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25 Ways To Spot a Quack 19 y
"Our list is a work in progress. In the spirit of science, we accept criticism and suggestions for improvement. Other ideas and contributions welcome. We would be pleased if you think of more ways to spot a quack, you would share them with us at quacks@internetwks.com."
25 Ways to Spot a Quack
An Opinion
Copyright 2004 Owen R. Fonorow and M. S. Till, Jr.
The inspiration for the following list comes from the infamous quackwatch.com web site which first published 25 ways to spot a quack and vitamin pushers. The Quackwatch list is familiar to dietitians, and it has even been found in medical education materials.
We noticed something peculiar about the original list, it is devoid of scientific principles. As professors Steve Hickey and Hilary Roberts remind us in their recent book ASCORBATE: The Science of Vitamin C, even medical researchers have to f ... read more Chronic Scurvey = Heart Disease 19 y
Scandalous manouverings have positioned the diease industry to squelch real scientific data on heart disease and promote lies in order to drum up ongoing business in the fortune 500's leading industry...PHARMACEUTICALS! Continued disease = profit!
CHRONIC SCURVY
The Suppression of the Real Nature, Cause and Outright Cure for Heart Disease
By Owen Fonorow
Copyright: 2005
1. The leading killer in the United States, the condition that those in medicine call heart disease, or occlusive cardiovascular disease, is really a low-grade form of scurvy. This fact is becoming increasingly more difficult for modern medicine to deny.
Chronic scurvy: Heart disease is a misnomer.
The disease is characterized by scab-like build-ups that slowly grow on the walls of blood vessels. The underlying disease process reduces the supply of ... read more The Secret Book 19 y
"What could be more horrible than knowing cures for diseases, and hiding them? What should the penalty be the the participants in this conspiracy? Is it illegal to hide or deliberately distort knowledge about cures for diseases?"
THE SECRET BOOK
Copyright 2005 by
Owen Richard Fonorow
The Existence of Hidden Medical Knowledge is Revealed
It just keeps getting curiouser and curiouser...
Generally, health information that is repeated in the mainstream media is wrong. Journalist tell us that their stories are based upon reliable sources such as medical journals. Medical journal editors credit ”peer reviewed” science for their articles.
If the journalists are right, it is medical ”science” that is wrong. But why? The scientific method is designed to minimize the chance of errors. Researchers are expe ... read more Pharma Deception 19 y
"Fugh-Berman, who speaks regularly at national medical conferences, said many of her colleagues are approached to claim authorship of studies already ghostwritten by writers hired by companies working for pharmaceutical companies. Some researchers are paid handsomely, she said, while others use the publications to advance their careers in the competitive “publish or perish” academic environment."
An article by Ben Jacklet in the Portland Tribune
When Dr. Martha Gerrity accepted a position last summer as co-editor of a small but respected medical journal, she understood that part of her job would be blocking attempts by drug companies to influence the scientific literature.
She just didn’t know how big a part of her job it would be.
Gerrity, a physician at the Portland VA Medical Center, is co-editor of the Journal of General Internal Medicine. JGIM is a small, peer-reviewed journal that publishes studies and reviews that help health-care professionals determine how to treat th ... read more Hoodwinked 19 y
"In the United States a legal case brought against drug firm Pfizer turned up internal company documents showing that it employed a New York medical writing agency. One document analyses articles about the anti-depressant Zoloft. Some of the articles lacked only one thing: A doctor's name. In the margin, the agency had put the initials TBD, which Healy assumes means “to be determined.”"
Pharma Ghostwriting Revealed: how drug firms ’hoodwink’ medical journals
Pharmaceutical giants hire ghostwriters to produce articles - then put doctors’ names on them
Antony Barnett, public affairs editor
Sunday December 7, 2003
The London Observer
Hundreds of articles in medical journals claiming to be written by academics or doctors have been penned by ghostwriters in the pay of drug companies, an Observer inquiry reveals.
The journals, bibles of the profession, have huge influence on which drugs doctors prescribe and the treatment hospitals provide. But The Observer ha ... read more Corporate Drug Dealers 19 y
"We can elicit the help of the DEA to make natural drugs illegal to possess. This will force the more intelligent persons to take our drugs as a last ditch effort to procure health rather than taking inexpensive natural medicine. And finally, we can engage an army of pharmaceutical Rep's onto the front lines by having them visit every single medical doctor in the nation to distribute our drug propaganda."
How To Be A Corporate Drug Dealer
The growth in knowledge of biochemistry, physiology, organic chemistry, and chemical process methods has yielded millions of new synthetic (man-made) drug targets.
These new discoveries have the potential to bring billion-dollar profits to any pharmaceutical company who can convince medical doctors, the FDA and the American public of the necessity of these new patentable drugs in ensuring health. Considering that these drugs have toxicity profiles that make marijuana and crack look like candy and that natural, inexpensive medicine derived from fo ... read more Flawed Evidence 19 y
"In recent years, decline in the state funding of research has placed scientists in a vulnerable position which industry is able to exploit. Scientists in all areas of medicine are increasingly dependent on pharmaceutical companies to fund their work. This places the industry in a position to control data and to have papers drafted by company employees."
Flawed Evidence
Doctors ”author” drug company articles without seeing the raw data
Persuasion works best when it’s invisible. The most effective marketing worms its way into our consciousness, leaving intact the perception that we have reached our opinions and made our choices independently. As old as humankind itself, over the past few years this approach has been refined
While, in the past, companies have created fake citizens’ groups to campaign in favour of trashing forests or polluting rivers, now they create fake citizens. Messages purporting to come from disinterested punte ... read more Science For Hire 19 y
"http://www.skepticalinvestigations.org/objectivity/flawedevidence.htm"
The Objectivity of Science
‘Ghosts’ still haunt the Medical Journals
”We are being hoodwinked by the drug companies”
In February 2002 we posted an article commenting on the Ghost Writer problem in the medical press Flawed Evidence . However, a recent article in The Observer by Antony Barnett 1 suggests that the situation may have deteriorated in the last two years.
The medical journals, ’bibles of the profession’, strongly influence doctors and hospitals both when prescribing drugs and providing treatment. Yet, in his Observer article, Barnett suggests that almost half of all a ... read more Ghostwriters in the Sky 19 y
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, ghostwriters are wordsmiths who are commissioned to write a paper that is ultimately credited to another individual. In the context of the pharmaceutical literature, ghostwriters are typically hired by industry to write a favourable research or review article about their drug product based upon selective information provided to them. The outcome? As described by David Healy in a recent interview with CBC, “…what appear to be scientific articles are really infomercials”.
Ghostwriters in the Sky
Once again, concern over the commercialization of medical research has hit the lay press. (1,2) This time the specific topic of interest is the thorny issue of medical authorship and the phenomenon known as “ghostwriting”. As described by CBC Marketplace group in somewhat sensationalistic, but accurate terms, “…you may not have heard of it, but you’ll probably want to know about it. It’s a world that could make your doctor prescribe the wrong drug…”.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, ghostwriters are wordsmiths who are commissioned to write ... read more Jaw Dropping Truth 19 y
"Ghost writing is a common, yet rarely mentioned practice among the drug industry. Very few professionals and patients are able to get the real-scoop on the drug they are either prescribing or consuming. This further illustrates the importance of seeking information about natural alternatives which are not only effective but have killed less people than bee stings."
NSAID’s The Jaw Dropping Truth
In an effort to sell more drugs, medical ghost writing is the practice of paying authors to write favorable drug reports for pharmaceutical companies. The truth be known, medical ghost writing leads to mass deception among medical doctors and declini
Distribution Source : Article Warehouse
Date : Tuesday - August 19, 2003
nutra4you (Article Warehouse - Aug 19, 2003) -- You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated. ... read more Medical Ghostwriters 19 y
"Marketplace tracked down ghostwriters in Vancouver, Montreal and Ottawa — one agreed to talk with us, but only if we protected their identity. Their job could vanish if their identity is revealed. We'll call our busy ghostwriter, Blair Snitch."
to put their names on the studies — for money, prestige, or perks.
Marketplace tracked down ghostwriters in Vancouver, Montreal and Ottawa — one agreed to talk with us, but only if we protected their identity. Their job could vanish if their identity is revealed. We’ll call our busy ghostwriter, Blair Snitch.
Blair Snitch: I’m given an outline about what to talk about, what studies to site. They want us to be talking about the stuff that makes the drug look good.
Erica Johnson : They don’t give you the negative studies?
Blair Snitch: There’s no discussion of certain adverse eve ... read more How Big Pharma Gets All Those Favorable Reports On Drugs.... 19 y
Here is a release from the watchdog group, the Alliance for Human Research Protection. It spells out one method whereby research fraud infects the whole process of drug approval and paints a false picture of what's really going in the lab.
HOW BIG PHARMA GETS ALL THOSE FAVORABLE REPORTS ON DRUGS....
MEDICAL RESEARCH FRAUD
NOVEMBER 29, 2004.
The release also points a finger at the now-notorious Texas child- drugging program that is the model on which Bush’s national screening (for mental disorders) plan is based.
The corporate (drug-company) invocation of ”it’s proprietary information” is mentioned. This is the cover behind which drug companies can pay for drug studies and then suppress the results, if they don’t like the outcomes.
ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION (AHRP)
Promoting Openness and Full D ... read more A Nightmare Come True 19 y
This is one of the best summaries on the European Health Directive commonly known as CODEX and on how it will impact us in America and elsewhere. Please read seriously and take action as recommended by Dr. Wright.
A Nightmare Come True
Don’t wake up next August to find your supplements gone for good.
by Jonathan Wright, MD
The FDA’s wildest dream -- and our worst nightmare -- is about to come true. Two years ago, I told you about the passage of the European Union (EU) Directive on Dietary Supplements. This directive, which is part of a larger form of legislation called Codex Alimentarius, severely restricts access to natural health products in Europe. At the time, it probably seemed a long way off. After all, the law wasn’t to go into effect for several years following the initial passage.
U ... read more FDA scientist censored 19 y
"Dr Graham, who works in the FDA's office of drug safety, said yesterday that he had been "threatened with being called insubordinate" by the FDA..."
Cox-2s safety summit sees FDA scientist censored
DAVID GRAHAM, the high-profile scientist at America’s Food and Drug Administration, has been banned from presenting new information about a controversial type of painkiller at a three-day summit on their safety starting today.
Dr Graham, who works in the FDA’s office of drug safety, said yesterday that he had been ”threatened with being called insubordinate” by the FDA when he said he wanted to include the findings of an unpublished study he has completed as part of his testimony on Cox-2 inhibitors.
The FDA has organised the series ... read more Intimidation, Politics and Drug Industry 19 y
"While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is supposed to safeguard the nation’s medical products, drawing upon the substantive expertise of its drug scientists in vigilant dedication to the public’s health, that is not the case today."
With many of the people on the FDA board made up of Pharma reps, it isn’t hard to see whose interest they really have in mind. Ritt Goldstein delves into the corruption perpetrated by this very biased group (FDA).
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Intimidation, Politics and Drug Industry Cripple U.S. Medicine
By Ritt Goldstein
Republished from Inter Press Service
Investigation reveals that dangers of drugs are being deliberately downplayed, and the public misled.
STOCKHOLM – While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is supposed to safegu ... read more The Banning Of Supplements 19 y
" We are heading for an Alice Through The Looking-Glass world, where, in Chris Grayling's words: 'It will be illegal for a grown adult to buy vitamin tablets, but legal for a teenager to purchase cigarettes."
The banning of supplements is underway starting in Europe first and will then swoop over to North America. This is so that Pharma can rule out its competition and resume profits lost to this growing market place. Once again, government is for the global elite and not for the people who voted them into power. In the following article, Geoffrey Lean gives us a look into what is happening in Europe concerning this hot topic.
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Why Do Meddling Eurocrats Want to Ban Your Vitamin Pills?
(Could It Be Anything to Do with th ... read more Science For Hire 19 y
"Doctors have to base their clinical decisions on scientific evidence, but the fundamental nature of that scientific evidence has changed—it has become more like infomercials than objective science."
In the following article by Craig Lambert, he delves into the deceptive drug research being carried out by pharma in order to maximize corporate profits. Pseudo science/ pseudo medicine/ pseudo research/politics are the weapons big pharma weilds to ensure their success while downplaying consumer risks----and there are plenty.
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Flasks of Cash
Doctored Research?
The news, reported in the November 14, 2002, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), sounded startling. C-reactive protein (CRP), detectable ... read more |