Consumer groups get a lot of drug money

A recent report in the Daily Telegraph by Sue Dunlevy (google her she has some great articles) makes eye-opening reading. Since the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission made it mandatory from January 1 for drug companies to make public their sponsorship the truth has started to come out. Pfizer Australia, gave more than $1.7 million to 18 health organisations in 2008 and 2009, In 2002 Pfizer Australia, helped set up the health advocacy group Impotence Australia. Pfizer markets the well-known impotence drug Viagra and in 2008, Pfizer, which markets Champix, a quit smoking drug, provided $135,000 to set up the Australian Lung Foundation.

While Glaxco-Smith-Kline last year spent $1.3 million sponsoring 14 consumer health groups such as the Asthma Foundation, the Cancer Council, Diabetes Australia and MS Australia. And yes they also happen to have drugs for each of these.
Following is a list of the Donations made by Pfizer to health advocacy groups in
AustraliaAlzheimer’s Australia $135,000 (2008) $150,000 (2009)
Arthritis Australia $25,000 (2008) $10,000 (2009)
Arthritis NSW $72,192 (2009)
Australian Lung Foundation $135,000 (2008) $122,500(2009)
Brain Tumour Australia $5,000 (2008)
Chronic Pain Australia $49,260 (2008)
Council on the Ageing $5,000 (2008)
Glaucoma Australia $50,000 (2008), $50,000 (2009)
Impotence Australia $75,000 (2008) $30,000 (2009)
Mental Health Council Australia $25,800(2008) $25,000 (2009)
National Association of People Living with AIDS $53,724.96 (2008) $37,000 (2009)
National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre (for Pink Ribbon breakfast) $5,000 (2008) $6,403 (2009)
Heart Foundation $227,409 (2008) $126,000 (2009)
Sane Australia $60,750(2008) $129,300 (2009)
Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW $7,400(2008) $7,400 (2009)
McGrath Foundation $300,000 over 3 years (2009)

And not to mention donations of a political nature
ALP $29,126(2008) $29,196 (2009)
Liberals $24,140(2008) $24,149 (2009)
Nationals $2,200 (2008)
Liberal national Party $1,650 (2008)

This does not even include the $1 million a week drug companies in Australia spend wooing our doctors. This is pretty scary stuff if you think how we rely on all these parties to be impartial in their advice.

More Cholesterol Deception

A recent article by Duff Wilson, March 30, 2010 in the The New York Times “Risks Seen in Cholesterol Drug Use in Healthy People” highlights yet again the fatal flaws we have in promoting cholesterol lowering drugs.

The study Duff Wilson reports on found a 55 percent reduction in heart attacks, 48 percent reduction in stroke, and a 45 percent reduction in angioplasty bypass surgery. Sounds good doesn’t it? Unfortunately it is another example of statin statistics where they are not giving you all the real information and what they are giving you is designed to mislead everyone (especially doctors who don’t know how to read stats).

The actual rate of heart attacks was only 0.37 percent, or 68 patients out of 8,901 who took the placebo (a sugar pill). Those who took the statin (Crestor) dropped to 0.17 percent, or 31 patients. That is a 55 percent relative risk reduction but only 0.2 percentage real (or absolute) risk reduction — or 2 people out of 1,000. That is 500 people need to be treated with the statin for a year to avoid one usually survivable heart attack. Doesn’t sound so good any more does it? The stroke numbers were similar. This is considered statistically significant but nowhere near clinically significant and well below the real reduction of 50% people expect to get from a drug. In fact 2500 times less than what the public expect. The most ridiculous part of all this is that 7 grams of almonds will give 2-4 times the benefit of the drug. At $3.50 a pill, to prescribe the statin for 500 people for a year would be $638,000 to prevent one heart attack. At that price you could have free almonds for everyone, gym membership and personal coaching thrown in for a year. My option of course would not only reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke a lot more but also reduce all chronic illness and save hundreds of lives out of 500 people. Where has all the common sense gone.

If you want the full article go to the new york times web page
Please copy this blog and send it on to everyone you know.

ADHD and drug companies

Unfortunately in the twenty first century illness has become one of the most profitable businesses. As a result of the billions of dollars available to the pharmaceutical companies it makes a laughing stock of our health system. The Royal Australasian College of Physicians were drafting ADHD Guidelines that suggested every kid should be treated with ADHD drugs first then asked questions later. Sounds like a good way for a pharmaceutical company to make money doesn’t it. Fortunately, the process was halted under a cloud of controversy when the US psychiatrist, Dr. Joseph Biederman whose studies are cited more than 70 times in the draft ADHD guidelines, went under U.S. Congressional investigation for his undisclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Biederman, has confessed to receiving up to US$1.6 million to research and promote specific drugs, clearly a conflict of interest.

What’s even worse was the list of associations of the various members of the committee writing the report and the drug companies gathered under the freedom of information legislation. It read like the who’s who of the drug companies. And this is the committee who was just about to develop guidelines for all ADHD kids to take drugs. It would suggest to me strong vested interests of a supposedly independent committee. Any wonder we have so little trust in the medical system.

There are many reasons for ADHD and none of them are a pharmaceutical drug shortage and there are many things we can do to alleviate this problem with kids.