Bayer heart-surgery drug killed 22,000 patients before being pulled by FDA - The drug Trasylol was withdrawn in November at the request of the FDA after an observational study linked the medicine to kidney failure requiring dialysis and increased death of those patients.

Green methods for coating drugs in plastics - Medical Research News - Drug companies generally use toxic chemicals such as benzine and chloroform, and employ high temperatures to coat their pills, causing health problems never expected. A century too late the companies are talking about making their products "greener..."

Pharmacy Error Cited in 3 Deaths - April 27, 2007- A pharmacy erroneously made a drug 10 times more potent than intended, which killed three people who received it at an Oregon clinic.

Eli Lilly leaves a Zyprexa paper trail - Documents show that in late 2000, the schizophrenia and bipolar disorder drug was marketed for patients who did not have either condition to boost sales in a campaign called, "Viva Zyprexa."
Another article about Zyprexa, which appears to cause obesity and diabetes in patients using the drug for more than one year. Eli Lilly played down risk of Zyprexa / Company documents reveal schizophrenia drug linked to obesity December 2006

Valproic acid, touted as an HIV cure, causes liver and pancreas damage - August 12, 2005 - among the lesser side efects: "...stomach pain, upset stomach, recurring seizures, loss of appetite, vomiting, dark urine, weakness, tiredness, lack of energy, facial swelling, and yellowing of the skin or eyes..." - just what a sick person needs...

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company issues a Dear Health Care Provider Letter about Sustiva and pregnancy: Sustiva has been changed from Category C (Risk of Fetal Harm Cannot Be Ruled Out) to Category D (Positive Evidence of Fetal Risk). Mar. 31, 2005 -

U.S. Marshals Seize Lots of GlaxoSmithKline's Paxil CR and Avandamet Tablets Because of Continuing Violations - FDA News, March 4, 2005 - The FDA is concerned that GSK's violation of manufacturing standards may have resulted in the production of poor quality drug products that could potentially pose risks to consumers. The Paxil CR tablets can split apart and patients could receive a portion of the tablets that lacks the active ingredient, or a portion that contains active ingredient but not the controlled-release effect. Also, the FDA found that some Avandamet tablets didn't have an accurate dose of rosiglitazone, an active ingredient. While not probably not life-threatening, these violations show that GlaxoSmithKline obviously has poor quality control standards.

National Institutes of Health tries to clean house - federal researchers will no longer be able to accept fees to consult for drug companies. - Three articles including one about an investigation of one researcher who accepted more than $500,000 from a drug company without seeking permission or reporting the income to the NIH.

States to explore putting restrictions on Glaxo AIDS driug Trizivir, says AIDS Healthcare Foundation - January 6, 2005 - a 2003 National Institute of Health (NIH) study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that showed that the three-drugs-in-one-pill regimen performed poorly as a standalone. In fact, the Trizivir regimen has been removed from the DHHS guidelines for recommended antiretroviral therapy for naïve patients.

Pfizer likely to add severe warning to Bextra - San Francisco Chronicle, November 8, 2004 - "...The drug has in a few cases caused Stevens Johnson syndrome, which occurs when the immune system turns on itself to rid itself of a drug," "burning the patient from the inside out. It leads to severe, painful blistering of the mucous membranes and skin. In many patients, their skin starts coming off in sheets. Patients are usually hospitalized in a burn unit, many have to be put on feeding tubes and ventilators. Stevens Johnson has about a 30 percent mortality rate." (This drug is in the same class of drugs as Vioxx and Celebrex, COX-2 inhibitors.)
See also this article about Stevens Johnson Syndrome which can be caused by many pharmaceutical drugs: "Calling Stevens-Johnson syndrome a "skin reaction" is like talking about headaches when you really mean a brain tumor."

Kaletra and Norvir ads misleading - The Food and Drug Administration ordered Abbott Laboratory to stop circulating two advertisements immediately. The FDA said Abbott's promotions implied Kaletra could help patients stay healthy for five years, but that the ads were misleading because Kaletra was approved based on studies lasting 48 weeks and 72 weeks. "FDA is not aware of substantial evidence or substantial clinical experience to support claims of survival, good health, undetectable HIV levels and disease control for five years," the agency said. The ads also failed to mention potential side effects, which can include life-threatening interactions with other drugs, the FDA said.
Norvir ads under fire - the FDA accused Abbott Labs of false and misleading marketing of the health risks and costs of its AIDS drug, Norvir. Abbott was warned in an agency letter that it should stop touting Norvir, in certain patient information materials, as the lowest-cost protease inhibitor. The FDA said Abbott also omitted some drugs from the list of those that should not be taken with Norvir, and failed to state that the drug is not an HIV cure, has unknown long-term risks, and does not reduce the risk of transmitting the virus.

Vioxx Recalled by FDA - Sept. 30, 2004 - higher doses of Vioxx appeared to triple patients' risk of a heart attack or sudden cardiac death, when compared with the results for people who hadn't recently taken any similar drug. Even at lower doses, Vioxx appeared to have a strong association with heart problems.
Vioxx battles could cost Merck up to $18 billion - November 5, 2004

FDA Strengthens Warning on the Abortion Pill - FDA and Danco Laboratories have received reports of serious bacterial infection, bleeding, ectopic pregnancies that have ruptured, and death, including another death from sepsis that was recently reported to FDA. These reports have led to the revision of the black box labeling. There have been at least three deaths since the drug's approval in 2000.

FDA Says Depression Drugs, Suicide Linked - Sept. 13 - 14, 2004 - Here are three articles about anti-depression drugs that kill by causing children and teenagers to commit suicide. FDA says, "Antidepressants should come with the nation's strongest warning - in a black box on the label."

See this website about Accutane, an acne prescription medication that has been linked to suicide.

Liam Scheff's investigative report of Pediatric AIDS medical abuse - The article reports the facts about AIDS drug toxicity, HIV test non-specificity, and exposes the current practice of force-drugging orphans who refuse their medication through surgically-implanted stomach tubes (g-tubes).

Too cozy for comfort - Baltimore Sun, July 2004 - Drug companies are too close to researchers - ..."The collaboration among government agencies, academic laboratories and pharmaceutical companies in the development and testing of new medicines has gone on for three decades. In 2002, a total of $5.6 billion was spent on clinical trials involving human subjects, 70 percent of which came from the drug industry. ..."as drugs have played an ever larger role in health care and the industry has scrambled to expand and update its products, the line between researcher, regulator and investor has blurred considerably. Government and academic researchers are often paid subsidies by drug companies, and may be inclined to set up a test that yields the most favorable results..."
"Editors of medical journals, who publish reports on clinical trials often used in pharmaceutical marketing, are attracted by what's new and interesting rather than showcasing dud drugs..."

Pfizer settles Neurontin case for $430 million - May 14, 2004 - Pfizer, the world's largest pharmaceutical company, pleaded guilty yesterday and agreed to pay $430 million to resolve criminal and civil charges that it paid doctors to prescribe its epilepsy drug, Neurontin, to patients with ailments that the drug was not federally approved to treat.

FDA to Announce Important Labeling Changes for Mifepristone - RU 486, the abortion pill causes more trouble than it's worth. FDA and Danco Laboratories have received reports of serious bacterial infection, bleeding, ectopic pregnancies that have ruptured, and death, including another death from sepsis.

The credibility gap in drug research - BusinessWeek / June 24, 2002 "...results are often misleading or incomplete. On June 1, the British Medical Journal published a report critical of a Pharmacia Corp.-funded study of its $3. million-dollar-a-year arthritIs drug, Celebrex. The report claimed the study's favorable results omitted contradictory data. And on June 5, The Journal of the American Medical Assn. (JAMA) published a series of reports critical of the way trials are done and reported, and the way conclusions are often couched to make new treatments seem better than they are."

Results of Drug Trials Can Mystify Doctors Through Omission - July 21, 2004. The labeling issue is another facet of an expanding debate over the incomplete disclosure and publication of the results of clinical drug trials.The information gap between test findings and label information can occur even when F.D.A. officials are aware that doctors are increasingly using a medication off label for a particular problem.

FDA Warns of Male Enhancement Products- sold as "natural," these drugs are "dangerous ... and even life-threatening." Actra-Rx and Yilishen are promoted as erectile dysfunction treatments that enhance men's sexual performance, but they cause the same health problems as Viagra. The FDA advised people who have taken Actra-Rx or Yilishen to stop using it.

Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Research Foundation - many links for research and other websites

Lariam - an anti-malarial drug that has caused many health problems -"The Department of Veterans Affairs is warning doctors to watch for long-term mental problems and other health effects from an anti-malaria drug given to soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq."

also see this page for patients who have had adverse reactions to Quinolone antibiotics.

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Drug-induced lung diseases: pneumotox.com

AZT - it's still on the market. Yet, it's one of the most toxic drugs ever made. Sold as a cure for AIDS, it's pure quackery.

Ritalin is very bad for kids, yet doctors still prescribe it. See Shirley's Wellness Cafe and Peter Breggin's websites.

Here's a database of scientists and non-profits with ties to industry.

Cytotec - a drug approved for treating peptic ulcers has recently been used to induce labor in women about to give birth - even though the package insert contains an explicit warning that "Cytotec may cause the uterus to rupture during pregnancy if it is used to bring on labor." The insert goes on to say that uterine rupture may lead to "severe bleeding, hospitalization, surgery, infertility, or death."
-From Mothering Magazine - Induced and Seduced - September/October 2001