News Tagged ‘medical ethics

Pfizer and other drug companies fund medical courses

med school 100x100The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently published a comprehensive report that exposes a very questionable relationship between the University of Wisconsin-Madison college of medicine and the drug industry. Using the University of Wisconsin-Madison as an example, the report describes how pharmaceutical companies have infiltrated the nation’s universities by funding physician education courses. Critics argue that the arrangement is unethical; when a college accepts hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars in funds for such classes, the patrons expect something back. So what might appear superficially as a philanthropic gesture is actually an arrangement with lots of strings attached — an arrangement, critics say, that amounts to huge conflicts of interest.

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More veterans enrolled in Chantix study than originally revealed

George J. Lisicki, a Vietnam combat veteran and national commander for the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), had harsh words for the Veterans Administration () today.

“Those in the who failed to properly notify America’s veterans that their medication could produce fatal must resign their positions,” Lisicki said. “If not, then the secretary must take decisive action to terminate their employment.”

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Outcry grows over VA Chantix tests

On Monday ABC News and The Washington Times broke a report on the Veterans Administration testing Pfizer’s smoking cessation drug Chantix on 140 veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The administered the drug to the soldiers without warning them about months-old discoveries linking Chantix to a range of neuropsychiatric behavior and illness, including depression, loss of sleep, vivid dreams, suicidal thoughts, and suicidal actions.

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