Politics of Care

From our South American correspondent For David and Goliath read Augusto Roux and Albert Bourla - Pfizer (who might just be in Trouble) Readers who read earlier posts - Disappeared in Argentina - Fishy Business in the Rio de la Plata - So Long and Thanks for all the Fish - will remember the unsavoury account of Augusto Roux at the hands of Dr Fernando Polack, boss of … [Read more...] about News Flash – Noticia de última Hora 

Big Friendly Gates On 28 April the NEJM published the interim results of a trial of Prefusion F Protein–Based Respiratory Syncytial Virus Immunization in Pregnancy. This paper contains evidence of a neonatal jaundice hazard in the babies whose mothers had been immunised - but you'd never guess it from the way the paper is written. Prizer's RSVpreF Trial Pfizer’s phase 2 … [Read more...] about Yellow and Other Virus and Vaccine Perils

This post follows on from If You Wake at Midnight. Military Medicine When the history of modern medicine is laid out - See Shipwreck of the Singular - it is clear that, from Napoleon onwards, the military have been the greatest influence on its development. In Wars before 1900, more soldiers died from disease than from enemy efforts.  There was a pressing need to change this. … [Read more...] about Military Maneuvers in the Dark

Linguas Bifidas © Nina Otulakowski July 2022 An Adverse Event is anything that happens while a trial is happening - even a nuclear war.  There were lots of traffic accidents and broken bones in Buenos Aires during the Pfizer trial - mostly on placebo.  Maybe Covid vaccines prevent fractures or accidents.  Not impossible if you are too sick to get out and about. An Adverse … [Read more...] about Forked Tongues. Adverse Event or Adverse Reaction?

In 2008-2009, 7 young women died in a HPV vaccine trial in India. There was a backlash against the clinical trial industry.  Quite apart from Pharma trials, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) had 70 ongoing trials that were abandoned. It was clear, Indian investigators had to be taught how to assess awkward events properly. Barbara Bierer, a Haematologist, and … [Read more...] about Harmatology: a New Science

If North Americans don't know much about Asterix cartoons - see The Harmed, Europeans don't know about MAD. This image was adapted by Nina Otulakowski from a front cover image in Mad, see below, featuring the 1969 Bob, and Carol, and Ted and Alice movie. Born in the USA Multi-Regional Clinical Trials (MRCT) was born in the USA in 2009. Pfizer had just resolved a case with the … [Read more...] about Mark and Barb and Eric and Carole

The Gauls in Pharmaland © Nina Otulakowski May 2022 This set piece featuring the heroes from Cause and Effect copies a scene from an Asterix and Obelix cartoon - the original is below. Few North Americans know about Asterix and Obelix, the irreverent Gauls, who almost single-handedly held out against the might of the Roman Empire and Caesar - a bit like Ukraine holding out … [Read more...] about The Harmed Throw Down a Gauntlet

This image of Jorge Mario Bergoglio and Augusto Roux with Augusto as Obelix (of Asterix and Obelix fame), in the Roman Colliseum, will have to wait for a full explanation.  It will make sense in Argentina and Europe but not in North America.  A detailed explanation for North Americans will come next week.  The posts are out of sequence owing to the interest that blew up about … [Read more...] about So Long and Thanks for all the Fish

This post is by Mary Lynch - see Credentials in Cause and Effect.  A neuropathic arm sounds like something terrible from an Edgar Allan Poe horror story.  Anette Diamond (name changed) is a 66 year-old woman. She has approved this post. She had been living with chronic low back pain and fibromyalgia for several years when she was referred to me.  She was very motivated in … [Read more...] about Post Covid Vaccine Neuropathic Arm