http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jun/04/swine-flu-experts-big-pharmaceutical
The end results of a conflict of interest.
World wide taxpayer rape
Trio of scientists who urged stockpiling had previously been paid, says report
Scientists who drew up the key World Health Organisation guidelines advising governments to stockpile drugs in the event of a flu pandemic had previously been paid by drug companies which stood to profit, according to a report out today.
An investigation by the British Medical Journal and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the not-for-profit reporting unit, shows that WHO guidance issued in 2004 was authored by three scientists who had previously received payment for other work from Roche, which makes Tamiflu, and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), manufacturer of Relenza.
City analysts say that pharmaceutical companies banked more than $7bn (£4.8bn) as governments stockpiled drugs. The issue of transparency has risen to the forefront of public health debate after dramatic predictions last year about a swine flu pandemic did not come true.
Showing posts with label Roche. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roche. Show all posts
Friday, June 4, 2010
Monday, August 10, 2009
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/swine-flu/6004313/Children-should-not-be-given-Tamiflu-Oxford-researchers.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/swine-flu/6004313/Children-should-not-be-given-Tamiflu-Oxford-researchers.html
Anti-viral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza, reduce the length of time children are ill with flu by about one day and can cause vomiting as a common side effect, Oxford researchers found.
Vomiting is more dangerous in children than in adults as it can rapidly lead to dehydration and admission to hospital, they said.
Also the drugs had little or no effect on asthma flare-ups, ear infections or the likelihood of a child needing antibiotics meaning on balance the medicine does more harm than good in otherwise healthy children, the authors said.
It comes after research last week showed that Tamiflu reduced the length of flu in adults by just half a day.
Together the findings will question whether the Government's policy of stockpiling enough antiviral drugs for 80 per cent of the population was a waste of money. The exact cost of the stockpile has been kept secret for 'commercial reasons' but is expected to run to tens of millions of pounds.
Countries around the world have stockpiled around 50m doses of Tamiflu, made by Roche, for use during a flu pandemic.
Tamiflu has also been linked to side effects such as
Anti-viral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza, reduce the length of time children are ill with flu by about one day and can cause vomiting as a common side effect, Oxford researchers found.
Vomiting is more dangerous in children than in adults as it can rapidly lead to dehydration and admission to hospital, they said.
Also the drugs had little or no effect on asthma flare-ups, ear infections or the likelihood of a child needing antibiotics meaning on balance the medicine does more harm than good in otherwise healthy children, the authors said.
It comes after research last week showed that Tamiflu reduced the length of flu in adults by just half a day.
Together the findings will question whether the Government's policy of stockpiling enough antiviral drugs for 80 per cent of the population was a waste of money. The exact cost of the stockpile has been kept secret for 'commercial reasons' but is expected to run to tens of millions of pounds.
Countries around the world have stockpiled around 50m doses of Tamiflu, made by Roche, for use during a flu pandemic.
Tamiflu has also been linked to side effects such as
Friday, August 7, 2009
Johann Hari: The hidden truth behind drug company profits
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-the-hidden-truth-behind-drug-company-profits-1767257.html
How your tax dollars are used to rob the poor to aid the rich using a system concocted by those in a position to know better but still use it to every inch of their advantage
This is the story of one of the great unspoken scandals of our times. Today, the people across the world who most need life-saving medicine are being prevented from producing it. Here's the latest example: factories across the poor world are desperate to start producing their own cheaper Tamiflu to protect their populations – but they are being sternly told not to. Why? So rich drug companies can protect their patents – and profits. There is an alternative to this sick system, but we are choosing to ignore it.
To understand this tale, we have to start with an apparent mystery. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has been correctly warning for months that if swine flu spreads to the poorest parts of the world, it could cull hundreds of thousands of people – or more. Yet they have also been telling the governments of the poor world not to go ahead and produce as much Tamiflu – the only drug we have to reduce the symptoms, and potentially save lives – as they possibly can.
In the answer to this whodunnit, there lies a much bigger story about how our world works today.
Our governments have chosen, over decades, to allow a strange system for developing medicines to build up. Most of the work carried out by scientists to bring a drug to your local pharmacist – and into your lungs, or stomach, or bowels – is done in government-funded university labs, paid for by your taxes.
Drug companies usually come in late in the process of development, and pay for part of the expensive, but largely uncreative final stages, like buying some of the chemicals and trials that are needed. In return, then they own the exclusive rights to manufacture and profit from the resulting medicine for years. Nobody else can make it.
Although it's not the goal of the individuals working within the system
How your tax dollars are used to rob the poor to aid the rich using a system concocted by those in a position to know better but still use it to every inch of their advantage
This is the story of one of the great unspoken scandals of our times. Today, the people across the world who most need life-saving medicine are being prevented from producing it. Here's the latest example: factories across the poor world are desperate to start producing their own cheaper Tamiflu to protect their populations – but they are being sternly told not to. Why? So rich drug companies can protect their patents – and profits. There is an alternative to this sick system, but we are choosing to ignore it.
To understand this tale, we have to start with an apparent mystery. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has been correctly warning for months that if swine flu spreads to the poorest parts of the world, it could cull hundreds of thousands of people – or more. Yet they have also been telling the governments of the poor world not to go ahead and produce as much Tamiflu – the only drug we have to reduce the symptoms, and potentially save lives – as they possibly can.
In the answer to this whodunnit, there lies a much bigger story about how our world works today.
Our governments have chosen, over decades, to allow a strange system for developing medicines to build up. Most of the work carried out by scientists to bring a drug to your local pharmacist – and into your lungs, or stomach, or bowels – is done in government-funded university labs, paid for by your taxes.
Drug companies usually come in late in the process of development, and pay for part of the expensive, but largely uncreative final stages, like buying some of the chemicals and trials that are needed. In return, then they own the exclusive rights to manufacture and profit from the resulting medicine for years. Nobody else can make it.
Although it's not the goal of the individuals working within the system
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