How Sanofi-Aventis Silenced Its Rooster
4 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // September 8th, 2008 // 7:38 am
You may recall that Sanofi-Aventis recently launched a 15-second ad using a rooster to promote its Ambien sleeping pill, without mentioning the drug. The move is part of a renewed trend toward running so-called unbranded ads that avoid citing a drugmaker or a med, but steer viewers toward web sites where specific info is available. But how did Sanofi-Aventis come up SilenceYourRooster.com? Doug Farrago of The Placebo Journal has the scoop, and more medical insights…
Hat tip to Pharmagossip
Salmon
Well done.
In addition to Viagra (Pfizer) and similar drugs (Cialis - Lilly; Levitra - Schering Plough/Bayer/Glaxo) potentially being able to treat sexual dysfunction due to Prozac (Lilly) by effects on serotonin. Prozac and these similar drugs also are used to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension (i.e. one of the effects of Phen-Fen which is also mediated by effects on serotonin). What’s noteworthy is that Prozax, and Zyprexa (and even more importantly the combination Symbyax) have a warning on the FDA website that these drugs cause pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), and the cardiopulmonary and other symptoms including premature births and neonatal death when women take these drugs for bipolar disorder are also consistent with serotonin effects similar to Phen-fen. Plus Glaxo’s Paxil (paroxetine) also causes cardiac birth defects.
Notice how Lilly published their Zyprexa pediatric bipolar article through Beiderman last fall around the same time I believe as Viagra got marketing exclusivity for Viagra for pediatric PAH, but only in kids with YMRS scores > 30 but NIMH (where Lilly is on the advisory board) has recommended that effectively that little kids with ADHD with YMRS scores of < 10 be treated with these atypical antipsychotics. Now even if this is appropriate which the only publications out there indicate it isn’t still the only doses available are for teenagers and not little kids and this kind of overdosage may increase the cardiac toxicities for these little kids. Now this wouldn’t show up for years like with Vioxx. But initial symptoms might be as simple as shortness of breath, fatigue, nose bleeds.
Boy wouldn’t that be something if all these companies knew about this and were hiding this for years (remember that’s what Fred Hassan helped do with phen-fen in the early 1990’s). But now are going to sell you the treatment for damaging your heart.
As I said before sooner or later I may go to state attorney generals with information on Zyprexa that’s worse than the Diabetes and it’s all right there in the Summary Basis of Approval at http://www.drugs@fda.gov if you know what you’re looking for.
Salmon
Salmon
P.S. Doesn’t anyone wonder about the mechanism behind why Zyprexa caused all those cardiac deaths in the elderly.
Also what did Paul Leber (the Director of the Division of Neuropsychiatric Drug Products at FDA) mean when he warned in the Zyprexa Summary Basis of Approval (see http://www.drugs@fda.gov)about different safety profiles in the 3 cohorts once Zyprexa was on the market. As far as I can see there’s the only way to make 3 cohorts is the adult efficay studies, the elderly efficay studies (which most of the time appears to have been redacted but not always), and the pediatric efficacy studies. And why wasn’t Zyprexa approved in 1996 for psychosis associated with dementia in the elderly and why did FDA attribute all the cardiac deaths to the patients simply being old.
Salmon
Salmon
P.P.S. In my opinion it should be pretty obvious what’s going on for anyone who keeps up with the effects of serotonin receptors and simply examines the publicly available materials.
As I’ve said before everything I say about drugs is based on publicly available materials and my own personal research and requires no insider information.
Salmon
Anne
Salmon, I send everything I can get my hands on re Zyprexa to the US DOJ, Eastern PA, which is secretly negotiating with Lilly - a billion dollars was the figure. I have repeated countlessly that a criminal trial and prison are called for. Judge Weinberg is implying that a criminal trial for fraud is being called for. This would bring some sense of justice of those of us with family members killed by the drug.
Thanks for the information.