Editorial Note: This is the fourth in the Lasagna series of posts - Not So Bad Pharma, April Fool in Harlow and Tragedy. It will be followed by The Empire of Humbug: Not so Bad Pharma, Brand Fascism & Witty A: Report to President. The first RCT In 1956, two of the creators of the modern RCT, Lou Lasagna and Michael Shepherd, met. The randomization in randomized placebo … [Read more...] about The Empire of Humbug: Bad Pharma
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Not So Bad Pharma
The invitation from the London Review of Books to review Ben Goldacre’s Bad Pharma™ reads: “We were unsure, at first, what a review could add that isn't already in the book - scrappy summaries and bits of praise are not for us. The book is of sufficient importance that the main thing is to get someone who knows what they're talking about to present the material confidently.. … [Read more...] about Not So Bad Pharma
Prescription-only Homicide and Violence
These are the speaking notes for two talks given in Chicago on Monday February 18th and Tuesday February 19th. The S2, S3 in the text refers to slides which are available here: Slides 1 and Slides 2. The video is available here: Part 1 and Part 2. The first slides features RxISK.org where we have created a Violence Zone and want you to get anyone who may have been made violent … [Read more...] about Prescription-only Homicide and Violence
Not So Black: Ablixa and Homicidal Side Effects
If you don't want to know what happens in the movie Side Effects - do not read further. The post does not reveal all but does reveal important details. So now we know Soderbergh’s movie Side Effects is not so Black/Noir after all – more Fifty Shades of Grey. Emily Hawkins (Rooney Mara) is put on Ablixa by her psychiatrist Jonathan Banks (Jude Law) and while on it kills her … [Read more...] about Not So Black: Ablixa and Homicidal Side Effects
Prozac and SSRIs: Twenty-Fifth Anniversary
One prescription for every man, woman and child Prozac was approved in 1987 in the US, and launched in early 1988, followed by a clutch of other SSRIs. Twenty-five years later, we now have one prescription for an antidepressant for every single person in the West per year. Twenty-five years before Prozac, 1 in 10,000 of us per year was admitted for severe depressive … [Read more...] about Prozac and SSRIs: Twenty-Fifth Anniversary
The Antidepressant Era: The Movie
The Antidepressant Era was written in 1995, and first published in 1997. A paperback came out in 1999. It was close to universally welcomed – see reviews 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. It was favorably received by reviewers from the pharmaceutical industry, perhaps because it made clear that this branch of medical history had not been shaped by great men or great institutions … [Read more...] about The Antidepressant Era: The Movie
The Boy With The Ponytail Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest
In The boy with the ponytail who played with fire, we saw Jan Akerblom struggle up the side of a mountain in his attempt to drop the Ring of Power into Mount Doom. Where others, especially doctors, are seduced by the Precious he isn't. Why do it - because he saw lives destroyed and wonders if we are at risk of destroying society itself. Are any contracts anyone enters into … [Read more...] about The Boy With The Ponytail Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest
The Boy With The Ponytail Who Played With Fire
He is 6’4” at least - 192 cm. He has blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. When he first suggested making a program about SSRIs I was not very helpful – very little of the media coverage by 60 Minutes or anything else has ever seemed to make much of a difference. They may have just increased the sales of antidepressants by keeping the names of the various drugs in the limelight. … [Read more...] about The Boy With The Ponytail Who Played With Fire
Access to RxISK Data: Conflicts of Interest
Won’t get fooled again outlined a stunning propaganda coup by GSK. On the back of a campaign for open access to clinical trial data that has drawn its inspiration from efforts by the Cochrane Tamiflu reviewers to get access to Roche’s clinical trial data, Andrew Witty came out and proclaimed that GSK were all in favor of access to clinical trial data. The BMJ threw its hat in … [Read more...] about Access to RxISK Data: Conflicts of Interest
Won’t Get Fooled Again? GlaxoSmithKline and Access to Data
On November 22nd the European Medicines’ Agency (EMA) is holding a workshop on access to the data from clinical trials. While there have been many efforts by many people over the years to make the clinical trial process more transparent, the EMA workshop has come about primarily following the efforts of Peter Gøtzsche of the Danish Cochrane Group and Peter Doshi and Tom … [Read more...] about Won’t Get Fooled Again? GlaxoSmithKline and Access to Data