Mercola points to a UCLA and Harvard analysis of randomized drug trials in six leading journals, which found many were funded by the manufacturers and may favour outcomes flattering to the sponsor. He traces public faith in mainstream medicine to PR man Edward Bernays.
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Drug
Prescription drugs, vaccines and their risks and benefits.
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Drug
HPV Vaccine Victim Sues Merck
Naomi Snell, 28, is leading a class-action suit in Australia against Merck after convulsions, severe back and neck pain and loss of her ability to walk followed her first Gardasil dose. Mercola also tallies deaths and serious reactions reported after the vaccine.
Drug
The Worst Drug Fraud in History? Do You Still Trust Them with Your Life? (comment)
Mercola reports GlaxoSmithKline preliminarily agreed to a $3 billion settlement, the largest federal drug-company settlement to that point, over sales and marketing of drugs including Avandia, and argues such fines are a slap on the wrist that leaves individuals unpunished.
Drug
FDA approves first generic version of cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor
FDA approved the first generic atorvastatin calcium tablets, from Ranbaxy Laboratories, in 10, 20, 40 and 80 mg strengths, to be made by Ohm Laboratories in New Jersey. CDER director Janet Woodcock says affordable options matter for a drug people take over many years.
Drug
49 Sudden Deaths, 213 Permanent Disabilities - And the Silent Plan to Poison Your Child
Mercola argues the HPV vaccine is not harmless and has not been proven to prevent cervical cancer, noting it covers only two of more than 100 strains, citing VAERS reports of autoimmune disorders, and pointing to Merck's contributions to Rick Perry's campaign.
Drug
Could Sleeping Pills Make An Eating Disorder Worse?
Intermezzo, the newly approved sleeping pill for middle-of-the-night waking, is the same drug as Ambien at a lighter sublingual dose. The piece argues drugmakers keep naming new insomnia types and repackaging old drugs to widen the market without new research.
Drug
Beware: This Popular Drug Can Actually Cause Diabetes
Mercola reports that statins raise the risk of exercise-related injury, more so with age, and can provoke diabetes: one meta-analysis put it at one in 498 people on a high-dose regimen, with the risk possibly as high as one in 255. Statins are contraindicated in pregnancy.
Drug
How Big Pharma Fools Even Your Doctor
A cross-sectional survey found more than 20 percent of articles in six leading medical journals in 2008 were likely written by honorary or ghost writers. Mercola argues drug companies pay for such articles to cast their products favourably, citing Vioxx, Neurontin and Redux.
Drug
The Medical Miracle You'll Get Arrested for Using (comment)
Mercola describes mounting federal pressure on medical marijuana: 15 states and the District of Columbia permit it, but the DEA still raids suppliers, the administration narrowed which patients are spared arrest, banks and landlords face threats, and the IRS denied dispensaries standard deductions.
Drug
43% of Americans Risked Their Brain Health for This - Did You? (comment)
Mercola reports that about 131 million Americans, 43 percent, got a flu shot in 2010, and cites Cochrane reviews finding no measurable benefit for children, adults or seniors. He also raises aluminum adjuvants and Guillain-Barre syndrome as potential harms.
Drug
This Commonly Used Drug Found to Promote Obesity (Comment)
Dr. Martin Blaser's research suggests antibiotics may permanently alter gut bacteria and disturb hunger hormones: 18 months after antibiotics cleared H. pylori, post-meal ghrelin release rose six-fold, leptin 20% and BMI 5%. Mice given antibiotics gained fat on unchanged diets.
Drug
Combating Antibiotic Resistance from FDA
The FDA explains that antibiotics treat bacterial infections but not viruses, and that misuse and overuse breed resistance, which can mean longer illnesses, more doctor visits, costlier drugs and more deaths. Its labeling rules urge prescribing only when clinically necessary.
Drug
Stem cell therapy after heart attack may be not effective as expected
In an NHLBI-sponsored trial, 87 heart attack patients received either purified bone-marrow cells or inactive cells two to three weeks after their attack. Six months on, cardiac MRI showed no significant difference in how much blood the left ventricle pumped.
Drug
What Every Parent Must Know: This Occurs Before the Age of 6
Mercola argues the CDC's schedule of 49 vaccine doses by age six over-vaccinates children. He cites a study reporting that nations giving the most first-year doses have the worst infant mortality, and claims multiple early vaccines can harm brain development and raise autism risk.
Drug
Is Your Asthma Drug Doing You More Harm Than Good? Part Two
Singulair, a leukotriene receptor antagonist, earned more than $4 billion last year and is marketed hard to children through Scholastic materials and a cherry-flavored chewable. The piece notes it is not a rescue medicine and questions its safety and effectiveness.
Drug
Is Your Asthma Drug Doing You More Harm Than Good?
Long-acting beta agonists such as Symbicort, Advair and Serevent warn on their labels of increased risk of death from asthma problems, with an estimated US toll of 4,000 a year. The piece says they can mask worsening asthma and lose effect the more they are used.
Drug
Organ transplants linked to increased cancer risk
A JAMA study of 175,732 solid organ transplant recipients found they were twice as likely as the general population to be diagnosed with cancer, across 32 malignancies. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma led; researchers point to immunosuppressive drugs and oncogenic viral infections.
Drug
Men Who Have this Popular Screening Have a Staggering 4-Fold Increase in Serious Blood Infections
Canadian researchers report a four-fold rise over the past decade in serious blood infections following prostate biopsy. Mercola adds that PSA screening barely moves prostate cancer mortality and that the US Preventive Services Task Force is expected to recommend against it.
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