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.

Riding A Jet Ski On A Sea Of Your Urine.....

That is an image some marketing wonk toiling away for Big Pharma thinks will make your doctor prescribe their product. I swear I'm not lying to you.

First, the required background. If you're a guy, there's a decent chance that if you live to be old, you won't be able to pee as you'd like. As many as 90% of men between 70 and 90 will develop symptoms of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia, or BPH. Translated to English, that means your prostate gland will swell, constricting the tube that leads from your bladder through your wiener. When this happens, you can't get all the pee out of your bladder, so you feel like you have to go all the time, even though you can't. I'm sure it sucks, but would it really lead you to respond to images such as this?


The fire hydrant is self-evident I suppose, if a bit tasteless, but what on earth is up with the jet ski? Are they trying to say your pee-hole will be so relaxed that you could pass out a watercraft? Who are these people who think it's fun to ride a jet ski in this type of environment? Has the Tidy Bowl Man come out of retirement and decided he likes riding around in the sewage itself, instead of above it like he used to? First we have the chuckle inducing drug name Flomax, and now this. Lord only knows what's coming next.

Reasons I've Ended Relationships.....

1) Asked if I could hook her up with some Soma from work.

2) Drove around parking lot for 10 minutes instead of accepting what would have been at most a 30 second walk.

3) Asked me to go to church with her.

4) Told me the thing that surprised her most about Americans was their obsession with cleanliness

5) Wanted children (multiple women)

6) Snored (multiple women)

7) Witnessed an incredibly unladylike display of road rage.

8) Found out she was from Texas.

9) Decided the fact she was extremely hot didn't compensate for the fact she was a Republican.

10) Didn't like the movie "Bowling For Columbine"

11) No real reason (multiple women)

12) Didn't feel like being married anymore.

So ummm....yeah....I may have a bit of a problem with commitment. Although if it doesn't bother me is it really a problem? Lots to ponder tonight while sipping the scotch.....

Are Republicans The Missing Link? I Report, You Decide

They seem to have a lot in common....I think love might be in the air........

I see now why they're so sensitive about the evolution thing.

Let's Tune Into The Drugnazi's Thoughts For A Few Minutes As He Fills Your Prescription........

...............I think when I end up in hell, I'll spend my time looking for Hitler. Why not? I've got all eternity, you know he'll be there somewhere, and I'll need something to occupy my time.

Override that clinical review screen.

I wonder if he'll have a lot of people around him? I mean being a hell celebrity and all. Maybe that's his punishment, having schleps like me bug him until the end of time.

Shit. NDC number doesn't match. Oh. different manufacturer, it's OK. I'm backed up, I'm not gonna change this one. Breakin' the law......breakin' the law........

You know, I think there would be a certain freedom in being sent to hell. I mean what exactly could they do to you if you tell Satan to go fuck himself? Send you to hell? All the dead Christians are probably walking around on eggshells afraid of pissing off the big guy.

Dammit. This is a bottle of 30 and the label says 90. Gotta send this one back. *sigh*

I've never been able to pronounce the word "woman" the way everyone else does in Appalachia. They say it kinda like "whooaaman." Weird since I grew up there and have no trouble slipping into a hick accent when the occasion arises.

PENICILLIN ALLERGY! DON'T LET THIS ONE OUT OF YOUR SIGHT OR THAT DAMN NEW CLERK WILL SELL IT.

There's a lot of coal in Appalachia. I wonder why the region didn't get rich off of it the way Texas did with oil? Probably because people in Appalachia are really stupid.................

We now return you to your regular programming...........

There Is Still Hope For My Customers -They Are Waking The Brain Dead In South Africa.

With a sleeping pill. I shit you not. I'll let the UK Guardian set the stage:

Across three continents, brain-damaged patients are reporting remarkable improvements after taking a pill that should make them fall asleep but that, instead, appears to be waking up cells in their brains that were thought to have been dead. In the next two months, trials on patients are expected to begin in South Africa aimed at finding out exactly what is going on inside their heads. Because, at the moment, the results are baffling doctors.

The remarkable story of this pill and its active ingredient, zolpidem, begins in 1994 when Louis Viljoen, was hit by a truck while riding his bike. He suffered severe brain injuries that left him in a deep coma. Doctors expected him to die and told his mother, Sienie Engelbrecht, that he would never regain consciousness. "His eyes were open but there was nothing there," says Sienie, a sales rep. "I visited him every day for five years and we would speak to him but there was no recognition, no communication, nothing."

All day long at the store I speak to people and there is no recognition, no communication, nothing. In South Africa evidently this is considered a problem.

A problem closer to being solved not because of anything Big Pharma did in the pursuit of profit, but because:

The hospital ward sister, Lucy Hughes, was periodically concerned that involuntary spasms in Louis's left arm, that resulted in him tearing at his mattress, might be a sign that deep inside he might be uncomfortable. In 1999, five years after Louis's accident, she suggested to Sienie that the family's GP, Dr Wally Nel, be asked to prescribe a sedative. Nel prescribed Stilnox, the brand name in South Africa for zolpidem. "After about 25 minutes, I heard him making a sound like 'mmm'. He hadn't made a sound for five years."

"Then he turned his head in my direction. I said, 'Louis, can you hear me?' And he said, 'Yes.' I said, 'Say hello, Louis', and he said, 'Hello, mummy.' I couldn't believe it. I just cried and cried."

Hughes was called over and other staff members gathered in disbelief. "Sienie told me he was talking and I said he couldn't be - it wasn't possible," she recalls. "Then I heard him. His mother was speechless and so were we. It was a very emotional moment."

Sanofi-Aventis, which holds the original patent on zolpidem (Ambien) which is about to expire, must be thrilled. After all, it says on their web site:

Sanofi-Aventis brings to it's research creativity and innovation, with just one end in view; patient health.

Just one end in view. Hmmmmmmmm.......back to the Guardian:

The company that first developed zolpidem, Sanofi-Aventis, was contacted by Nel and Clauss but appears to have chosen not to become involved in the trials or the use of the drug on brain-damaged patients. Instead, the brain scans on up to 30 patients will be carried out at the Pretoria Academic Hospital by Professor Mike Sathekge, head of nuclear medicine, and Professor Ben Meyer, one of South Africa's most renowned physicians.

When contacted to explain this apparent disconnect between words and actions, Jean-François Dehecq, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sanofi-Aventis, said:

"Of course what we say on our website is a bunch of horse shit. The market for use of zolpidem in brain damaged patients is projected at $4.3 billion. Now I suppose we could spend our money going after a piece of that, or we could spend next to nothing to get a patent on Ambien CR, and continue to dominate the sleeping pill market, a market projected to be worth $11 billion by 2012. You do the math Einstein"

"A market, incidentally, we can grow with TV commercials and ads in Readers Digest" he added. "You'd have to have one hell of a marketing campaign to convince someone to go out and get a brain injury.*"

So yeah, good things are happening, but just remember what Big Pharma's commitment to patient health was. If you need another clue as to how the industry thinks, here's a cut and paste from an article I came across while hopping around the internet reading about the sleeping pill business:

Another drug on the market, Rozerem, the world's first non-addictive sleeping pill from the Japanese company Takeda, could very well get overlooked given the strength of the blockbuster sedatives, analysts say. Amusa has projected $300 million in sales by 2010, and said the fact it's not addictive is hurting sales.

Someone probably got fired over the fact he was behind bringing a sleeping pill to market that wasn't addictive. Idiot.

*The figures are real. The quotes are my interpretation of what Jean-François Dehecq would say in an alternate universe where no one lied.

An Open Letter To My Cat.

You've been here a few years now, and you may have noticed that there are parts of our home that are carpeted and parts that are not. Do you think that next time you cough up a hairball, that maybe....just maybe..... you might just consider leaving it somewhere on the 50% of the place that has bare floor? Just once? It might make for a nice change.

And what's with the way you chew my stuff? Holes in my clothes, bedsheets, furniture, even your own freakin' bed. I thought that kind of shit was for dogs. I was very clear at the SPCA that I wasn't interested in a dog, so seriously, there's no need for any inferiority type complex.

I also shower every day, making you licking my arm in the middle of the night when I'm trying to sleep completely unnecessary.

On the other hand, meeting me at the door when I come home from a day of dealing with pill-seeking barbarians is kinda cool. Feel free to continue this.

And the way you fall asleep on your back with your paw raised in what looks like a black-power salute is pretty funny, although I doubt you're aware of the political statement you're making.

...............oh hell...........never mind you furry freak. Just please stop chewing on the electrical cords. You might end up killing us both.

Is Anyone Surprised About This? Anyone?

Some days I feel like a broken record. Or for you kids out there, an Ipod that keeps playing a tiny part of an audio file over and over. From the New Jersey Star-Ledger:

WASHINGTON -- The makers of 193 brand-name drugs most commonly used by older Americans raised their prices on average 6.3 percent during the 12 months ending in June, outpacing the 3.8 percent inflation rate for the period, according to a survey conducted by AARP.

If we go to the AARP report, we'll see that this is nothing new. Since 2000, the general rate of inflation has been exactly 20%. Brand name drug prices have gone up during the same time period by 41.3%, more than twice the rate of general inflation. How does Big Pharma justify this? They accuse the AARP of lying without providing any proof, then try a bit of razzle dazzle to make you believe their accusation. Back to the Star-Ledger:

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the trade group for the big brand-name drug makers, said "AARP's allegations about pharmaceutical inflation are inaccurate."

There's the accusation of lying, and here's how they back it up:

PhRMA Vice President Ken Johnson said other studies have shown prescription drug price hikes have been in line with overall medical inflation since 2003.

"Wow", some of you might be saying, "it really does look like AARP is full of crap." Others of you might have caught the razzle-dazzle wordplay that is supposed to mislead you. It's one word in the above quote, "medical." Ken Johnson pulled it out of his ass to throw you off the "we're ripping you off" trail. The AARP is comparing drug prices to the overall rate of inflation. Ken Johnson says they are inaccurate by comparing drug prices to medical inflation. Ken Johnson either:

1) Is too dumb to know the difference between overall and medical inflation, or

2) Was hoping you wouldn't notice how he tried to back up his accusation of AARP lies by being misleading himself.

I called the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America at (202) 835-3460 to try and find out which one it was. I got a recording of a nice-sounding lady who invited me to leave a message. She also promised to return my call. She never did. So not only do they lie about other groups being liars, they're kinda rude.

Just in case you think these price increases are necessary to fund all that complicated research Big Pharma does, I'll throw in two more things:

Separately, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and a group of Democrats released a report that found profits for the 10 largest pharmaceutical companies jumped more than $8 billion during the first half of 2006, a 27 percent increase.

Seems like the extra money is flowing right into the bottom line, because new drugs aren't happening. Twenty drugs were cleared by the Food & Drug Administration last year, down from 53 a decade ago.

Paying more, getting less. It's a wonderful Big Pharma type of world.

The Mislabeled, Misunderstood Aisle 4

The fourth aisle in our store has an identity crisis. While it is secure about who it is, being right there where it feels it needs to be, between aisles 3 and 5, my employer decided to add a bit of mystery to it's life and has left the actual number off of the sign that hangs from the ceiling telling the weary consumer what is offered on it's shelves. Those of you that don't work with the general public would be surprised how much effort this adds to the average shoppers experience. Those of you who do probably have a good idea of the chaos that ensues.

Unfortunately aisle 4 is where most of the OTC medicines are found, which means that it often falls to me to guide the public around this obstacle placed in the way of the people's money making it's way to corporate headquarters. I start off with the simplest explanation, always hoping against hope that it will work. "It's on aisle 4, on the right hand side on the bottom shelf"

It never does. invariably the customer will look to the right at the big number "3", then to the left, see the big number "5", and immediately be befuddled.

"The aisle without a number, right hand side on the bottom shelf" says the helpful drugnazi, while simultaneously noticing that his tech has mistakenly typed a prescription for Wellbutrin XL for Wellbutrin SR. Roughly half the customers will be able to take it from here. The rest will go to step 3. "The aisle right in front of us, on the right hand side on the bottom shelf" The "right in front of us" sometimes will sink in, but nothing else. The person will then wander down aisle 4, looking to their left at a shelf above eye level.

I would go out and help if I had time and I cared, but I don't and I don't. I'm more worried about making sure the form of Wellbutrin your doctor actually prescribed is the form that makes it in your bottle. I'm funny about that. Filling prescriptions correctly. Besides, it's funny to watch you wander about in a clueless daze while I'm taking a phone call from someone who wants to know the name of "that pill that will make me pass a drug test". The caller is thinking of golden seal. It doesn't work. He'd buy it anyway if he could find it.

It's down aisle four.

This Just In: Big Pharma Keeping The Drugnazi Awake With their Corruption.

I was on my way to a well-deserved good nights sleep when I came across this story. I know that you, the general public, craves nothing more than evidence of drug company sliminess, so at the cost of a few winks, here it is:

In the biggest tax settlement in U.S. history, the drug giant GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C. has agreed to pay $3.4 billion to the federal government in a case with tax implications for other multinational corporations.

GlaxoSmithKline, based in London with a U.S. headquarters in Philadelphia, said it was settling to avoid a far bigger potential hit from allegations that it undervalued its U.S. profit on nine products - including the heartburn medicine Zantac and the asthma drug Advair - between 1989 and 2005.

It seems that GSK, which derives much of it's profit from adding letters like CR, SR, or XL after the names of products shortly before they lose patent protection, had a little scheme in which it would book revenue in low tax countries where it operated while attributing expenses to high tax ones, regardless of where the revenue and expenses were actually generated.

Of course the payment of the biggest tax settlement in history is in no way evidence that they are slimy, corrupt, unethical greedheads. Paxil CR would be all the evidence you need in that regard.

I'm throwing this in for fun, then I'm going to bed, from the GSK website:

It is particularly important that we operate to high ethical standards, act responsibly and comply with the law.

We are fully committed to ensuring that all our business practices meet high standards and that our employees behave ethically and honestly.

I am shocked.....shocked I tell you...at the blatant disregard for corporate policy GSK's conduct in this tax matter represents, and I know you are as well. Goodnight.