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Heart Disease
What Price Are You Paying For Big Pharma’s Flawed Trials?
Date: 07/06/11
Keywords: The Cholesterol Truth, Cardiovascular Disease, Cardiovascular Health, Cholesterol, Co-enzyme Q10, drug interactions, Heart Disease, Statins
Big Pharma is quick to step in with solutions for this newly created health threats... Like the recent 'discovery' 'ultra bad cholesterol'(MGmin-LDL cholesterol). Apparently, a drug already exists that will tackle MGmin-LDL cholesterol in no time: Metformin, a widely-prescribed diabetes drug that lowers blood sugar levels.
Our regular readers know it is no secret how medical authorities fast-track the approval of drugs that aren’t properly tested... or worse, drugs for which the research results have been tampered with or not fully disclosed...
Last week I told you about a new study, published in the journal Diabetes, claiming that there’s now an ‘ultra bad’ form of cholesterol, called MGmin-LDL cholesterol, specifically affecting the elderly and those suffering with Type 2 diabetes.
For those of you who missed that alert, here’s a quick recap: MGmin-LDL has sugary molecules that are smaller and denser than those found in normal ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol. This alters its shape, which makes it stick to the artery walls much more easily, providing a starting point for the build-up of dangerous fatty plaques, eventually narrowing arteries and reducing blood flow. This can cause the arteries to rupture or it can trigger blood clots to form, ultimately causing a heart attack or stroke.
Big Pharma at large
As expected Big Pharma is quick to step in with a solution for this newly created health threat... Apparently, a drug already exists that will tackle MGmin-LDL cholesterol in no time: Metformin, a widely-prescribed diabetes drug that lowers blood sugar levels.
Once again, Big Pharma’s policy of dreaming up yet another health problem in order to push a truckload more drugs onto the market is in full swing... But at what cost?
Our regular readers know it is no secret how medical authorities fast-track the approval of drugs that aren’t properly tested... or worse, drugs for which the research results have been tampered with or not fully disclosed...
As a result, years later, after countless lives have been adversely affected (some even lost!), lawsuits launched and millions of pounds wasted, the mainstream backtracks and withdraws yet another drug from the market — a case in point being the recently banned diabetes drug, Avandia, which claimed many lives before it was removed from the shelves.
Stories of Big Pharma’s misdemeanours are almost commonplace nowadays... A problem that often starts with the prejudiced way in which many drug trials are being conducted. Take for instance the JUPITER trial as an example.
JUPITER was launched in 2008, with the aim of studying the effects of the cholesterol-lowering statin drug, Crestor. The outcome of the study’s ‘astonishing’ results saw Crestor emerge as the darling of the cardiology world. Crestor was credited by the research team with the potential to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events by 44 per cent because of its ‘amazing’ ability to not only lower LDL ‘bad’ cholesterol, but to also reduce levels of a blood marker for inflammation, called C-Reactive Protein (CRP).
Astounding! Brilliant! We have a life-saver!
Not!
Look a bit closer and you’ll find that this study was hardly conducted according to the ‘gold standards’ the mainstream holds so high.
To start with, Jupiter was funded by no one else but AstraZeneca, the makers of Crestor... alarm bell one!
Dr. Paul Ridker, lead researcher of JUPITER (and apparently a well-respected doctor) also received previous grants and consulting fees from AstraZeneca... alarm bell two!
In fact, nine of the 14 researchers involved in the JUPITER study had financial ties to AstraZeneca... alarm bell three!
On top of that, Dr. Ridker also happened to own the legal patent on CRP blood-testing technology, which exploded in sales after the JUPITER study’s recommendations were accepted by cardiologists worldwide... So, Ridker gained an awful lot with the publication and acceptance of his research... alarm bell four!
(By now, I would expect you to have cleared your medicine chest from anything that remotely resembles a Crestor tablet, if you so happen to take this cholesterol-lowering drug... after all, it is one of the most prescribed statins on the planet!)
Digging up the dirt
Believe it or not, the ‘conflict of interest’ debacle is just the tip of the iceberg...
A growing number of JUPITER sceptics are disputing the study’s findings, saying that the absolute reduction of cardiac events among the healthy patients that took part in the study, was actually very low, and would come at a considerable cost after years of treatment with Crestor... As we all know, statin drugs have terrible side-effects and since Crestor is a super-strong statin, these would be amplified and even more horrendous, to say the least!
Furthermore, JUPITER was stopped two years before it was supposed to end, leaving some doctors to believe that the results were unfairly skewed in Crestor’s favour. One very outspoken epidemiologist, Dr. Gordon Guvatt, said that the JUPITER results showed only “tiny absolute effects” and vastly “over-estimated relative effects” specifically because of the decision to stop the trial early.
The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) published a damning review of the JUPITER trial in November 2009, which highlighted the persistent practice of “selective outcome reporting” in Big Pharma-sponsored medical research.
In fact, Dr. John Briffa, contributing editor for The Cholesterol Truth, also writes about how the source of funding in medical research has the potential to influence trial results... and that comes straight from a doctor!
If so many oppose the way medical trials are conducted, it makes you wonder: How safe are we really when it comes to taking prescription drugs? Is it really worth it?
To read Dr. Briffa’s latest post, click here:
Cholesterol: related Reading:
Exposing The Growing Need For Forward-Thinking Doctors
New 'Ultra-Bad' Cholesterol Means Bumper Profits For Big Pharma
Statins Side Effects
Sources:
‘Warning: clinical trials funded by drug companies may appear more truthful than they actually are’ published online 13.11.09, ethicalnag.org
‘When medical research is funded to favour the drug, not the facts’ published online 19.07.10, ethicalnag.org
‘When you use bad science to sell drugs’ published online 06.13.10, ethicalnag.org
‘JUPITER gets a battering, but Ridker fights back’ published online 28.06.10, theheart.org
Back to topFor those of you who missed that alert, here’s a quick recap: MGmin-LDL has sugary molecules that are smaller and denser than those found in normal ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol. This alters its shape, which makes it stick to the artery walls much more easily, providing a starting point for the build-up of dangerous fatty plaques, eventually narrowing arteries and reducing blood flow. This can cause the arteries to rupture or it can trigger blood clots to form, ultimately causing a heart attack or stroke.
Big Pharma at large
As expected Big Pharma is quick to step in with a solution for this newly created health threat... Apparently, a drug already exists that will tackle MGmin-LDL cholesterol in no time: Metformin, a widely-prescribed diabetes drug that lowers blood sugar levels.
Once again, Big Pharma’s policy of dreaming up yet another health problem in order to push a truckload more drugs onto the market is in full swing... But at what cost?
Our regular readers know it is no secret how medical authorities fast-track the approval of drugs that aren’t properly tested... or worse, drugs for which the research results have been tampered with or not fully disclosed...
As a result, years later, after countless lives have been adversely affected (some even lost!), lawsuits launched and millions of pounds wasted, the mainstream backtracks and withdraws yet another drug from the market — a case in point being the recently banned diabetes drug, Avandia, which claimed many lives before it was removed from the shelves.
Stories of Big Pharma’s misdemeanours are almost commonplace nowadays... A problem that often starts with the prejudiced way in which many drug trials are being conducted. Take for instance the JUPITER trial as an example.
JUPITER was launched in 2008, with the aim of studying the effects of the cholesterol-lowering statin drug, Crestor. The outcome of the study’s ‘astonishing’ results saw Crestor emerge as the darling of the cardiology world. Crestor was credited by the research team with the potential to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events by 44 per cent because of its ‘amazing’ ability to not only lower LDL ‘bad’ cholesterol, but to also reduce levels of a blood marker for inflammation, called C-Reactive Protein (CRP).
Astounding! Brilliant! We have a life-saver!
Not!
Look a bit closer and you’ll find that this study was hardly conducted according to the ‘gold standards’ the mainstream holds so high.
To start with, Jupiter was funded by no one else but AstraZeneca, the makers of Crestor... alarm bell one!
Dr. Paul Ridker, lead researcher of JUPITER (and apparently a well-respected doctor) also received previous grants and consulting fees from AstraZeneca... alarm bell two!
In fact, nine of the 14 researchers involved in the JUPITER study had financial ties to AstraZeneca... alarm bell three!
On top of that, Dr. Ridker also happened to own the legal patent on CRP blood-testing technology, which exploded in sales after the JUPITER study’s recommendations were accepted by cardiologists worldwide... So, Ridker gained an awful lot with the publication and acceptance of his research... alarm bell four!
(By now, I would expect you to have cleared your medicine chest from anything that remotely resembles a Crestor tablet, if you so happen to take this cholesterol-lowering drug... after all, it is one of the most prescribed statins on the planet!)
Digging up the dirt
Believe it or not, the ‘conflict of interest’ debacle is just the tip of the iceberg...
A growing number of JUPITER sceptics are disputing the study’s findings, saying that the absolute reduction of cardiac events among the healthy patients that took part in the study, was actually very low, and would come at a considerable cost after years of treatment with Crestor... As we all know, statin drugs have terrible side-effects and since Crestor is a super-strong statin, these would be amplified and even more horrendous, to say the least!
Furthermore, JUPITER was stopped two years before it was supposed to end, leaving some doctors to believe that the results were unfairly skewed in Crestor’s favour. One very outspoken epidemiologist, Dr. Gordon Guvatt, said that the JUPITER results showed only “tiny absolute effects” and vastly “over-estimated relative effects” specifically because of the decision to stop the trial early.
The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) published a damning review of the JUPITER trial in November 2009, which highlighted the persistent practice of “selective outcome reporting” in Big Pharma-sponsored medical research.
In fact, Dr. John Briffa, contributing editor for The Cholesterol Truth, also writes about how the source of funding in medical research has the potential to influence trial results... and that comes straight from a doctor!
If so many oppose the way medical trials are conducted, it makes you wonder: How safe are we really when it comes to taking prescription drugs? Is it really worth it?
To read Dr. Briffa’s latest post, click here:
Cholesterol: related Reading:
Exposing The Growing Need For Forward-Thinking Doctors
New 'Ultra-Bad' Cholesterol Means Bumper Profits For Big Pharma
Statins Side Effects
Sources:
‘Warning: clinical trials funded by drug companies may appear more truthful than they actually are’ published online 13.11.09, ethicalnag.org
‘When medical research is funded to favour the drug, not the facts’ published online 19.07.10, ethicalnag.org
‘When you use bad science to sell drugs’ published online 06.13.10, ethicalnag.org
‘JUPITER gets a battering, but Ridker fights back’ published online 28.06.10, theheart.org
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