Drug trials moved to third world countries?! ARGH

 

Thousands of drug trials move overseas — PLUS, Disciplined docs on the payroll….

 

Dr. William Campbell Douglass II, MD

Picture this: Secret clinics where drug trials can be conducted with no oversight, results can be manipulated, docs can be bought, and mistakes can be buried in a shallow grave.

This isn’t some ugly vision of the future — it’s the reality right NOW as Big Pharma shifts the bulk of its drug research to shady Third World sites.

The Island of Dr. Moreau comes to mind here.

A new report in Vanity Fair beats anything I’ve read in the scientific journals lately — it finds nearly 60,000 drug trials conducted overseas since 2000, including 6,485 in 2008 alone, all for meds intended for use in the United States.

That’s up from just 271 overseas trials in 1990.

What’s more, 80 percent of all new drug applications submitted to the FDA in 2008 used data from trials in places like China, India, Russia and former Soviet states

And if you think docs in the United States are eager to please Big Pharma bosses, you should see the lackeys they have overseas. The drug companies even have a name for the places they can turn to for quick and positive results: Rescue Countries.

Of course, some drugs are so bad they can’t be rescued — but even then, they can at least be kept out of the headlines. Hear about the flu shot they tested on homeless people in Poland? No joke: Twenty of them died.

But hey — at least they each got paid $2.

A vaccine trial in Argentina left 14 babies dead — and their parents weren’t even aware that they had signed their kids up for an experiment.

And who knows how many Chinese comrades are sacrificed in the name of the Big Pharma gods every day.

I mean that — because we don’t know. Ever meet a Chinese whistleblower? Me neither.

Don’t count on the feds for help — they can barely keep up here. In 2008, the FDA inspected just 1.7 percent of all U.S. trial sites… and only 0.7 percent of all overseas trial sites. That’s just 45 out of the 6,485 locations.

If they’re not going to visit these places themselves, they should at least read the St. Pete Times. Last year, a reporter from the Florida newspaper visited a trial site in India and found a festering Third World stinkhole with excrement-lined halls and signs reminding docs that they shouldn’t take bribes.

And you thought signs reminding restaurant workers to wash their hands were bad!

Don’t expect this to change — eventually, all of Big Pharma’s research, development, testing and manufacturing will take place overseas, most of them in places just like that.

But don’t worry: There’s still plenty of room for shenanigans right here in the United States. Keep reading…

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Disciplined docs on the payroll

Crime doesn’t just pay — it can be downright lucrative.

Hundreds of docs who’ve been disciplined, fined, suspended and even convicted of crimes have been raking in big bucks as Big Pharma speakers, consultants and educators.

A new report from the ProPublica news agency finds 292 disciplined docs who earned a collective $7.1 million in 2009-2010 alone, including docs accused of serious medical mistakes, sexua| misconduct on the job, and excessive use of addictive drugs.

What’s more, 70 of the docs were sanctioned more than once or by multiple states, including 21 with at least three black marks on the record.

Somehow, people are stunned by this. Horrified. Even Big Pharma acted surprised.

But c’mon — is this REALLY a shock?

Of course docs with ethical problems are attracted to Big Pharma — they were practically made for each other! If a doc is accused of handing out too many painkillers, that’s just proof he’s on message.

He might even get a raise.

Now, some say disciplined docs shouldn’t be allowed to speak on behalf of these drugs or consult for the drug companies.

But I say, who better?

A doc disciplined for overuse of painkillers, for example, is actually the perfect person to speak about the meds.

“I think this a great painkiller — and I should know, I’ve got dozens of patients hooked on it,” he could say, and then bring some of the addicts out and make them beg for drugs as part of the presentation.

It’s like a medical version of those “scared straight” programs that bring little miscreants into a real jail for a day.

One more note on this: The list of disciplined docs taking in Big Pharma dollars excludes physicians from the 20 smallest states, and payments from more than 60 drug companies.

In other words, the problem isn’t as bad as it seems — it’s actually worse.

The original Punisher,

William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.

 

davidbozek.net/2010/12/25/thousands-of-drug-trials-move-overseas-plus-disciplined-docs-on-the-payroll/

 

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'Tis a HUGE blessing for all of us to be in control of our OWN body and health...but oh-so-sadly, there's too many of our loved ones and millions/billions of others that have been conditioned to believe otherwise (and just as many that haven't even been exposed to the truth).  Let's all do our BEST this year to share the truth of natural health & healing with everyone we know!  And if you run across articles like the one above, PLEASE be sure to post them :)

Blessings,

Uny

 

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