|
|
Saturday, August 28, 2004
|
|
| |
How safe are prescription drugs?
According to a report on after market surveillance of new drugs in the May 1, 2002 issue of the Journal of the America Medical Association a total of 548 new drugs were approved between 1975 and 1999. Of these 56 Acquired a new warning of side effects and contraindications or were withdrawn.
Forty-five drugs received one or more warnings and 16 were withdrawn from The market. The estimated probability of a drug acquiring a new warning or being withdrawn from the market over 25 years was 20%. Eighty-one major changes to drug labelling in the Physicians' Desk Reference occurred regarding side effects and contraindications warnings per drug, or drug withdrawal. Half of these changes occurred within seven years of drug Introduction; half of the withdrawals occurred within two years.
9:05:28 PM 
|
|
GET READY TO BE 'SCARED SICK'
They're starting early this year with pro-flu vaccination
propaganda - so steal yourself against the promoters!
Here's a small sample of what you'll be reading and hearing:
The United States is due for an influenza pandemic that could sicken millions of people, kill hundreds
of thousands and disrupt the economy, federal officials warned Thursday in unveiling a new plan to
prepare for that grim scenario.
"This plan will serve as our road map on how we as a nation, and as a member of the global health
community, respond to the next pandemic influenza outbreak," Health and Human Services Secretary
Tommy Thompson said in outlining the plan. "In a normal flu season, 114,000 Americans are
hospitalized with severe symptoms, and about 36,000 people die. Last year's flu outbreak was worse
because it struck in October, a month earlier than usual, and sickened more children under 2, who
until this year were not recommended to be vaccinated. Shortages of the flu vaccine exacerbated the problem."
WANT TO READ MORE: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/healthscience/stories/082704dnmetflu.13b47.html
6:03:10 PM
|
|
PLEASE JOIN OUR 'SAVE A LIFE' CRUSADE.
All you need do is pass along this information to everyone
you know - the life you save may be your own!
This story will explain why heart disease is now the LEADING cause of death in women, and why far more women than men now die without warning from the nation's most serious
epidemic - and what you can do to prevent this happening
to you or someone you love.
Please read and respond responsibly.
http://www.healthsavers.info/savealife.htm
12:01:55 PM
|
|
and yet another reason to avoid flu shots...
A Big Maker of Flu Shots Finds Some Contaminated
 he Chiron Corporation, a major manufacturer of influenza vaccine, said yesterday that it had
detected a contamination problem in its new supply and was delaying release of nearly 50 million
doses until scientists could determine the cause.
Chiron makes about half the 100-million-dose supply that federal health officials expected to be used
this flu season. Its chief executive, Howard Pien, said in a telephone interview that it informed the Food
and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the problem on
Wednesday. Other than a relatively small amount sent to distributors in July, Mr. Pien said, the company
will probably not begin issuing the vaccine until mid-October, about a month later than expected.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/27/health/27flu.html?ex=1251345600&;en=dc86fd8f9c36e9bb&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland
11:53:55 AM
|
|
Drug to Help Avert Blindness Moves Closer to Approval
 yetech Pharmaceuticals' new drug, Macugen designed to treat the leading cause of blindness in the
elderly appears to have moved closer to a broad government approval after an advisory panel to the
Food and Drug Administration spoke favorably about it. The panel members also did not seem to raise any serious new issues that would block approval. Macugen is directed at the so-called wet form of macular degeneration, which is characterized by a proliferation of blood vessels in the back of the eye that leak and damage the retina, gradually destroying the ability to read, drive or recognize faces. An estimated 1.6 million Americans have the condition and 200,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. Macugen blocks the action of a protein that spurs blood vessel formation and leakiness.
Jennifer D. Harris, the lead reviewer of the drug for the F.D.A., told the advisory panel that the drug "does reduce the risk of vision loss.'' But she said there was no "clinically meaningful" improvement in vision. The biggest concern of the F.D.A. and of the panel members was that 2 percent of patients in the clinical trials developed potentially serious eye infections. That is because Macugen is given by an injection directly into the eye every six weeks. But panel members said that better monitoring and education of doctors and patients could reduce that risk. Also, after more sterile procedures were adopted during the trials, the incidence of infection dropped. Some members said more study might be needed of the effects of taking the drug long term because the protein blocked by the drug, vascular endothelial growth factor, has positive effects, like spurring growth of valuable blood vessels in the body.
COMMENTS: AS USUAL, THE DUBIOUS BENEFITS ARE ACCOMPANIED BY ESTABLISHED NEGATIVES...LIKE ALL DRUGS, CHANCES ARE YOU LOSE MORE THAN YOU GAIN IN HEALTH.
AND A PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTION: DO YOU SUPPOSE YOU DEVELOP MACULAR DEGENERATION BECAUSE YOU ARE SUFFERING A MACUGEN DEFICIENCY? THAT GOD FORGOT TO PROVIDE YOU WITH A LIFETIME SUPPLY?
THINK ABOUT IT: THE ONLY CLEAR BENEFITS ARE TO THE DRUG COMPANY PRODUCING MACUGEN!
11:31:50 AM
|
|
THE MILLION DOLLAR DIET!
11:15:15 AM
|
|
|
|
© Copyright
2004
Arline Brecher.
Last update:
9/1/2004; 10:31:35 PM.
|
|
|
