Short Takes

A central figure behind the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) claims disputing the link between vaccines and autism and other neurological disorders has disappeared after officials discovered massive fraud involving the theft of millions in taxpayer dollars. Danish police are investigating psychiatrist Dr. Poul Thorsen, who has vanished along with almost $2 million. Thorsen was a leading member of a Danish research group that wrote studies supporting CDC’s claims that mercury-laden vaccines were safe for children. His study has long been criticized as fraudulent. [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-f-kennedy-jr/central-figure-in-cdc-vac_b_494303.html]


Approximately 1.5 million people in the United Kingdom are addicted to prescription or over-the-counter drugs, many of which were legally acquired. In July, the Department of Health launched a review of the problem, after the House of Commons All-Party Group on Drug Misuse called for greater awareness, better doctor training and more treatment options. Although medical guidelines discourage doctors from prescribing benzodiazepine tranquilizers such as Valium for more than four weeks at a time, many patients still become addicted. [http://www.naturalnews.com/028375_painkillers_addiction.html]


The study data from the National Institute of Mental Health’s Sequence Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression, or STAR*D trial, did not report a “real-world” number for remission rate of depressed patients given several different prescriptions trying to find one that “worked.” It’s a number that tells of a “theoretical” remission rate, and it hides the fact that many remitted patients then quickly relapse. [http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mad-in-america/201003/fact-checking-the-new-yorker]


GlaxoSmithKline has paid out close to $1 billion to resolve lawsuits involving Paxil since the drug came on the market in 1992, according to a December 14, 2009 Bloomberg report. But the billion dollars does not cover the more than 600 Paxil birth defect cases currently pending in multi-litigation in Pennsylvania.

Click here to read the whole article.

This entry was posted in Big Muddy River Newsletter. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply