Effects of Tamiflu Still Uncertain, Warn Experts, as Roche Continues to Withhold Key Trial Data, Acc

Effects of Tamiflu Still Uncertain, Warn Experts, as Roche Continues to Withhold Key Trial Data, According to New Report

www.sciencedaily.com

Two years after pharmaceutical giant Roche promised the BMJ it would release key Tamiflu trial data for independent scrutiny, the safety and effectiveness of this anti-influenza drug remains uncertain, warn experts.
...
A BMJ investigation, published to coincide with the report, also raises serious concerns about access to drug data, the use of ghost writers in drug trials, and the drug approval process.

(visit the link for the full news article)



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Today, I jump on the anti-Big Pharma bus-ride to ATS.

Frankly, that money-grubbing technocrats and financiers promote their commerce anyway possible isn't enormously surprising... but that for some magical reason the public tolerates the disingenuity of non-disclosure is.

A new report by the Cochrane Collaboration says Roche's refusal to provide full access to all its data leaves critical questions about how well the drug works unresolved.

And why, pray-tell, would a company NOT wish to demonstrate through it's trial data 'how well the drug works?'

...Tamiflu has become the mainstay of influenza treatment in the UK. It has also made it onto the World Health Organisation's list of Essential Medicines and Roche's claims continue to be supported by influential health agencies.

The Cochrane researchers set out to test Roche's claim that Tamiflu prevented complications and reduced the number of people needing hospital treatment. But their investigation was hampered by Roche's refusal to provide all of its trial data for analysis. The team obtained some clinical study reports from the European Medicines Agency (EMA), but found inconsistencies with published reports and possible under-reporting of side effects.

When previously questioned by the BMJ, Roche also admitted that some of the published papers had been ghost written.

Let's see.... Super-popularity among prescribing medical professionals in the UK, the UN basically calls it "essential"... but the submitted reports were inconsistent, and admittedly ghost-written.....

Ummm.... are we learning yet?

...Meanwhile, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has reviewed the Tamiflu trial programme in perhaps more detail than anyone outside of Roche, chose not to review the largest ever trial of Tamiflu when considering the drug for approval. It states that "Tamiflu has not been shown to prevent such complications [serious bacterial infections]."

However, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continue to cite key published trials of Tamiflu, claiming a reduced risk of influenza complications, even after Roche admitted that some of these trials have been ghost written....

Is it me? Is this not a clear enough indication of a separate set of rules for mega-transnational corporations than for humans? Why would the industry insiders working at the FDA and CDC foist this upon us?

People wonder why there is so much hatred of the corporate machinery now occupying the halls of government power.... yet these stories seem 'overlooked.'

Roche maintain they provided the Cochrane team with enough information to conduct their evaluation, but the Cochrane team say this is not the case. Dr Peter Doshi from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine says: "In the BMJ in December 2009, Roche promised full study reports to any legitimate investigators. They have not provided a single full study report to Cochrane, despite our repeated requests."

Enjoy the read....




www.sciencedaily.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Hey mod there is a tread on this already today I was just on it like 20 min ago . Mind you this is much better laid out. I saw this story on the news last night saying that it wasn't as effective as promised . Not really a big suprise with how little it was actually tested. source

reply to post by freedomSlave


Thanks for the additional link, I searched before and after and still cant find the thread you reference... must be me.

Can you post a link to it for me please?

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Never mind - I found it in Diseases and Pandemics... but since this is Breaking Alternative News we can leave it here for those who don't frequent that forum.

I got Tamiflu from my doctor once...and I'll tell you what.... I was so sick from taking it--that I felt worse than I did before I took it (and I was really sick!) Seriously---there was something seriously noxious about that medication and I knew---a huge gut instinct--to not take it again the next day...or ever.

I was cleaning out the cupboard the other day and came across the package and I threw it out. The memory was still powerful enough that I felt sick just looking at it.

Not a good experience at all.

reply to post by Maxmars


Max, great comments. thanks!

What I remember from the Swine Flu days...the government bought up large quantities of
Tamiflu....and also remember Tamiflu has about a three year shelf life.

So....I imagine that the real info wont be released until the damage control has been
done. Tamiflu, ineffective at best, harmful at worst. What a total scam by Big Pharma,
and its revolving door buddies in the FDA.

I am gratefull for modern medicine
don't get me wrong.

20% of BIG Pharma medicine
is consisted of truely life
saving medicine.

The other 80% is where crap
like this goes..

This isn't specifically about their crappy, useless drug, Tamiflu, but I'd like share something about Roche.

Many years ago close relatives lived in the small NJ town where their headquarters is located ... for 12 years. I lived over a half-hour away, but I would visit them often and sometimes I also helped care for my nieces and nephews in their home when the kids were young. One morning I dropped the kids off at their elementary school and introduced myself to their teachers. We started talking and they told me that 11 out of 22 of the teachers in the school (located less than one-mile to Roche's front doors) had been diagnosed with breast cancer over the past 3 years. I later confirmed this fact.

One year later, a relative of mine who lived in this town was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was considered, for a variety of reasons, to be in a low-risk group, but the diagnosis was confirmed. I accompanied her to both her Primary-Care physician and then later, to the local Oncologist. Both doctors told us that the town and the three surrounding towns have unusually high-rates of breast cancer cases, specifically ERP -- Estrogen Receptor Positive breast cancer. They said they didn't know why. The reasons supposedly are unknown. We researched breast cancer stats for the area and county, but came up with zilch ... nothing at all was available.

The doctors did say when they reviewed statistics and charts, the percentage of cases, when compared to surrounding areas spiked over the past years. They said their was 'no known cause'. So, the (ERP) breast cancer rates are literally off the charts in the area and surrounding areas and no one knows why.

I do, however, wonder if maybe the cause is the by-product of the manufacturing of some of their crappy drugs, including Tamoxifen. I have been informed by credible sources that Dioxin mimics Estrogen and high Estrogen levels are responsible for many breast cancers. But, I don't really know if there are high Dioxin levels in the air in that area. We searched and again, we couldn't find any information ... no answers.

By the way, the drug most often prescribed to women diagnosed with breast cancer is Tamoxifen .... manufactured, distributed and sold, by none other than ... Roche Pharma.

Coincidence? ... I think probably not.

I've only had Tamiflu prescribed once. It was only a month or two before the big swine flu scare. I normally wouldn't have filled the prescription due to the cost but I had a death in the immediate family and wanted to avoid as much as possible infecting anyone else and also be able to be a pall bearer. The first signs of that flu showed up around noon Thursday (body ache and fever) were in full force by Friday ( body ache, fever, cough, and chills) when I went to doctor. I was prescribed Tamiflu, Vicodin for aches and fever, a decongestant, and cough suppressant. I made the funeral Sunday. I felt pretty decent by Monday, and no one I live or work with got sick. Others who had the flu around the same time seemed to be more contagious and take longer to recover.

I have no doubts that big pharma would withhold or outright lie about a drug, but my one experience being prescribed tamiflu was actually pretty decent. I have heard that anti-virals like tamiflu are much more effective when taken early in the infection., and can decrease communicability due to lowering the virus load.

I'm much more concerned about the effects of drugs that are administered over a long period of time than something your average person might need once every 3-10 years depending on how often you get the flu.