Thursday, December 4, 2014

Are We Big Pharma's Guinea Pigs? 8 Drugs Used by Millions Before Being Pulled for Dangerous Side-Effects | Alternet

November 26, 2014 |

Blockbuster drugs like Viagra, Lipitor, Prozac and Nexium have made Big Pharma one of the nation's top industries. Even before direct-to-consumer advertising on TV, there were blockbuster drugs like Ritalin, Valium, Tagamet and Premarin. To be a blockbuster a drug has to 1) be usable by almost everyone; 2) be used every day; 3) be used indefinitely; 4) solve an everyday health problem like heartburn or high cholesterol; 5) have a fun or memorable ad campaign; 6) get social buzz; and 7) be sold to a large number of people quickly.

The last qualification—quick sales to millions—is crucial because Big Pharma has a small sales window before a patent runs out. But it's also dangerous because many risks don't emerge until millions take the drug so the public serves as unwitting guinea pigs. In fact, the "early user/guinea pig" factor is what sunk Vioxx 10 years ago.

Because of patent pressure, minor drug risks are often only admitted when the patent runs out, a ruse AlterNet has written about. But when risks can't be ignored, even if the drug is selling briskly, the drug will be unceremoniously withdrawn and seldom mentioned again. Here are some blockbusters in the drug graveyard that Big Pharma hopes we will forget about.

1. Darvon and Darvocet

Is an opioid-linked medication that relieves pain worth the overdoses, death, addiction and abuse that are often in its wake? It is a question we hear today with drugs like OxyContin, but dates all the way back to 1957 when Eli Lilly began marketing Darvon.

Complete story at - Are We Big Pharma's Guinea Pigs? 8 Drugs Used by Millions Before Being Pulled for Dangerous Side-Effects | Alternet

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3. Manufacturing Consent - Edward Herman, Noam Chomsky
4. Gladio - NATO's Dagger at the Heart of Europe - Richard Cottrell
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7. The Divide - American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap - Matt Taibbi

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