The European Medicines Agency publishe a major discussion paper highlighting that drug companies and doctors are continuing to conduct unethical research in developing countries. The paper is out for consultation until 30.9.10 (www.ema.europa.eu).
BMJ 2010, 341, 4984
An analysis in PLOS medicine (2010; 7(9): e1000335) states that review articles that were ghostwritten overstates the benefit of hormone replacement therapy. This finding is from an analysis of 1500 documents unsealed in recent litigation afainst former drug company Wyeth (now part of Pfizer) looking at how drug companies use ghostwriters to insert marketing messages into published articles in medical journals. The Wyeth ghostwriting archive is available at www.plosmedicine.org/static/ghostwriting.action
BMJ 2010. 341: c4894
This week’s BMJ has an interesting editorial on the rosiglitazone story. Recent hearings found that rosiglitazone has an 80% additional relative risk of myocardial infarction, comparable to previous concerns with COX2 inhibitor, Vioxx. However, as no licenting body demanded evidence on the risk of myocardial infarction, it is still impossible to accurately quantify the harm which we put patients in when prescribing the drug. The editorial outlines clearly the rosiglitazone story and the outlines the care that clinicians must take when prescribingnew drugs.
AstraZeneca are to pay out $198m to 17500 patients who claimed that anti-psychotic quetiapine (Seroquel) had caused them to develop diabetes.
BMJ 2010, 341, c4422
Health Action International are lobbying the European Medicines Agency to tighten its rules that require patient and consumer groups working with the agency to disclose any corporate funding they receive.
BMJ 2010; 341: c4459
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