On Friday the major pharmaceutical company Johnson &Johnson came under fire from the Department of Justice for a scheme to illegally promote the use of their drugs in nursing homes.

In a formal complaint, the Dept of Justice alleges that J&J paid kickbacks to a major drug supplier of nursing homes ensuring at least one of their drugs would be heavily pushed. The company is OmniCare and the drug Risperdal, an anti-schizophrenic.

“Kickbacks such as those alleged here distort the judgments of health care professionals and put profits ahead of sound medical treatment, “Tony West, assistant Attorney General.
OmniCare is alleged to have to have received tens of millions of dollars in kickbacks from J&J for having their representatives particularly recommend the drug. J&J knew that the nursing home staff listened to the Omnicare representative’s recommendations around 80% of time which would obviously increase profits.

The complaint alleges that this illegal campaign resulted in sales of J&J drugs via OmniCare to nursing homes skyrocketing from $100 million dollars to $280 million dollars.

It has sadly become standard practice in nursing homes around the country to take the “easy” way out and drug patients with heavy mind numbing medications like Risperdal. This puts the elderly patients into zombie-like stupors and greatly lowers their health and well being. Risperdal and other drugs in this class carry an FDA-mandated warning describing significantly increased death rates when prescribed inappropriately to the elderly. This dire warning is typically ignored in favor of convenient drug-induced restraint.

Chemical restraint is a sordid practice of using prescription drugs for difficult behaviors, which has become commonplace in institutions from nursery schools to nursing homes. This is the same company named in a lawsuit brought by the Attorney General of Texas, which alleges that the company unduly influenced children’s’ medication protocols. Why would they push dangerous chemical restraint of our most vulnerable populations on such a large scale if Johnson&Johnson actually cared about the patients?

An article was just released in the New England Journal of Medicine outlining some very interesting statistics about American health.

The study was recently released using data collected in 2006. It is not new that America is behind many other countries in terms of individual health and longevity. In fact, our health care system is ranked 37^th in the world. What you might not have known is that we are ranked number 1 is spending; America spends more health care dollars per person that any other nation.

More facts:

-U.S. is ranked 39^th for infant lifespan,

-43^nd for female lifespan,

-42^nd for male lifespan.

We spend the most money but are not even near the top on healthiest countries. We’re certainly not living as long as in many other modern countries. Why is this? The latest technology and patented drugs are all over TV screens and magazine pages. These newer treatments are the most costly and it is these that are pushed on the American consumer and physician alike.

Advances in medicine are always important, but when a new procedure without a proven safety record rushes onto the scene and is marketed are the miracle cure people tend to demand it. Sometimes there are disastrous consequences. Many examples of this exist including FenPhen, Vioxx and inappropriate use of drug coated stents.

In order to survive in today’s high tech world you’ve got to have all the information. Whether you’re buying a new TV or trying to decide on taking a new medication, unless you have all the facts you’re not going to know what you’re getting into.

Use SmartMEDinfo as a resource to make sure you fully understand the treatment options offered to you. The drug or procedure may be new and expensive, but will it actually benefit you?

References:

http://healthcarereform.nejm.org/?p=2610&query=TOC

There was recently a list put out of medications to avoid in the elderly. It was published by the Archives of Internal Medicine, a medical journal.

It is remarkable in that it lists only generic drugs. This means that all of the drugs on the list were once brand name, and now their patents have expired. The list includes drugs that each are associated with increased illness, injury or death in older people.

Does this mean that generic drugs are the only ones to avoid? Certainly not. Just because a drug is new doesn’t mean that it is safe. Often much less is known about new drugs and even more caution should be exercised when using them.

Journals such as the Archives for Internal Medicine get much of their funding from the sponsored advertisements of pharmaceutical companies. They see it as bad for business to talk poorly about the very drugs they are being paid to advertise. This may be acceptable in other industries, but in medicine we are dealing directly with people’s lives and health.

SmartMEDinfo has taken this list and expanded it by adding the brand name drugs to watch out for in addition to the generics. (The list can be accessed by logging in or signing up and navigating to the LowDown section.)

We hope you find it of use.

Just a few days ago, the former director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was named as the new president for Merck & Co’s vaccine division. Merck is one of the mega manufacturers in the “Big Pharma” group of companies. They make many vaccines including MMR, flu, HPV and others. It is the responsibility of the CDC to make official recommendations to the American people regarding the use of these very vaccines.

Julie Gerberding, MD has been head of the CDC for the past 7 years. She will be stepping up to take her new job at Merck on January 25^th 2010.

This event has raised some red flags and more than a few eyebrows. However, it is just the latest in the obvious and crooked fondness between the CDC and drug manufacturers. In 2007 the CDC had a “moral lapse” by failing to resolve the conflicts of interest of many of the panel members who evaluated that year’s vaccines for flu and cervical cancer. Some of these people were legally forbidden from serving on such a board but did so anyway.

Earlier this year, the CDC was one of the organizations that called for “urgent action” to stop the supposed Swine Flu pandemic. This was despite the knowledge that H1N1 was no more deadly than the regular seasonal flu and did not justify the massive distribution and promotion of untested vaccines. So it seems to make sense to one of the companies that stood to profit that Mrs. Gerberding be given the helm of their $12 billion dollar a year vaccine division.

After you get over your initial feeling that there is more here than meets the eye, the event brings one question to mind. Just how deep do the ties between government health agency and Big Pharma go?

Conflict of interest in the medical industry is why the unbiased medical information provided by SmartMEDinfo is an absolute necessity. It is hard to know who to trust when there is any other motivation but protecting and helping the consumer. That’s why our doctors and pharmacists rely on the science and not the sensational and suspect pronouncements of government health agencies. Especially when the conflicts of interest are so rampant.

SmartMEDinfo.com was recently granted accreditation by the Health On The Net Foundation.

As stated on their website:

“Created in 1995, HON is a non-profit, non-governmental organization, accredited to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. For twelve years, HON has focused on the essential question of the provision of health information to citizens, information that respects ethical standards…

…HONcode is the oldest and the most used ethical and trustworthy code for medical and health related information available on [the] Internet.”

One of the many requirements of a HON certification is to disclose to users conflicts of interest and source of funding. We have no conflict of interest and are entirely funded by our subscribers, like you. We are proud to be part of the HON group of sites.

Look for the HON symbol to appear throughout the site soon. Happy Holidays and we look forward to seeing you back to get the most trustworthy medical information on the web.

Best,

Dr. Moira Dolan

Hello and Merry Christmas!

You may have noticed some changes to the SmartMEDinfo website. We have been steadily improving the features and ease of use of the site to make sure you can access the information you need.

We are committed to giving our users the most clear, understandable medical information. With all the problems and controversy surrounding health care these days, there is one thing we feel has been overlooked. That is, with the skyrocketing health care costs and the apparent lack of enough resources to help the sick, the reality is that as a country we are not as sick as we are led to believe.

There is quite a lot of hype surrounding the health care industry. However, keep in mind it is an industry. Information you are given on TV, in magazines and the things “everybody knows” may not be entirely true and may not have your best interests in mind.

You can be healthy. You can make good decisions about your health. SmartMEDinfo is not here to give you medical advice. We CAN give you the truth about your drug or condition. Once you have all the trustworthy information the right choices for you will become clear.

Let’s change the way you look at your health.

Happy Holidays!

What It Means To Be An American
is violated by the health care bill HR 3590

In America we have a right to family. The health care bill passed by the House and under consideration by the Senate intrudes in the American family life. The bill would intrude into the lives of all families by trying to make a diagnosis out of normal life hurdles in section known as the Mothers Act, Section 2529, page 1418. Where there are state versions of this type of government involvement in a mother’s life, there is only more ineffective psychotropic drugging. It is nothing more than fishing for more drug customers. It should be opposed.

In America we base medical decisions on sound scientific evidence. The health care bill under consideration by the Senate would equate mental issues with physical illness, per Section 214, Page 100. This is not medically sound. It only invites massive fraud to occur, a way to get on prescription equivalents of street drugs and it will be the most profound and unnecessary drain on public health funds in history.

Americans have the right to their own home life. The bill would allow mental health workers to enter homes and abscond with children on a flimsy basis (Section 1904, Page 1177). The health care bill violates American rights. It totally undermines the fundamental of American freedoms to have and raise a family.

America has educational goals. The bill would turn out schools into mental institutions for screening, diagnosis and treatment. (Section 2511, Page 1352)This is not and never was supposed to be the role of our schools. It totally diverts the goals of our educational system.

As a physician and mother, I urge you to contact your Senator about HR 3590. Other countries must be laughing at our national obsession with making a mental facility out of every single American institution, as this bill threatens to do.

Here is a link to find your Senator:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cf

Psychiatrist Goes On Killing Spree

By now you have heard about the Killeen, Texas killer being an Army Major and military psychiatrist.

The very next day a marine was being held as a suspect in the murder of a fellow marine in Camp LeJeune, North Carolina. The suspect is under police custody at the hospital where he is being treated for self inflicted wounds.

Last month a marine called 911 and admitted to strangling his wife to death.  This summer an Army private was charge with the murder of a fellow soldier in Savannah, Georgia. In 2008, an Army chemical weapons specialist was picked up for the murder of an Army couple, whose bodies were found dumped in a bathtub full of acid.

Last year four marines were arrested in connection with the murder of a marine and his wife; the murdered couple was found tied up inside of a house that was set on fire near Camp Pendelton in California.

Also just last year, the burnt remains of a pregnant marine were found in a shallow grave in the front yard of a Marine Corporal who then fled to Mexico. He was extradited back to the States in April of 2008 to face murder charges.

These are not just bar room brawls gone wrong. These are all extraordinarily gruesome murders.

And then there’s suicide. In 2007 CBS reported on the stunning suicide rate among veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: “over 6,250 American veterans took their own lives in 2005 alone; that works out to a little more than 17 suicides every day.”

Soldiers are being massively doped up on psychoactive drugs during active duty. Every single one of the psychoactive substances being swallowed by the ton by our soldiers before, during and especially after active duty are labeled with FDA-mandated warnings about causing suicide, agitation, potential for violence, psychosis and abnormally aggressive behaviors.

We now have the highest ever rates of diagnosed mental derangement upon return to the States. It is no great leap to figure that Killeen killer Maj. Hasan was likely taking some of his own medicine.

It is a grave scientific mistake to treat the residuals of the horrors of guerilla warfare as if it were a brain biochemical disease. Nightmares from watching your buddy being blown up are not caused by a lack of serotonin.  Difficulty sleeping after your unit accidentally fired upon civilians is not due to an Ambien deficiency.

Treating our soldiers with drugs that have these known common side effects is not only scientifically unsupported but it is profoundly socially irresponsible. It is betrayal in the name of help.

See the FactFiles™ on your psychiatric drug in the Member’s Area of SmartMEDinfo.com.

References

4 Marines accused of double murder November 04, 2008 www.ABClocal.com, last accessed 10/6/09.

Associated Press, Army Private Charged with Murder in Savannah Georgia Public Broadcasting, www.gpb.com, last accessed 10/6/09.

Keteyian, A. Suicide Epidemic Among Veterans: A CBS News Investigation Uncovers A Suicide Rate For Veterans Twice That Of Other Americans Nov. 13, 2007, www.cbsnews.com, last accessed 11/6/09

LeJeune Marine charged with murder in wife’s death, Sep. 22, 2009 www.wral.com, last accessed 10/6/09.

McGarry, B., Army: Murder suspect was fit for duty, Mar 6, 2008 www.armytimes.com, last accessed 10/6/09.

Staff reporter, Nevada Man Suspected in Military Murder, www.kolotv.com, last accessed 10/6/09.

Staff writer. Cpl Cesar Laurean Arrested in Murder of Pregnant Marine Maria Lauterbach.April 6, 2009, www.nowpublic.com, last accessed 10/6/09.