-Plough. Medical ethics experts
believe the Schering coalitions have a conflict of interest and
are deceiving the public. Allan Rosenfield, dean of Columbia
University's Mailman School of Public Health, plans to resign
from the group's board, after learning of Schering's full
involvement. Schering-Plough claims it wants to educate people
about hepatitis C and raise sales of Rebetron, which have grown
over 60 percent in the last two years. The Food and Drug
Administration will intervene only if the drug company controlled
information released by the groups. Donations from Schering help
pay for over 12 percent of the American Liver Foundation's
budget. Schering also helped found the Frontline Healthcare
Workers Safety Foundation in 1998. The coalition effort is based
in Minneapolis, where they train volunteers and patients to
discuss the virus and send materials across the nation. Some
volunteers say they feel duped by the coalitions, after learning
that the drug company is behind them. Experts note they are glad
that HCV is gaining public awareness, but some feel the conflict
of interest is too great.
M. G. Stauffer
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Zeke Krahlin
>It's hard to maintain trust in those given responsibility and to whom
>much has been given when the trust is betrayed. Disinformation, Spin
>Doctoring ( a nice name for propaganda) there are times that in the
>course of human events that separation is necessitated by those who
>think they are absolute monarchs.
About six years ago, the media announced that the upcoming flu season
would be intense, and that doctors recommend even
non-elderly/non-immune-system- compromised get a vaccine. So I fell for
it. Later in that year, the media then announced that in some batches of
the vaccine, there was a harmless catalyst that could give a
false-positive reading for HIV, in some people!
There has never been any sort of follow-up on this horrid announcement: no
details about how long one would test false positive (maybe forever?).
One of *many reasons that I, as a gay person, do *not trust government or
the medical establishment. I absolutely refuse to be tested for AIDS, and
this terrible "false-positive" finding certainly affirmed my suspicions
(along with the fact that that flu season turned out to be rather mild.) I
see no reason for assuming that homophobia--so rampant in many aspects of
our society--would for some reason, not be present among members of the
medical community...and be an active agent of laboratory experimentation
and genocide.
>Revolution???? I won't go there yet
The invitation is always open. Be there or be square. :)
=====
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Write me in: Ezekiel J. Krahlin, gay activist,
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