The_Omnivore May 29, 2005 newsletter

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LDL CHOLESTEROL DOES NOT CAUSE ATHEROSCLEROSIS OR HEART DISEASE!

 

This week, Anthony sinks his teeth into one of the most pervasive

medical myths of all time: The claim that LDL cholesterol causes

atherosclerosis and heart disease.

 

Find out why everything you've been told about LDL cholesterol is

completely false:

 

http://www.theomnivore.com/LDL_May_2005.html

 

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PFIZER AUSTRALIA IS FINED FOR MISLEADING PROMOTION OF CELECOXIB

 

Pfizer Australia has been fined for breaching the drug industry's own

marketing code of conduct over a letter it sent to health

professionals defending the safety of celecoxib (Celebrex) after the

recall of Vioxx last year.

 

The letter, sent out in October, claimed that " the cardiovascular

safety profile of Celebrex has been extensively studied " and that " the

data do not indicate significant cardiovascular safety concerns with

Celebrex. " Pfizer wrote of the study on the long term safety of

celecoxib in arthritis that " there was no increase in serious

cardiovascular thromboembolic events in patients on Celebrex who were

or were not also taking prophylactic low-dose aspirin. "

 

In November 2004 Dr Peter Mansfield, then director of the Australian

watchdog group Healthy Skepticism, complained to Medicines Australia,

the body representing the drug industry, that Pfizer's letter breached

the industry's voluntary code of conduct. He argued that Pfizer had

misled doctors by understating the cardiovascular risks of celecoxib,

as there had been no adequate long term study of potential

cardiovascular events associated with celecoxib.

 

Medicines Australia's code of conduct appeals committee determined

that Pfizer had breached the code and imposed a fine of $A25,000 and

directed that a corrective letter be sent to all recipients of the

original letter. Pfizer appealed the decision and also argued that a

corrective letter was unnecessary and could " generate confusion " .

Pfizer's appeal was dismissed, but the committee decided that a

corrective letter would " be futile " .

 

Dr Mansfield said the fine is insignificant in comparison with the

$A100 million worth of celecoxib that Pfizer sold in Australia in

2003-4. " They have failed to require a retraction, so doctors who were

misled will continue to harm people by prescribing Celebrex

inappropriately, " he said.

 

Overturning the need for a corrective letter, he said, highlighted a

flaw in the self regulatory system. The decision, he said, would allow

companies " to evade retractions " by pursuing the lengthy appeals

process and arguing that corrective letters would cause confusion.

 

In 2003 Pfizer Australia was fined a total of $A20,000 for two

breaches of the code relating to its promotion of sildenafil (Viagra).

In 2004 Pfizer was found to have breached the code on three occasions

and was directed to withdraw promotional material.

 

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/330/7502/1230-b?etoc

 

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MORBIDLY OBESE MAN LOSES 300LB ON LOW-CARB DIET!

 

He suffered life-threatening diabetes and, at 647 pounds, weighed more

than a baby grand piano. In just 13 months, John Smith of Granite City

lost nearly 300 pounds. Remarkably, he did it without surgery or

pills. Instead, he followed the dietary admonitions of the late Dr.

Atkins.

 

http://www.ksdk.com/news/cover_article.aspx?storyid=79904