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Wednesday, January 12, 2011

2010 'Hall of Shame' -- The Year in PILLS

Sometimes I think 1 multi-vitamin is ENOUGH!!

2010's Hall of Shame
The Year in Pills By MARTHA ROSENBERG
2010 will go down as the year the diet pill Meridia and pain pill Darvon

were withdrawn from the market and the heart-attack associated diabetes drug

Avandia was severely restricted.
But it was also the year the Justice Department filed the first criminal,
not civil, charges against a drug company executive. Lauren Stevens, a
former VP and assistant general counsel at GlaxoSmithKline, hid some 1,000
instances of GSK-paid doctors illegally promoting Wellbutrin to other
doctors, say authorities.
It was also the year prominent psychiatrists Charles Nemeroff and Alan
Schatzberg were accused of writing an entire book for GSK called Recognition
and Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders: A Psychopharmacology Handbook for
Primary Care.
Here are the drugs which make 2010's Hall of Shame.
Yaz and Yasmin
Soon after Bayer launched the pill Yaz in 2006, billing it as going "beyond
birth control," 18-year-olds were coming down with blood clots, gall bladder
disease, heart attacks and even strokes. FDA ordered Bayer to run correction
ads that detail the drugs' risks though Yaz sales are still brisk. In fact,
financial analysts attribute a third quarter slump to a Yaz generic coming
online, not dangerous side effects.
Lyrica, Topamax and Lamictal
In August FDA ordered a warning on the seizure drug Lamictal for aseptic
meningitis (brain inflammation) but it is still the darling of military and
civilian doctors for unapproved pain and migraine uses. All three drugs
increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors according to their
mandated labels, in addition to the memory and hair loss patients report.

Humira, Prolia and TNF Blockers
The drug industry's highly promoted biologic drugs are made from genetically
engineered hamster cells and suppress the immune system, inviting
tuberculosis and several cancers. Yet Humira is advertised to healthy people
for "clearer skin" and Prolia is advertised to prevent osteoporosis in
healthy women.
Chantix
After 397 FDA cases of possible psychosis, 227 domestic reports of suicidal
behaviors and 28 actual suicides, the government banned pilots, air-traffic
controllers and interstate truck and bus drivers from taking the antismoking
drug Chantix in 2008. Its neuropsychiatric effects were immortalized when
New Bohemians musician Carter Albrecht was shot to death in 2007 in Texas by
a neighbor after acting aggressively on the Chantix.
Ambien
The sleeping pill Ambien was immortalized as the drug Tiger Woods reportedly
cavorted with his consorts on and former US Rep. Patrick Kennedy crashed his
Ford Mustang on, while driving to Capitol Hill in the middle of the night to
"vote" in 2006. Law enforcement officials say it has increased traffic
accidents from people who drive in a black out and don't even recognize
arresting officers.
Tamoxifen
Is it a coincidence that Tamoxifen maker AstraZeneca founded Breast Cancer
Awareness Month and makes carcinogenic agrochemicals that cause breast
cancer? As a breast cancer prevention drug, an American Journal of Medicine
study found the average life expectancy increase from Tamoxifen was nine day
. Public Citizen says for every case of breast cancer prevented on Tamoxifen
there is a life-threatening case of blood clots, stroke or endometrial
cancer.

Lipitor and Crestor
Why is Lipitor the best selling drug in the world? Because every adult with
high LDL or fear of high LDL is on it. And also 2.8 million children, says
Consumer Reports. All statins can cause muscle breakdown called
rhabdomyolysis. And Crestor is so linked to the side effect, Public Citizen
calls it a Do Not Use and the FDA's David Graham named it one of the five
most dangerous drugs before at a Congressional hearing.
Boniva
Boniva and other bisphosphonate bone drugs are a good example of FDA
approving once unapprovable drugs by transferring risk onto the public's
shoulders. The list of dangers on the label includes waiting 60 minutes
before eating or drinking anything except plain water, never taking the drug
with mineral water, sparkling water, coffee, tea, milk, juice or other oral
medicine, including calcium, antacids, or vitamins and not lying down after
you take it.
Prempro
Pfizer's hormone drug Prempro is linked to a 26 percent increase in breast
cancer, 41 percent increase in strokes, 29 percent increase in heart
attacks, 22 percent increase in cardiovascular disease and double the rate
of blood clots. But its cognitive and cardiovascular "benefits" are being
tested right now at major universities to debut an HT "Light," hoping the
public has a short memory.

Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, SSRIs
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRIs) antidepressants like Prozac,
Paxil, Zoloft and Lexapro probably did more to inflate drug industry profits
than Viagra. But many say the drugs have also inflated police blotters. In
addition to 4,200 published reports of SSRI-related violence, including the
Columbine, Red Lake and NIU shootings, SSRIs can cause serotonin syndrome
and gastrointestinal bleeding when taken with certain drugs. Paxil is linked
to birth defects.
Effexor, Cymbalta, Pristiq, SNRIs
Selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) are like their SSRIs
chemical cousins except their norepinephrine effects can modulate pain,
which has ushered in your-depression-is-really-pain,
your-pain-is-really-depression and other crossover marketing. SNRI's are
also harder to quit than SSRIs. 739,000 web sites address "Effexor" and
"withdrawal."

Seroquel, Zyprexa, Geodon, atypical antipsychotics
The antipsychotic Seroquel tops 71 drugs on the FDA's January 2010 adverse
event report and is linked to unexplained troop deaths and many research
scandals. But it's the fifth biggest-selling drug in the world. Atypical
antipsychotics cause weight gain and diabetes, the tardive dyskinesia they
are marketed to prevent and death in the demented elderly. Yet FDA approved
Zyprexa and Seroquel for children last year and the new atypical
antipsychotic, Latuda this year. Maybe the FDA is bipolar.
Ritalin, Concerta, Strattera, Adderall and ADHD Drugs

ADHD drugs rob "kids of their right to be kids, their right to grow, their
right to experience their full range of emotions, and their right to
experience the world in its full hue of colors," says Anatomy of an Epidemic
author Robert Whitaker. But they are a gold mine for the drug industry.
During an August conference call with financial analysts, Shire specialty
pharmaceuticals president Mike Cola lauded the "very dynamic ADHD market,"
and the "co-administration market" (in which kids don't need one drug but
several.
Gardasil and Cervarix Vaccines
A pharma-government plot to inoculate the public with dangerous vaccines?
Maybe not but why are governors like Texas' Rick Perry mandating vaccination
of girls for HPV? And why was University of Queensland lecturer Andrew Gunn
silenced when he questioned the Gardasil vaccine? The HPV vaccine doesn't
work for all viral strains, requires a boo$ter and is linked to 56 US girls'
deaths as of September, according to the CDC.

Foradil Aerolizer, Serevent Diskus, Advair and Symbicort
Unlike drugs that look safe in trials and develop "safety signals"
postmarketing, the long-acting beta agonists (LABA), salmeterol and
formoterol, found in many asthma drugs, never looked safe. Studies link them
to an increase in asthma deaths, especially in African-Americans and
children. They may have contributed to 5,000 deaths said Dr. David Graham at
FDA hearings about the controversial asthma drugs.

Singulair and Accolate, leukotriene receptor antagonists
Leukotriene receptor antagonists also never looked safe. Original FDA
reviewers said asthma control "deteriorates" on Singulair and it may not be
safe in children. Last month, Fox TV reported Singulair, Merck's top selling
drug, is suspected of producing aggression, hostility, irritability,
anxiety, hallucinations and night-terrors in kids, symptoms that are being
diagnosed as ADHD. It is huckstered to parents by the trusted educational
service Scholastic, Inc. and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Martha Rosenberg can be reached at: martharosenberg@sbcglobal.net