EXCLUSIVE: How Big Pharma Greed Is Killing Tens Of Thousands Around The World

charlie

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  • Queen's former doctor, Sir Richard Thompson, has backed new campaign
  • Experts calling for urgent public enquiry into drugs firms' 'murky' practices
  • They say too much medicine is doing more harm than good worldwide
  • And claim many drugs such as statins are less effective than thought

The Queen's former doctor has called for an urgent public enquiry into drugs firms’ ‘murky’ practices.

Sir Richard Thompson, former-president of the Royal College of Physicians and personal doctor to the Queen for 21 years, warned tonight that many medicines are less effective than thought.

The physician is one of a group of six eminent doctors who today warn about the influence of pharmaceutical companies on drugs prescribing.

The experts, led by NHS cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, claim that too often patients are given useless – and sometimes harmful – drugs that they do not need.

They maintain drugs companies are developing medicines they can profit from, rather than those which are likely to be the most beneficial.

And they accuse the NHS of failing to stand up to the pharmaceutical giants.


More at link:
How Big Pharma greed is killing tens of thousands around the world | Daily Mail Online
 
L

lollipop

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  • Queen's former doctor, Sir Richard Thompson, has backed new campaign
  • Experts calling for urgent public enquiry into drugs firms' 'murky' practices
  • They say too much medicine is doing more harm than good worldwide
  • And claim many drugs such as statins are less effective than thought
The Queen's former doctor has called for an urgent public enquiry into drugs firms’ ‘murky’ practices.

Sir Richard Thompson, former-president of the Royal College of Physicians and personal doctor to the Queen for 21 years, warned tonight that many medicines are less effective than thought.

The physician is one of a group of six eminent doctors who today warn about the influence of pharmaceutical companies on drugs prescribing.

The experts, led by NHS cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, claim that too often patients are given useless – and sometimes harmful – drugs that they do not need.

They maintain drugs companies are developing medicines they can profit from, rather than those which are likely to be the most beneficial.

And they accuse the NHS of failing to stand up to the pharmaceutical giants.


More at link:
How Big Pharma greed is killing tens of thousands around the world | Daily Mail Online
Finally being openly discussed!
 

Lin

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When a person is admitted to hospice care, their doctor discontinues any unnecessary drugs. It is not unusual for them to start getting better at that point. In one hospice where I worked, we had to discharge about 10% of the patients, shortly after admission, because they improved so much, they no longer met the criteria for hospice care.
 
L

lollipop

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When a person is admitted to hospice care, their doctor discontinues any unnecessary drugs. It is not unusual for them to start getting better at that point. In one hospice where I worked, we had to discharge about 10% of the patients, shortly after admission, because they improved so much, they no longer met the criteria for hospice care.
Wow, telling @Lin
 

Lin

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In all fairness, I should mention that when a person is admitted to hospice, the standard of care changes. Cholesterol counts are no longer important, drugs to prevent future problems are dropped. Docs are allowed to use drugs and combinations of drugs that cause damage if used long term, but provide short term benefit.
 

Simonsays

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This week, my doctor says my cholesterol is a little high. I said good. She said i think you should start taking statins. I said no. She says ill have to record this on my notes. She also says your t4 is too high. I think you should lower your thyroxine dose. I said my dose was raised on your suggestion, because my TSH is too high. No answer. I said can you proscribe me some T3. She says we dont proscribe it. I said you do proscribe statins though and thyroxine, but not T3. Why ? Can you record that on my notes too.

Still, at least my consultation was free, as are the drugs. Big Pharma indeed controls the NHS, which is slowly being sold off to the insurance companies and privatized. So then ill have to pay for the bull****!
 

burtlancast

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For my part, I would like to ask Sir Richard Thompson about doctors looking for others solutions when faced with life-threatening diseases without cures.

I believe that's a deontological obligation written down in their deontological code...
 

haidut

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  • Queen's former doctor, Sir Richard Thompson, has backed new campaign
  • Experts calling for urgent public enquiry into drugs firms' 'murky' practices
  • They say too much medicine is doing more harm than good worldwide
  • And claim many drugs such as statins are less effective than thought
The Queen's former doctor has called for an urgent public enquiry into drugs firms’ ‘murky’ practices.

Sir Richard Thompson, former-president of the Royal College of Physicians and personal doctor to the Queen for 21 years, warned tonight that many medicines are less effective than thought.

The physician is one of a group of six eminent doctors who today warn about the influence of pharmaceutical companies on drugs prescribing.

The experts, led by NHS cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, claim that too often patients are given useless – and sometimes harmful – drugs that they do not need.

They maintain drugs companies are developing medicines they can profit from, rather than those which are likely to be the most beneficial.

And they accuse the NHS of failing to stand up to the pharmaceutical giants.


More at link:
How Big Pharma greed is killing tens of thousands around the world | Daily Mail Online

A recent study was posted in another thread that actually stated the exact same thing - as soon as punitive rules were introduced for selling ineffective drugs, the published benefits of statins "miraculously" disappeared.
Vitamin K2 Protective Against Pufa

"...In a previous review, we highlighted a dramatic change in the reported efficacy of statins for the prevention of CVD after new penal regulations for clinical trials came into effect in the EU in 2004 [2] ; most of the large randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published after 2004 have reported no statistically significant beneficial effects of statins on CVD [3] . Moreover, the pharmacological mechanisms underlying statin-induced atherosclerosis and heart failure have since been clarified. In this review, we present evidence that statins and warfarin, as well as certain types of vegetable oil, cause both CVD and DM in part through a common mechanism involving the inhibition of vitamin K 2 -dependent processes. This provides the rationale behind the observed positive association between CVD and DM, that is, these substances cause both CVD and DM, resulting in the apparently positive association between the 2 diseases ( fig. 1 , lower panel)."
"...Statins inhibit HMG-CoA reductase to lower the levels of prenyl intermediates in cholesterol biosynthesis as well as lower blood cholesterol levels. Coenzyme Q 10 and heme A derived from prenyl intermediates are essential components of the mitochondrial electron transport chain, and thus statins inhibit the generation of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) that serves as an energy source for cellular activities. ATP depletion is the major cause of atherosclerosis progression under ischemic conditions ( fig. 2 )."

And the statins are the flaghsip drugs of modern medicine. I actually don't know of another class of drugs, except PPI, which are so widely prescribed to virtually everybody over 30 who visits a doctor. I wonder if somebody like @aguilaroja can shed more light on what these punitive measures for ineffective drugs in the EU are??
 

aguilaroja

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A recent study was posted in another thread that actually stated the exact same thing - as soon as punitive rules were introduced for selling ineffective drugs, the published benefits of statins "miraculously" disappeared.
Vitamin K2 Protective Against Pufa
..statins are the flagship drugs of modern medicine. I actually don't know of another class of drugs, except PPI, which are so widely prescribed to virtually everybody over 30 who visits a doctor. I wonder if somebody like @aguilaroja can shed more light on what these punitive measures for ineffective drugs in the EU are??
Excuse me in advance if I misunderstood the question.

If I understand the passage from Okayama and Langsjoen, and references including from deLogeril, it was data awareness/PR more than punitive measures that altered statin prescribing/reporting. The reduced statin popularity coincided with increased requirements for safety reporting in clinical drug trials.

My anecdotal impression is that probably bigger factors reducing statin popularity were lower profit as statin patents aged & expired, and the grassroots complaints from patients, advocates, and conscientious doctors.

13 Drugs Whose Risks Emerged Only When They Went Off Patent, Part One | The Huffington Post
"What drug is the best selling drug in the history of pharmaceuticals? Making $125 billion in 14.5 years and as much as $11 billion in a single year? You have to ask? Lipitor, Pfizer’s blockbuster statin drug..."

New regulatory rules for clinical trials in the United States and the European Union: Key points and comparisons - Miossec - 2006 - Arthritis & Rheumatism - Wiley Online Library

New FDA regulation to improve safety reporting in clinical trials. - PubMed - NCBI

Patent Expirations Of Crestor And Zetia And The Impact On Other Cholesterol Drugs
“… 2016 will see a number of drugs going off patent. The list includes drugs to treat HIV, psychiatric disorders and hypertension. But perhaps most notable are the patent expiries for two major LDL-cholesterol (LDL-c) lowering drugs: the statin, Crestor, from AstraZeneca and the cholesterol absorption inhibitor, Zetia, from Merck.”

http://www.jpands.org/vol20no1/graveline.pdf
Adverse Effects of Statin Drugs: a Physician Patient’s Perspective
“There is no way to predict how any one person will respond to this progressive mitochondrial deterioration triggered by statins. Therefore, a cognitively impaired victim may also present with emotional symptoms, painful neuropathy, disabling myopathy, an ALS-like manifestation, or with just cognitive dysfunction alone. It depends on individual vulnerability.”

Cholesterol confusion and statin controversy
 

haidut

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Excuse me in advance if I misunderstood the question.

If I understand the passage from Okayama and Langsjoen, and references including from deLogeril, it was data awareness/PR more than punitive measures that altered statin prescribing/reporting. The reduced statin popularity coincided with increased requirements for safety reporting in clinical drug trials.

My anecdotal impression is that probably bigger factors reducing statin popularity were lower profit as statin patents aged & expired, and the grassroots complaints from patients, advocates, and conscientious doctors.

13 Drugs Whose Risks Emerged Only When They Went Off Patent, Part One | The Huffington Post
"What drug is the best selling drug in the history of pharmaceuticals? Making $125 billion in 14.5 years and as much as $11 billion in a single year? You have to ask? Lipitor, Pfizer’s blockbuster statin drug..."

New regulatory rules for clinical trials in the United States and the European Union: Key points and comparisons - Miossec - 2006 - Arthritis & Rheumatism - Wiley Online Library

New FDA regulation to improve safety reporting in clinical trials. - PubMed - NCBI

Patent Expirations Of Crestor And Zetia And The Impact On Other Cholesterol Drugs
“… 2016 will see a number of drugs going off patent. The list includes drugs to treat HIV, psychiatric disorders and hypertension. But perhaps most notable are the patent expiries for two major LDL-cholesterol (LDL-c) lowering drugs: the statin, Crestor, from AstraZeneca and the cholesterol absorption inhibitor, Zetia, from Merck.”

http://www.jpands.org/vol20no1/graveline.pdf
Adverse Effects of Statin Drugs: a Physician Patient’s Perspective
“There is no way to predict how any one person will respond to this progressive mitochondrial deterioration triggered by statins. Therefore, a cognitively impaired victim may also present with emotional symptoms, painful neuropathy, disabling myopathy, an ALS-like manifestation, or with just cognitive dysfunction alone. It depends on individual vulnerability.”

Cholesterol confusion and statin controversy

Oh ok, thanks. I guess I got misled by this excerpt "...penal regulations for clinical trials came into effect in the EU in 2004".
I took it to mean there have been actual penalties introduced if the drug actually hurt people more than the clinical trial predicted.
 
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