The Statin Island Express

[Guest guest]

" WC Douglass " <realhealth

 

The Statin Island Express

 

Fri, 04 Mar 2005 16:12:10 -0500

Daily Dose

****************************************************

March 04, 2005

 

 

The Establishment's Nefarious Nine

 

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a rare Daily Dose article applauding

the FDA.

 

I penned the piece because the agency decided to shelve - at least

temporarily - the drug biz's planned introduction of over-the-counter

versions of today's hyper-popular (read: grossly over-prescribed)

statin drugs for cholesterol control. Usually, the FDA buckles to the

whims of drug makers, but a labeling technicality gave them an excuse

to sideline the plan for the time being.

 

One of the reasons I found occasion to laud the FDA's actions in the

matter was because tremendous pressure to approve the OTC use of these

drugs was coming from not just the drug giants' high muckety-mucks -

but also from some high-profile doctors that support this proposed

expansion of drug companies' statin-drug product lines.

 

So who are these influential doctors, you're asking (or should be,

anyway)?

 

According to a recent Associated Press investigative report, they are

the nine marquis American doctors known far and wide for their

" expertise " in the use of statin drugs. They're the mainstream's " top

docs " in the field of cholesterol control and heart disease research.

They conducted some of the original trials for these drugs. They're

routinely published in all the top journals. They're keynote speakers

at prestigious gatherings of doctors and medical experts. They lead

medical groups...

 

And just coincidentally (yeah, right) they're the driving force behind

the government's new, even lower cholesterol guidelines, released this

past July. This also makes them a major driving force behind not only

the increase in demand for statin-drug prescritions, but also the

movement to de-precriptionize this class of drugs.

 

The question of the day is this: Are these doctors wielding their

tremendous influence solely because they really believe that what

they're doing (however misguided it is) will actually save millions of

lives?

 

Nope. Turns out they're basically just pawns of the drug companies.

According to the AP expose, eight of these nine MDs were making money

in one way or another from the drug companies whose medications their

recommendations were fueling demand for!

 

Sound like a conflict of interest (or an outright crime)? This isn't

the half of it. Keep reading...

 

****************************************************

 

 

Of these nine " guru " MDs:

 

* Six of them serve on the board of the National Lipid

Association, a high-profile group promoting cholesterol control that's

largely FUNDED BY DRUG COMPANIES, a fact that's hardly trumpeted on

their Web site or in their literature, I'm sure...

 

* A pair of these doctors went to WORK for the drug makers - but

only after pushing through the new, absurdly low guidelines

 

* Two others own stock in the very companies whose profits (and

stock price) stand to go through the roof once statins go OTC

 

* One occupies a head post at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood

Institute, home of a FEDERALLY FUNDED cholesterol program, yet still

he serves as an advisor to a private biotech firm developing

cholesterol treatments - and as a consultant or speaker for nine other

private companies

 

* Another switched careers to become a full " industry consultant "

before the guidelines were released

 

Most of these doctors have been working in the field since the

original statin-drug trials were conducted. They represent the bulk of

the medical establishment's thinking about cholesterol control and

cardiovascular disease...

 

And clearly, they're the farthest thing from objective in their

thinking. How's that make you feel about popping those risky statins -

or about most doctors' knee-jerk prescription of them?

 

In 2001 alone, the drug industry spent $2 billion in special events

for doctors - a 100% increase over five years before. Now, two-thirds

of university-level drug research is paid for by the drug makers, up

from only one third 20 years ago. If this trend keeps up, nearly

EVERYTHING DOCTORS LEARN about medicine and medical treatment will

soon be coming from drug companies.

 

All this makes me wonder: With so much drug-money floating around, is

it even possible to convene an unbiased medical panel about anything

anymore?

 

Remaining un-bullied - and always unsullied,

 

William Campbell Douglass II, MD