This is part 3 of Laurie Oakley's series on Pharmaceutical Rape. In our society We learn a social script in which a “good patient” obeys the orders of doctors as authority figures. The ideal patient is a passive patient, subordinate to the physician. We are expected to relate to doctors as experts whose judgment we should trust when being prescribed medication. Because of … [Read more...] about Pharmaceutical Rape: The Good Patient
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Pharmaceutical Rape: Cast of Characters
Ed Note: This is part two in Laurie Oakley's Pharmaceutical Rape series. WHEN IT COMES to pharmaceutical rape, it is no simple task to determine just who the “rapists” are (or to determine the safety or lack of safety of the treatments that they promote), but we are certain that the behavior exists, and that decisions are being made with no regard for the lives that are … [Read more...] about Pharmaceutical Rape: Cast of Characters
Pharmaceutical Rape is not a Metaphor
Ed Note: This is the first of a 5 part series on Pharmaceutical Rape by Laurie Oakley. We are looking for images to illustrate the series and would welcome any cartoons or other images that are germane to themes below. The first image here is Martin Shkreli, the man who raised the price of Daraprim by 5000% recently on the back of claims that profit was necessary for research … [Read more...] about Pharmaceutical Rape is not a Metaphor
Little Red Stethoscope
To be read in conjunction with Little Red Riding Hood. Once a newly qualified doctor, wearing her red stethoscope, set out to treat an older woman, bringing medicines and the milk of human kindness. As the doctor was walking through the hospital, the medical director came up to her and asked where she was going. "To Mrs Clinton's bedside", she replied. "Which path are … [Read more...] about Little Red Stethoscope
Little Red Riding Hood
This is the first of a two part piece. Little Red Stethoscope follows. More on the current post can be found in Images of Trauma. A grimm tale The development of psychoanalysis depended heavily on Freud's approach to the interpretation of dreams and myths. Key to these interpretations were his claims about the symbolic nature of certain elements of dreams, myths or … [Read more...] about Little Red Riding Hood
Antidepressants & The Undead
Several of us involved in RxISK.org monitor other groups setting up to offer information on medicines. Some of these, like eHealthMe, offer useful information sometimes with innovations we wish we had thought of first. The general sales pitch is under the umbrella of Personalized Medicine. As ever, pharmaceutical companies are in there early. The Brintellix website, as noted … [Read more...] about Antidepressants & The Undead
Motivation Is Worth More Than Expertise?
Editorial: I was asked to MHRA (Britain's FDA) to give a 20 minute presentation on Spontaneous Reporting Systems to a group looking at a birth defect related issue. This is close to what was said - minor items like the HRT trials got lost in delivery. The Slides numbered in the text are attached Here. Are we anecdotes? On this first slide (1) you can see a recent article … [Read more...] about Motivation Is Worth More Than Expertise?
The Ghost of Research Future
Editorial Note: This post is by Johanna Ryan. As with all posts by Jo, it unearths angles on current stories that everyone else seems to have missed. A column here last month followed the legacy of Study 329 into the present. By taking apart one 2015 study of Vraylar, a new antipsychotic, I tried to show that clinical research in 2015 is even more ghost-written, and more … [Read more...] about The Ghost of Research Future
Study 329: Big Risk
Editorial Note: This is the Fourth Crusoe Report. "Death waits for these things like a cement floor waits for a dropping light bulb" Big pharma Study 329 seems to fit the classic picture. It has Big Pharma ghostwriting articles, hiding data, corrupting the scientific process and leaving a trail of death, disability and grieving relatives in its wake. Pharma began in the … [Read more...] about Study 329: Big Risk
Study 329: BMJ Transparency
Two weeks ago The BMJ ran an editorial by Richard Smith (former editor) and Fiona Godlee (current editor) on the retraction of a 1989 article by R K Chandra under the heading of A Major Failure of Scientific Governance. While making money from the publication of pharmaceutical company trials, and in the face of a complete failure by industry to adhere to basic scientific … [Read more...] about Study 329: BMJ Transparency