What’s it going to take to make unscrupulous drug companies come clean? Now we have another drug scandal—this time it’s Seroquel. In 1997 Seroquel was approved by the FDA and at the same time, Study 15 showed that weight gain and diabetes were seen in study patients. But in its infinite wisdom, the FDA said it does not have the authority to place such studies in the public domain; instead the agency deemed the drug “safe and effective”. It’s mind-boggling how a drug company can manipulate a government agency and control publicly available research about their products.
Pharmaceutical companies are supposed to announce publicly when a clinical trial is underway and its goals, but according to a study by the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, many tests are conducted without this disclosure and selective results—hiding the results of negative trials and only publishing studies that show their products in a positive light—is widespread. Read the rest of this entry »