Bayer Decides Not To Bother Telling Anyone That One Of Their Products May Kill You. Your Health, Of Course, Is Their Top Priority

The Drugnazi is very angry tonight. First I start the day reading about a final Senate deal over how much torture is acceptable, then comes the news of U.S. Congressman Mark Foley, chairman of the House caucus on missing and exploited children, resigning his seat due to a little problem concerning

"sexually explicit instant messages involving congressional pages, high school students who are under 18 years of age."

Read a transcript of one of the IM sessions here, and remember this exchange is between a 52 year old member of Congress and a 16 year old boy.

Now I get to end the day with this, from the New York Times:

Bayer A.G., the German pharmaceutical giant, failed to reveal to federal drug officials the results of a large study suggesting that a widely used heart-surgery medicine might increase the risks of death and stroke, the Food and Drug Administration announced Friday.

Bayer scientists even appeared at a public meeting called by the F.D.A. on Sept. 21 to discuss the possibility that the drug, Trasylol, might have serious risks. But they did not mention the study or its worrisome results.

In a highly unusual move, the food and drug agency released a public health advisory saying it had learned of the study’s existence only on Wednesday. Preliminary results of the study demonstrate “that use of Trasylol may increase the chance for death, serious kidney damage, congestive heart failure and strokes,” the advisory said.

A top F.D.A. official said the agency learned of the Trasylol study on Wednesday only after a getting a tip from a researcher involved in it. The official insisted on anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information.

In a written statement, Bayer said “that it mistakenly did not inform” the F.D.A. of the study

Really? So there was a meeting called specifically to discuss potential safety issues of Trasylol and Bayer "mistakenly" doesn't bring up the fact that it knows the subject of this very meeting:

"may increase the chance for death, serious kidney damage, congestive heart failure and strokes"

Bull. Fucking. Shit.

“This data was not shared immediately with the agency because it was preliminary in nature.” says Bayer.

Bull. Fucking. Shit.

Let's say the meeting had been called to talk about the best way to reduce blood loss during surgery, Trasylol's indication, and Bayer had data that was "preliminary in nature" that it's product worked 0.1% better than drugs that can be used instead. Drugs that also cost less by the way. Is there anyone in the profession, anyone in ANY healthcare profession that is not on the payroll of Big Pharma that believes that Bayer wouldn't have been there with it's "preliminary" data, shoving it in the face of anyone who would listen? That women dressed like high class hookers wouldn't soon have been going into doctors offices all over the country sharing this "preliminary data" with the good doctor with a seductive little wink while buying lunch for the entire office staff? Anyone who thinks this wouldn't happen?

Yet when the data shows that people end up dead Bayer "mistakenly" forgets to tell the people who are asking questions about the dead people.

There was no mistake. Bayer did it because this type of behavior hasn't been specifically outlawed and because it maximizes profits. If it helped their bottom line to just shoot you in the head and there was no law to stop them then they would do that too.

The Drugnazi is angry. You should be as well.