Eleven Patients Die in Drug Trial

Eleven patients died during a clinical trial while taking a drug for Alzheimer's disease. The drug, called Aricept, was being tested in patients with vascular dementia, an epidemic chronic disease like Alzheimer's. None of the patients taking a placebo died.

The study was conducted in 9 countries and only included patients with vascular dementia.


Eleven Patients Die in Drug Trial

Eleven patients have died while taking Alzheimer's disease drug Aricept during a clinical trial, Japan's Eisai Co., which makes the medicine, said Thursday. ...There were no deaths among patients who were taking a placebo, said Eisai, which markets Aricept with Pfizer Inc.

The drug, which treats mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease, was being tested in patients with vascular dementia, the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer's disease. ...Applications to expand the use of Aricept to vascular dementia, which is caused by a stroke or diseased blood vessels, are pending in both the United States and Europe, said Eisai spokeswoman Judee Shuler.

Shuler said she could not comment on how the results might affect the status of Aricept.

Some analysts are comparing this situation to Thalidomide, a drug that caused widespread birth defects in the late 1950's and early 1960's.

This drug trial puts a spotlight on the control Big Pharma has internationally and in the FDA.

Hmm this is def not a condiednce something in that drug has fatal side effects damn they need better testing on animals first.

"None of the patients taking a placebo died."

You hid the funniest quote of the day in a very sad article. It sounds like a headline from the Onion.

On topic though, these people were well aware of the risks when the signed up for the trial. The mice and chimps did not.

Originally posted by DaFunk13

On topic though, these people were well aware of the risks when the signed up for the trial.

That's a HUGE assumption.

Frankly, I doubt it. Few people are fully informed about any risks anywhere, including in clinical drug trials. Authorities are assume people a) can't understand complex issues and information, and b) would panic unreasonably if they did understand.

Nah, Phizor is only a few miles from me. I have friends who partake in these things all the time for cash. Its excellent money for a reason. No one is going to give you a few thousand bucks to sit in a room for 10 days and pop pills if there are no risks. I am not saying they thought they would die, but I am sure the papers they signed were broad enough to encompass even death. These drug companies have been poisoning us for years in exchange for money. This is not a new way to rodeo.

Very sad though. I dont mean to sound like a dick. I only wanted to point out all the animals that were probably tested first had no say in the thing, and they definately werent getting a paycheck.

Informed or not - there's NO excuse for this level of fatality in a drug trial.



Study of Alzheimer's Drug Revives Questions on Risk

An unusual number of deaths among patients in a large study of Aricept, the most popular drug to treat Alzheimer's disease, is raising concern among federal drug officials and some disease experts. ...In the study, of 974 patients who suffered from dementia related to heart disease, 11 deaths occurred among the patients taking Aricept, while no deaths occurred among those taking dummy pills.

...experts in Alzheimer's disease said that the new study should not be dismissed and that it might indicate that Aricept and similar drugs increased the risks of heart disease. Because Aricept's benefits in fighting Alzheimer's disease are at best mild, any increase in risk should cause concern, they said. ..."These drugs are well known to slow the heart and constrict the respiratory passage ways," said Dr. Lon Schneider, a professor of psychiatry, neurology and gerontology at the University of Southern California.

...The study's results are similar to those of a study done some years ago on Reminyl, made by Johnson & Johnson, a drug similar to Aricept. In that study, 2,000 patients with early signs of Alzheimer's disease were followed for two years. Far more of the patients given Reminyl died than did those who received placebos, Dr. Schneider said.

Even before this latest news, many physicians recommended against giving Aricept, Reminyl, Exelon and Tacrine — which all act similarly — to Alzheimer's patients because they believed that the drugs did not provide enough benefit to merit their expense or risks. ...A British study last year found that therapy with Aricept does not delay the onset of disability or the need for nursing home care. The researchers concluded that Aricept had "disappointingly little overall benefit" and was not cost-effective.

Only an animal would argue otherwise crow. I only ment that they test that stuff on hundreds of animals who dont sign papers. Its aweful that these people died. I am as anti pharm-corps as it gets. I only believe in HERBAR remedies. (get it?)

My stance is: The pharm companies already own you. They are poisoning us everyday. You still have pepto in your cells from when you were a little kid. ITS NOT GOOD. Its not natural. Its not so much positive science as it is $$$$$. Bitching about this stuff is like "battling cancer under telephone wires."

I wasnt arguing. Not by a long shot. Sorry to come off like that. Its crap....but whaddaya do? Feel free to start the revolution brotha!

There goes "volunteer" test subjects for drug companies.
Next up "secret experiment subjects"

What the hell was in that stuff? How terrible!

A similar thing happening in the UK at the moment:

Six taken ill after drug trials

'They say he needs a miracle'

Drugs volunteer's 'living hell'

Drugs trial men 'are improving'

I feel sorry for all those involved, it's tragic and horrible. But I wouldn't accept that enticing wage. I'd always worry about the possibility of this kind of worst case scenario when weighing up the £2,000 payment no matter who assured me of what.

Originally posted by DaFunk13
On topic though, these people were well aware of the risks when the signed up for the trial. The mice and chimps did not.

Aware of the risks, sure...


Vascular dementia is a degenerative cerebrovascular disease that leads to a progressive decline in memory and cognitive functioning. It occurs when the blood supply carrying oxygen and nutrients to the brain is interrupted by a blocked or diseased vascular system.

www.helpguide.org...

reply to post by soficrow



I just saw an ad for Aricept on television and it really made me mad.

It is a medicine for Alzheimer patients so their target audience is the elderly.

Women are known to outlive their husbands so it is directed at a mans wife.

It pits a woman's love for her husband against the approval and opinion of her grand children.

In the end the old man loses.

Elderly couple at the airport meeting the grandchildren who come running up to them.
"Debbie?" The old man says

Close up of adorable little girl, crestfallen, face screwed into a terrible grimace, apparently near tears looks upon her grandfather, frightened and as if he is a stranger...

"I'm Julie" she wails pitifully looking up toward grandmother for some explanation of this horror.

Grandmother clearly embarrassed.
Looks like she wishes she didn't know the poor old guy. Who stands there looking deranged and dangerous - much like a "child molester".

Subliminal message?

The old man is cracking up. You don't want the kids to think the whole world's gone mad. You must be the strong one here.

It persuasively and deceptively alludes their grand children are going to be negatively impacted and even frightened of their own grandfather.

In order to spare the grand children the almost certain trauma should grandfather forget their name...she is persuaded to get this man medicated and quick.

The last words in the ad are "DON'T WAIT"

DON'T WAIT comes after a hushed, rushed litany of side effects that include stomach bleeding, fainting and nausea....

My mother used to name all three of her kids before she'd hit on the correct child, so this old man forgetting a child's name in the airport is no way indicative of some advanced or impending mental disorder.

Most kids that age would laugh if their grandfather forgot their name.

How many of us forget things every day?

And some women will see this ad and say to themselves..."you know he also forgot our anniversary, he didn't take out the trash, I think the old man may be losing his marbles at that"

I don't know what makes people see an ad like this... and then go on auto pilot, as if in a trance to the doctor and buy this drug for her husband in order to preserve her relationship with her grandchildren...but ad research and a host of psychological factors says - great many will. This is why pharmaceutical companies will use an ad like this in the first place.

I sometimes think the whole system is designed to keep us sick so we feel like we need these drugs.

No one is going to step up and say maybe don't eat all the chemicals and fabricated foodstuffs we're pushing (after all we are the Food AND Drug Association) and maybe you can prevent this disease in the first place.

That would effectively condemn the foodstuffs - In this country everyone has the right to kill - as long as it is perfectly legal.

The media and the government is inadvertently or not in the drug trade.

If you have a drug for something you don't need to promote ways to prevent the onset of a disease...you've got a drug for that.


[edit on 15-3-2010 by rusethorcain]

A damaged or diseased vascular system,
(if it is a contributor to Alzheimer's)
is greatly improved with a combination of Vitamin C,
Bioflavinoids and Rutin
Rutin is apparently the little miracle worker here.
Rutin is found in abundance in buckwheat.

I think timed released niacin can help too.

"Aware of the risks, sure..."

Correct. Most individuals with dementia are not aware of their names, do not know how to use a toilet or get dressed, where their house is located, etc.

These drugs do absolutely nothing except earn big bucks for big pharma. They may give the patient some days where they are lucid, however, in time, the disease advances to the point where the patient requires full time care in a nursing home.

It is an absolutely wicked disease, and for big pharma to market their products as something which will keep the patient's family together, is nothing short of pure evil. Eventually, it is not dementia which leads to the death of the patient, but complications from the disease.

reply to post by SphinxMontreal


I totally agree.

It isn't so much the bad drug to me. People are aware of what they are taking, if they do the research but, this advertising is clearly and unashamedly directed at women -threatening the welfare of her grandchildren and pitting it against her regard for her husband.

This is not only despicable, it is sinister.

What is this.... a cartel?