Panorama - Secrets of the Drug Trials

[Gareth]

Did anyone else watch tonight's Panorama on how Glaxo SmithKline lied and distorted facts regarding the clinical trials of Seroxat? It was shocking, to say the least.

Originally Posted by BBC

Secret emails reveal that the UK's biggest drug company distorted trial results of an anti-depressant, covering up a link with suicide in teenagers.

Panorama reveals that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) attempted to show that Seroxat worked for depressed children despite failed clinical trials.

And that GSK-employed ghostwriters influenced 'independent' academics.

There's a page about the show here and the episode can be viewed here, for anyone that missed it... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/programmes/panorama/default.stm

It really does make you wonder how GSK executives and the so-called independent academics who put their name to the research can sleep at night. If ever a company's executives and academics deserve to face criminal charges, then this is a prime example.

[TheNorm]

It isn't as "black and white" as the programme made out. As one of the academics said, he can't possibly go through all the results of the trials, and has to believe (mostly) what the drug company tells him.

It is up to the regulatory authorities (the FDA in the USA and the MHRA in the UK) to go through all the data in detail, and it seems that the MHRA did indeed pick up some discrepancies, although perhaps rather belatedly.

Remember, too, that depressive illnesses are very difficult to treat. Everyone is desperately hoping that someone will one day come along with effective and safe medication.

[lauzjp]

also - each person's depression is different. there is never going to be one universal miracle drug. if people are that concerned by their medication then perhaps they should research them themselves before they agree to take whatever the nhs hands out to them. luckily for me, one of my bestest mates is a mental health nurse, lol - another has a degree in neuropsychology (she has 3 degrees! can you believe that?!) or something like that and her parents run a pharmacy!

[Stuart]

Not to mention that a lot of people go "cold turkey" when coming off anti-depressants (ie, they simply stop). This is bad, and can cause a more severe depression than normal. Possibly severe enough that the patient would try and kill themselves.

Put simply, anyone that needs to come off anti depressants should ALWAYS consult their GP, and get him or her to advise them on the best way to come off the anti-depressant (possibly by gradually reducing the dose).

Note: It sounds like I am talking from experience there. I am not talking from personal experience (I have never taken anti-depressants), but I do have family members who have. I also have one friend who was put on Seroxat at the first sign of an anxiety attack.

I have to admit, I do sometimes wonder if GPs prescribe drugs too easily. How many people are on anti-depressants when they would have been able to sort out their problems simply by talking to someone? But, the GP prescribes them something just to keep them quiet, and out of his surgery in the minimum time possible?

[Hugh]

A good background on anti-depressants and Seroxat, in the Guardian 5 years ago.
Graniuad

[TheNorm]

Originally Posted by lauzjp

... luckily for me, one of my bestest mates is a mental health nurse, lol - another has a degree in neuropsychology (she has 3 degrees! can you believe that?!) or something like that and her parents run a pharmacy!

Wow! You are surrounded by advisors!! Have any of them ever advised against taking a pill?

Originally Posted by Stuart C

...I have to admit, I do sometimes wonder if GPs prescribe drugs too easily. How many people are on anti-depressants when they would have been able to sort out their problems simply by talking to someone? But, the GP prescribes them something just to keep them quiet, and out of his surgery in the minimum time possible?

I expect that "talking to someone" (a professional) is much more expensive than a handful of pills...

---------- Post added at 12:54 ---------- Previous post was at 12:50 ----------

Originally Posted by foreverwar

A good background on anti-depressants and Seroxat, in the Guardian 5 years ago.
Graniuad

Interesting link. Further to above:

Treating a patient with everything that Seroxat 20mg has to offer, will cost just 59p a per day.

[Ramrod]

the New England Journal of Medicine, one of the most respected medical journals, made a startling announcement. The editors declared that they were dropping their policy stipulating that authors of review articles of medical studies could not have financial ties to drug companies whose medicines were being analyzed.

The reason? The journal could no longer find enough independent experts. Drug company gifts and "consulting fees" are so pervasive that in any given field, you cannot find an expert who has not been paid off in some way by the industry. So the journal settled for a new standard: Their reviewers can have received no more than $10,000 from companies whose work they judge. Isn't that comforting?

This announcement by the New England Journal of Medicine is just the tip of the iceberg of a scientific establishment that has been pervasively corrupted by conflicts of interest and bias, throwing doubt on almost all scientific claims made in the biomedical field.

Link


The Panorama program tied in nicely with what I'm reading atm......Big Pharma.......a real eye opener.
The pharma machine is driven by money and the desire to keep profits up. The patients come last......