Vioxx Reapproved by FDA Panel Members With Ties to Drug Companies 

Recently, the FDA convened a panel of experts to make a decision on wether to allow Vioxx to re-enter the market after it was withdrawn recently when research discovered it more than doubled the risk of heart attack.  This panel was also to consider the other drugs in this class called Cox-2 inhibitors as to wether they should be withdrawn or kept on the market and if warnings should be placed on their labels.

According to an article in the San Franciso Chronicle, ten of the 32 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) drug advisers whose total votes favored the controversial painkillers Celebrex, Bextra and Vioxx had financial ties to the industry. According to public records and disclosures in medical journals, the 10 advisors had recently consulted with the drugs' makers.

Although most (8) of the 10 members said their ties did not influence their votes, had they not voted the advisory committee results would have been as follows:

• 12 to 8 to withdraw Bextra from the market
• 14 to 8 to keep Vioxx off the market

However, the advisors with company ties voted 9 to 1 to keep Bextra on the market and 9 to 1 to bring Vioxx back to the market. Their votes did not significantly influence the decision to keep Celebrex on the market.

It's commonly known that researchers who work with industry serve on FDA advisory panels; the agency says it works to balance expertise with potential conflicts of interest. However, the FDA often keeps such ties secret from the public and experts say studies have shown that money does influence scientific judgments.

The 10 advisors had worked in some capacity for Merck, Voixx's maker, Pfizer, which makes Celebrex and Bextra, or Novartis, which is applying to sell Prexige, a similar drug.

Three votes were taken for each drug. Out of the 30 votes cast by the 10 advisers in question, 28 voted to continue marketing all three drugs. Comparatively, out of the 66 votes cast by the remaining 22 members of the panel, only 37 voted in favor of the drugs.

The FDA said that the committee members were “screened for conflicts of interest according to the same strict ethics guidelines FDA applies to all its advisory committees.''

Merck, which pulled Vioxx from the market in the biggest drug recall to date, has not determined whether they will reintroduce the drug.

In a recent book by the former editor of The New England Journal of Medicine.  The topic was discussed of several drugs in recent years being recalled due to health risks discovered after the drug was on the market.  One possible problem is the program which allows drug companies to pay fees directly to the FDA to speed up the process of drug approval.  This creates an environment where the jobs, of the people approving the safety of the drugs, are paid for by the drug companies themselves.  This conflict of interest leads to a less thorough analysis of the drugs' safety as it is fast tracked to the market, according to the author.

Laughter Therapy

"Doctor, Doctor, You've got to help me - I just can't stop my hands shaking!"
"Do you drink a lot?"
"Not really - I spill most of it!"

 A man speaks frantically into the phone, "My wife is pregnant, and her contractions are only two minutes apart!"
"Is this her first child?" the doctor queries.
"No, you idiot!" the man shouts. "This is her husband!"

 A man walks into a doctor's office. He has a cucumber up his nose, a carrot in his left ear and a banana in his right ear.
"What's the matter with me?" he asks the doctor.
The doctor replies, "You're not eating properly."

 A young woman went to her doctor complaining of pain.
"Where are you hurting?" asked the doctor.
"You have to help me, I hurt all over", said the woman.
"What do you mean, all over?" asked the doctor, "be a little more specific."
The woman touched her right knee with her index finger and yelled, "Ow, that hurts." Then she touched her left cheek and again yelled, "Ouch! That hurts, too." Then she touched her right earlobe, "Ow, even THAT hurts", she cried.
The doctor checked her thoughtfully for a moment and told her his diagnosis, "You have a broken finger."

 A pipe burst in a doctor's house. He called a plumber. The plumber arrived, unpacked his tools, did mysterious plumber-type things for a while, and handed the doctor a bill for $600.
The doctor exclaimed, "This is ridiculous! I don't even make that much as a doctor!."
The plumber quietly answered, "Neither did I when I was a doctor."

 A doctor said to his car mechanic, "Your bill is several times more per hour then we get paid for medical care."
"Yeah, but you see, doc, you always have the same model, it hasn't changed since Adam; but we have to keep up to date with new models coming every year."

A lady rushes into the veterinarian and screams, "I found my dog unconscious and I can't wake him -- do something.
"The vet lays the dog on the examination table and after a few simple tests he says, "I'm sorry, I don't feel a pulse, I'm afraid your dog is dead".The lady can't accept this and says, "No, no, he can't be dead -- do something else." 
The vet goes into the other room, and comes back with a little cat. The cat jumps up on the table and starts sniffing the dog from head to toe. It sniffs and sniffs up and down the dog, then all of a sudden just stops and jumps off the table and leaves. "Well, that confirms it," the vet says, "your dog is dead." The lady is very upset but finally settles down.
"Okay, I guess you're right. How much do I owe you?" The vet says, "That will be $340."  The lady has a fit and asks, "Why is it so much? After all the vet didn't do anything for the dog."

"Well", the vet replied, "it's $40 for the office visit and $300 for the CAT SCAN!"