Pill Mill Monitor

Big Pharma's Marketing of Painkillers Launches Senate Probe

Kay Van Wey — Thu, 10 May 2012 08:36:52 -0600

Accidental overdosing on prescription drugs now kills more people in some states than car accidents. Now, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee is investigating the marketing practices of pharmaceutical companies that make highly addictive narcotic painkillers.

The Senate Finance Committee launched the investigation to help ensure consumers are not being misled into thinking that these opioid painkillers are completely safe.

“Overdoses on narcotic painkillers have become epidemic, and it’s becoming clear that patients aren’t getting a full and clear picture of the risks posed by their medications,” said Senator Max Baucus, who along with Senator Charles E. Grassley has launched the investigation.

Non-Profits Promote Pain Drugs

Pain advocacy organizations have popped up in the past decade, including groups like the American Pain Foundation, which received nearly 90 percent of its funding in 2010 from the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. These groups highlight the benefits of opioid painkillers and downplay the risks, which include addiction.

The American Pain Foundation has decided to dissolve amid the allegations that it has illegally marketed painkillers. However, the group has cited the decision to dissolve based on operational and financial problems.

The Senate investigation comes just months after Purdue Pharma (maker of the highly addictive Oxycontin) announced plans to release a painkiller 10 times stronger than Vicodin. The painkiller contains pure hydrocodone, which doctors believe will lead to more accidental overdoses.

Three pharmaceutical companies are being investigated in the Senate probe, including Purdue Pharma, Endo Pharmaceuticals, and Johnson & Johnson. Five different pain support groups are also being investigated, including the American Pain Foundation, the American Academy of Pain Medicine, the American Pain Society, the Wisconsin Pain & Policy Studies Group, and the Center for Practical Bioethics.

Even the Joint Commission, a nonprofit hospital accreditation group, is being investigated for its partnership with Purdue Pharma. The group not only brought pain management to hospitals’ attention as a national priority in 2001, but also distributed to those hospitals pain education materials promoting Oxycontin. The group already pled guilty in 2007 to criminal charges that it understated the risk of addiction with Oxycontin.

Experts Voice Concern about Painkiller Addiction

Narcotic painkillers are currently the most widely prescribed drugs in the United States, despite their classification as highly addictive substances akin to illegal drugs.

Sales of painkillers have risen nearly 300 percent since 1999, and in proportion, the number of deaths due to painkiller overdoses has also risen. Prescription painkillers are now available even to high school students who have held “pill parties” in which they bring different medications they find around their homes, including painkillers, and take pills without knowing what those pills are.

Even newborns are being born addicted to painkillers. The Journal of the American Medical Association recently released a report finding that newborns are being born with drug withdrawal at a rate five times that of levels in 2000.

Pain awareness groups have “helped usher in an epidemic that’s killed 100,000 people by promoting aggressive use of opioids. What makes this especially disturbing is that despite overwhelming evidence that their effort created a public health crisis, they’re continuing to minimize the risk of addiction,” said Dr. Andrew Kolodny, chairman of psychiatry at Maimonides Medical Center in New York.

Since the 1990s, big pharma has marketed these painkillers to more groups of people. Before, the pills were largely used to help cancer patients, but companies like Purdue Pharma have sold doctors and consumers on broader uses for the pills, including arthritis and back pain. Senators Baucus and Grassley noted “There is growing evidence pharmaceutical companies that manufacture and market opioids may be responsible, at least in part, for this evidence by promoting misleading information.”

While these painkillers do have their uses in some patients, the overprescribing of these pills is clearly out of control. Oftentimes, doctors prescribe the pills without fully explaining to the patient the risk of addiction and overdose. Critics have said that many doctors need to be retrained on when it's appropriate to prescribe narcotic painkillers.

I will continue to post updates about this and other pill mill news. For the latest information on prescription painkillers and pill mills, subscribe to my blog.

Raid on Dallas Pill Mill yields more details

Kay Van Wey — Thu, 03 May 2012 08:11:32 -0600

The name of the physician who allegedly owned and operated the South Dallas Pill Mill has been released. According to the Texas Medical Board, Leeroy McCurley, M.D. is a family practice physician. Dr. McCurley appears to have no specialty training whatsoever in pain management. Dr. McCurley is not board certified in family practice or any other medical specialty, which according to many doctors is the "gold standard" for physician competence.

In my experience, it is not uncommon to see family practice doctors self-declare themselves as pain management specialists. And, to my knowledge, there is no requirement that a doctor receive any type of special training in pain management in order to prescribe any quantity or combination of potentially lethal narcotics.

However, let's be mindful of the fact that based upon what we know thus far, it wouldn't appear that there was any medicine being practiced at this clinic. By all accounts it appears to be a storefront drug dealing operation, which operated for well over a year in plain sight.

I have often questioned the motives of physicians who like Dr. McCurley become involved in a criminal operation like what has been alleged in this case. We really don't have to look much further than what was reported in the newspaper as $2 million dollars per year in cash.

Even though we do see the occasional raid like this one, there still remains the potential for enormous cash profits with very low probability of arrest and prosecution. Therefore, as long as white coat drug dealing is profitable the pill mills will flourish.. People will continue to die and the prescription drug epidemic we have in this country will continue to claim lives.

Dallas Pill Mill Raided

Kay Van Wey — Tue, 01 May 2012 17:29:17 -0600

On May 1, 2012, local and federal officials descended upon a Dallas medical clinic suspected of operating as a pill mill.

Details are lacking at this time about the identity of the doctor accused of operating a Dallas Pill Mill. However, it has been reported that this doctor has previously been sued and may have also operated a similar practice in Grand Prairie, Texas.

I am anxiously awaiting the news of this clinic and doctor and will hopefully have more to report soon. It is good to see Law enforcement acting on clinics like these that seem to operate their questionable practices in broad daylight.

To read more about how to spot a pill mill, click here to read an article I previously wrote on the subject.

Dangerous Drug Spotlight: Pradaxa Can Cause Fatal Bleeding

Kay Van Wey — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:37:30 -0600

When we are given a prescription for a serious condition by our doctors, we assume that the doctor knows best and would not prescribe a dangerous medication. Unfortunately, dangerous medications are often approved with little testing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and doctors can be influenced by big pharma to prescribe a certain medication, despite the lack of studies on it.

The latest controversial drug is Pradaxa, which is an anticoagulant used to treat atrial fibrillation, a condition that often affects elderly patients. Pradaxa is similar to Warfarin. Both drugs carry a similar risk of bleeding, but patients who take Pradaxa do not have to undergo the frequent blood tests required for Warfarin.

A major difference between Pradaxa and Warfarin is that unlike Warfarin, Pradaxa has no known antidote, so if a patient on Pradaxa experiences bleeding, his doctor can do little to help stop the bleeding. Recent reports suggest that elderly patients who take Pradaxa and suffer minor falls have an increased risk of experiencing a serious bleeding event.

Since its introduction on the market in 2010, Pradaxa has caused an estimated 260 deaths worldwide due to serious bleeding events. Regulators knew that Pradaxa had no known antidote when they approved the drug, and the FDA continues to allow the drug to be sold, despite incoming reports of serious bleeding events.

Emergency room doctors and surgeons are especially worried about Pradaxa’s dangerous side effects. “We have noted on multiple occasions patients who have ‘bleeding out’ from Pradaxa and our hands are tied. They’re bleeding out all over and there’s absolutely nothing we can do about it…I’m helpless and hopeless when it comes into my emergency room,” says Dr. Bryan Cotton, a trauma surgeon at Houston’s Memorial Hermann Hospital.

The FDA has not said when it will make a decision regarding the safety of Pradaxa, but diligent trial lawyers across the United States are filing lawsuits to hold Pradaxa’s manufacturer accountable for its dangerous drug. Go to www.vanweylaw.com for the latest news on Pradaxa bleeding events and upcoming Pradaxa lawsuits.

Weight Loss Drug Qnexa Linked to Topamax Birth Defects

Kay Van Wey — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 09:51:56 -0600

Proposed weight loss drug Qnexa has not yet been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but if approved, thousands of children could suffer Qnexa birth defects.

Qnexa Contains Dangerous Drug Topamax

Qnexa is a combination of two drugs that are known to aid in weight loss--Phentermine and Topamax. Phentermine is a stimulant that is used to suppress appetite. Topamax, generic name topiramate, is a medication approved to treat seizures and prevent migraines.

Doctors have already been prescribing Topamax to women to aid their weight loss. But many women currently taking Topamax are of child-bearing age. Studies have found that even when women take birth control pills to prevent pregnancy, Topamax reduces the effectiveness of these hormonal contraceptives, increasing the chances that a woman will get pregnant.

Many women who do become pregnant while taking Topamax do not realize that they are pregnant until months after they have been taking the drug. Additionally, Topamax can cause serious birth defects even if discontinued after the first trimester.

FDA Committee Endorses Qnexa

The FDA's Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee voted on February 28, 2012 to endorse Qnexa. Qnexa had previously been rejected by the FDA because of its potential to cause birth defects like cleft lips and cleft palates, which can severely affect a baby's growth and development.

Topamax use during pregnancy can increase the risk that a child will have a birth defect by a factor of two to five. But experts think the FDA will still approve Qnexa despite the risk. In the past decade, the FDA has faced intense pressure from healthcare providers to approve a weight loss drug and reduce the high rate of obesity in the United States. Some experts even say the FDA should approve a potentially unsafe weight loss drug, because reversing obesity will outweigh any drug's risk.

Millions of Women May Take Qnexa

If Qnexa is approved as a long-term weight loss drug, potentially millions of women of child-bearing age may take the drug as a way to lose weight. But Qnexa may also cause birth defects in thousands of children. Yet, big pharma will still yield profits of anywhere between $1 billion and $3 billion for this new lifestyle drug.

Qnexa has already been linked to heart palpitations, memory loss, and suicidal thoughts, along with birth defects. If approved, Qnexa could become the next dangerous drug to hit the market.

To learn more about lifestyle drugs, big pharma, and the FDA, download my free ebook Prescription Drug Safety: 7 Secrets the Pharmaceutical Industry Does NOT Want You to Know at www.vanweylaw.com.

Elderly Pradaxa Patients Most at Risk for Serious Bleeding Events

Kay Van Wey — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 09:25:33 -0600

When an 83 year-old man went to University Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah after falling at home and suffering minor trauma, his doctors never imagined he would suffer a Pradaxa serious bleeding event.

Minor Trauma Can Cause a Pradaxa Serious Bleeding Event

A case report featured in the Journal of Neurosurgery details that the 83 year-old man had been prescribed Pradaxa just a month before by his primary care physician who had diagnosed him with atrial fibrillation. Upon arriving at the hospital, the man exhibited no signs of impairment, and a brain scan showed that he had only small hemorrhages of little concern.

Within just two hours of being admitted to the hospital though, the man’s condition began to deteriorate. New brain scans showed he was suffering from extensive intracranial hemorrhaging. His doctors could do little but stand by and watch as he slipped into a coma.

The neurosurgeons who treated the man wrote this case report to alert other healthcare providers to the fact that Pradaxa has no known antidote. In fact, the doctors attempted to stop the hemorrhaging in the 83 year-old by giving him intravenous fluids and recombinant factor VIIa, which is often used to clot blood, but both treatments were ineffective.

The authors noted that because Pradaxa is broken down through the kidneys, dialysis may be the only way to reverse the effects of Pradaxa, but because bleeding events happen so suddenly, dialysis is often ineffective to stop the bleeding.

What is Pradaxa?

Pradaxa is an anticoagulant that is widely prescribed to prevent strokes and blood clots in elderly patients with atrial fibrillation. But these elderly patients are often unstable on their feet and are prone to falling, which can cause minor trauma and major hemorrhaging. Experts worry that as Pradaxa is more widely prescribed to older, frailer patients, the number of serious bleeding events will increase.

Worldwide, Pradaxa has been linked to 260 deaths as of November 2011. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a safety communication for Pradaxa in December 2011, saying that it would study Pradaxa’s side effects to determine the risk of severe bleeding. In the United States, an estimated 120 deaths have been blamed on Pradaxa serious bleeding events.

While the FDA studies these adverse events, trial lawyers across the nation are standing up for consumer rights, asking manufacturer Boehringer Ingelheim for answers. Pradaxa lawsuits have been filed in U.S. district courts across the nation, alleging that Boehringer Ingelheim knew about the bleeding risks, but provided no antidote and continued to market and sell Pradaxa anyway.

To learn more about Pradaxa serious bleeding events and get the latest news on Pradaxa, visit www.vanweylaw.com. Pradaxa is not the first dangerous drug to be approved by the FDA, and it certainly will not be the last. To learn more about dangerous drug approvals, download my free ebook Prescription Drug Safety: 7 Secrets the Pharmaceutical Company Does Not Want You to Know at www.vanweylaw.com.

Diabetes Drug Victoza--Weight Loss Miracle Drug or Dangerous Drug?

Kay Van Wey — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 11:10:30 -0600

Video Source: khou.com

Victoza was first widely publicized and marketed when southern chef Paula Deen made the announcement that she is a diabetic. Simultaneous with her announcement, Deen endorsed Victoza, saying that the drug has helped her control her diabetes.

But what Deen didn’t know was that Victoza comes with a hefty warning that patients can develop thyroid cancer while taking the drug.

Weight Loss in a “Little Blue Pen”

Nearly two months after Deen’s not so shocking admission, she now says she has lost weight and dropped two sizes thanks to Victoza. That’s surprising, seeing as how Deen was photographed shortly after her announcement eating a very large cheeseburger while on a cruise. But part of Deen’s weight loss could also be due to the fact that she has cut her portion sizes in half and has started walking for 30 minutes a day.

While patients taking Victoza have reported experiencing a decreased appetite, the drug's ability to cause weight loss is difficult to predict. Victoza manufacturer Novo Nordisk says that weight loss is just one of the many “beneficial” side effects of the drug. Less talked about are the dangerous side effects of Victoza, which include thyroid cancer, pancreatitis, and severe stomach problems.

Although Victoza is only approved to treat Type-2 diabetes, some critics of the drug are concerned that doctors could legally prescribe it to patients who are borderline diabetic to help them lose weight and fend off diabetes. But whether the benefits of the drug outweigh its dangerous risks remains to be seen.

Similar Dangerous Diabetes Drugs

Other diabetes drugs that are being praised for their weight loss inducing side effects include Byetta, Bydureon, and Januvia. Yet all of these drugs come with warnings of serious side effects similar to those of Victoza.

For instance, Byetta can cause pancreatitis, which is an inflammation of the pancreas that can be painful and can lead to death if not treated. Bydureon can cause a type of thyroid cancer known as medullary thyroid cancer (MTC), the symptoms of which are swelling or lumps in the neck, hoarseness, trouble swallowing, and shortness of breath. Additionally, Bydureon can cause pancreatitis, dehydration leading to kidney problems, and severe stomach problems. Januvia can cause serious side effects like pancreatitis, kidney problems, and hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar.

Additionally, diabetes drug Actos has been shown to cause bladder cancer.

Big Pharma Markets Diabetes Drugs as Lifestyle Drugs

This recent development that Victoza can cause weight loss is just another tool in big pharma’s arsenal to get people to buy their drugs. Big pharma markets drugs like Victoza, Byetta, Bydureon, and Januvia as lifestyle drugs that will allow people to live their lives as they always have—eating foods high in fat and sugar and not exercising regularly. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a “miracle diet drug” and for some patients, the benefits of taking these drugs may be outweighed by the risks the drugs pose, like thyroid cancer.

To learn more about the secrets of big pharma, download my FREE ebook Prescription Drug Safety: 7 Secrets the Pharmaceutical Industry Does NOT Want You to Know at www.vanweylaw.com.

Why You Should be Concerned about Nationwide Drug Shortages

Kay Van Wey — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:47:57 -0600

In recent weeks, news stories about cancer drugs in dangerous short supply have been capturing headlines across the nation. But few people know that cancer drugs are not the only vital drugs in short supply.

Nationwide, hospitals and ambulance companies have had to ration supplies of hundreds of medications used to treat common injuries. Some of the most commonly used drugs in short supply are:

Midazolam & Valium—used to treat seizures
Morphine & Fentanyl—used to treat pain
Zofran—used to treat nausea and vomiting
Benadryl & Epinephrine—used to treat allergic reactions
Mannitol—used to control pressure in patients who have head injuries

In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, paramedics who work for Medstar are using drugs past their expiration dates in some cases, because they simply do not have a stable supply of the medicines. While the drugs can be made by local pharmacists, they typically do not last as long as those provided by the drug companies.

Attempting to address the shortage, President Obama signed an Executive Order just last year in which he directed the FDA to prevent and reduce the number of drug shortages that have been growing over the past few years.

Pharmaceutical companies that manufacture these drugs have cut back manufacturing significantly, arguing that they make little profit on these common drugs. But the Department of Justice has launched an investigation into whether some of these pharmaceutical companies are creating artificial shortages in order to increase demand, and therefore, increase prices. If pharmaceutical companies have been illegally price-gouging or stockpiling medications, they could face criminal charges.

For now, the FDA is taking steps to protect consumers and prevent price gouging by instituting early notification requirements of potential drug shortages. Unfortunately, this may be another case of big pharma putting profits before patients and consumer safety.

To learn more about the pharmaceutical industry, download my FREE ebook Prescription Drug Safety: 7 Secrets the Pharmaceutical Industry Does NOT Want You to Know at www.vanweylaw.com.

Celebrity Endorsements of Dangerous Drugs

Kay Van Wey — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:40:34 -0600

Paula Deen recently endorsed the potentially dangerous diabetes drug Victoza, making headlines that have drawn criticism.

On Victoza's label is a warning that the drug may cause pancreatitis, much like the warnings on other diabetes drugs Byetta and Januvia. Since the drug was approved in 2010, health experts have become increasingly concerned that this drug also increases the risk of pancreatitis.

But Paula Deen is not the only celebrity who has promoted or is currently promoting a potentially dangerous drug. Other celebrities include Paul and Mira Sorvino who have promoted diabetes drug Lantus, which studies have found may double the user’s risk of getting cancer.

And diabetes drugs are not the only pharmaceutical drugs with dangerous side effects. Within the past couple of years, studies have shown that bisphosphonates, like Boniva and Fosamax, cause low impact femur fractures. Many of the patients taking these drugs who suffered femur fractures were doing simple activities at the time of the fracture, including stepping off a curb. Actress Sally Field has appeared on commercials for Boniva since 2006.

In addition, pro-golfer Phil Mickelson suffers from psoriatic arthritis, an autoimmune disease. He is currently endorsing Enbrel, a drug that blocks proteins, which can cause arthritic inflammation. Enbrel and other drugs like it suppress the immune system, putting patients at risk for contracting dangerous infections, including tuberculosis and histoplasmosis. Numerous deaths have been linked to these infections.

Finally, former Olympic champion Bruce Jenner promoted the top-selling arthritis drug Vioxx. But in 2004, Vioxx was recalled after studies found it increased the risk of heart attack. Jenner claimed that he had never been told about the risks.

Unfortunately, some drug companies care more about profits than about the health of patients. To learn more about the secrets of the pharmaceutical industry and deadly side effects, download my e-book, 7 Secrets the Pharmaceutical Industry Does NOT Want You to Know.

DEA Fines Las Vegas Pharmacy in Violation of Federal Drug Laws

Kay Van Wey — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:45:20 -0600

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and U.S. Attorney’s Office in Las Vegas have been working in unison to identify pharmacies violating federal drug laws and hold them accountable for their illegal acts. On February 7, 2012, the work of these two units paid off when Lam’s Pharmacy of Las Vegas agreed to pay a $1 million settlement fine for violations of federal drug laws.

The DEA began investigating Lam’s Pharmacy in 2006, starting with the company’s receipt and distribution of controlled substances. After years of investigation, the DEA took the evidence it had collected to Nevada’s U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden, alleging that Lam’s had violated the Controlled Substances Act.

Lam’s violation of the Controlled Substances Act was a civil violation, rather than a criminal violation. Still, Bogden stresses that “Civil settlements such as this are an extremely important component in our strategy to combat unlawful prescription drug trafficking in Nevada.”

The $1 million settlement is the largest civil settlement under the Controlled Substances Act against a pharmacy that is not a chain-operated pharmacy. Bogden promises to continue to enforce violations of federal drug laws by physicians, pharmacies, and pharmacists both civilly and criminally. The DEA has made clear to pharmacies that they have a corresponding duty not to participate in distributing controlled substances when no valid medical purpose exists.

Although Lam’s did not admit to any wrongdoing or liability, the company has agreed to surrender its DEA registration and pay the settlement within 14 business days. Additionally, Lam’s will be sold, but the business will continue to operate in Las Vegas under new management and a new name.

I would like to congratulate the Justice Department on successfully holding Lam’s Pharmacy accountable for its violations of federal drug laws. I hope that both the DEA and Justice Department will continue to search out pharmacies that are contributing to the pill mill problem in this nation.

To learn more about prescription drug addition, read my article “America’s Growing Addiction” at www.vanweylaw.com.

Serious Bleeding Events Reported in Patients Taking Pradaxa

Kay Van Wey — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:36:58 -0600

Since November 2011, at least 260 deaths worldwide have been linked to new blood thinner Pradaxa. An estimated 1.1 million prescriptions have already been written for Pradaxa, and 371,000 patients are currently taking the drug.

Serious Bleeding Events

Pradaxa was approved by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in October 2010 to reduce the risk of blood clots and strokes in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation. Just over a year after being approved, the FDA issued a safety communication for Pradaxa, warning consumers that patients taking the drug have reported experiencing serious bleeding events.

Symptoms of these adverse events include the following:

Persistent nose bleeding
Unusual gum bleeding
Vomiting or coughing up blood
Bruising
Heavier than normal menstrual bleeding
Red or black stool
Pink or brown urine
Severe or uncontrollable bleeding

The FDA recommends that if you or a loved one experiences any of these symptoms, you seek the help of a health care provider immediately.

Can We Trust the FDA?

Although the FDA is currently investigating claims that Pradaxa has caused serious bleeding, the agency maintains that "[a]t this time, FDA continues to believe that Pradaxa provides an important health benefit when used as directed and recommends that healthcare professionals who prescribe Pradaxa follow the recommendations in the approved drug label.”

The FDA has made statements like this before for drugs that were later proven to indeed be very dangerous. Patients taking Avandia, for example, reported adverse events like heart attacks. The FDA had approved Avandia in 1999 simply because it helped diabetics to control blood sugar levels. But after nearly 47,000 people taking Avandia suffered a heart attack, stroke, or even death, the FDA finally restricted the use of the drug in 2010.

More recently, the FDA has received criticism for allowing experts with conflicts of interest to sit on a panel to determine whether the popular birth control pills Yaz and Yasmin should be taken off the market. At least four of the experts on the panel had received compensation from Yaz and Yasmin’s manufacturer Bayer. All of them voted in favor of keeping the pills on the market.

And it seems as though the FDA may be behind the curve on Pradaxa. Both Japan and Australia have issued safety warnings, linking Pradaxa to serous bleeding events.

To learn more about the pharmaceutical industry and why the FDA approves these dangerous drugs, download my FREE e-book Prescription Drug Safety: 7 Secrets the Pharmaceutical Industry Does NOT Want You to Know at www.vanweylaw.com today.

Pastry Chef Reverses Type-2 Diabetes Diagnosis without Drugs

Kay Van Wey — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:40:16 -0600

Southern chef Paula Deen recently announced that she has type-2 diabetes, which did not surprise many Americans, who for years have watched the chef make dishes loaded with calories, fat, and sugar. With her health announcement, Deen also announced that she was endorsing diabetes drug Victoza, made by drug company Novo Nordisk.

Big Pharma Influences How People View Diabetes

Deen’s partnership with big pharma drew criticism not only from her critics, but also from her fans. Chef Anthony Bourdain has criticized Deen’s cooking for years, and upon learning of her announcement, took to Twitter writing “Thinking of getting into the leg-breaking business, so I can profitably sell crutches later.”

While Deen has said she has changed her eating habits and has cut out the sweet tea, many question whether she really has changed the way she eats or whether she’s simply using Victoza to counteract eating poorly. Either way, her recent partnership sends the message that people can eat what they want, and if they happen to develop diabetes, there’s a drug for that.

Diet & Exercise May Reverse Type-2 Diabetes

Health experts say people with type-2 diabetes don’t necessarily need to take diabetes drugs, many of which have been found to cause bladder cancer, thyroid cancer, and pancreatitis. For many patients, eating better and exercising can reverse a type-2 diabetes diagnosis. Pastry chef Michael Mignano is proof of this.

Mignano spent years sampling his own sugar-filled creations and picking up fast food after a long day at work. By the time he turned 36 years-old, he weighed 500 pounds and had been diagnosed with type-2 diabetes. Realizing the risks he was taking by eating unhealthy, Mignano agreed to go on “Fat Chef,” a new show on Food Network in which chefs like Mignano learn how to eat healthy and exercise.

Since filming, Mignano has lost over 100 pounds and has reversed his type-2 diabetes diagnosis, all without taking pills. “Medicine is great, but it gives you this false sense of healing, but it’s not really doing what it’s supposed to do,” he said in a recent interview with ABC News.

Mignano is the first to admit that working with the food that contributed to his obesity is not easy, and neither is getting into a regular exercise routine. But he says “It just makes me a happier chef, a happier person, which the result, you have happier food.”

Although “Fat Chef” is done filming, Mignano says he plans to stick with his diet and exercise regimen. He hopes to drop his weight down to 250 and stay diabetes free.

Big Pharma’s Influence

For years, major pharmaceutical companies have pushed diabetes drugs on Americans with ever-growing waistlines, sending the message that you can eat whatever bad food you want because a pill will nullify the food’s bad effects. But drugs like Avandia, Actos, and even Paula Deen’s Victoza may be more dangerous than helpful. Avandia was pulled from the U.S. market completely after studies showed it caused heart attacks and death. Actos is still on the market, but has been shown to cause bladder cancer. And Victoza may cause thyroid cancer and acute pancreatitis.

To learn more about how big pharma influences consumers and their doctors, download my free e-book Prescription Drug Safety today at www.vanweylaw.com.

The Paula Deen Principle: Don't Worry, We Have a Pill for That

Kay Van Wey — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:18:50 -0600

“...when ya’all sit down to a simple plate of crisp fried chicken; a fluffy, warm, just-buttered biscuit; a mess of greens cooked down with a bit of ham; and a tall, handsome banana cream pie topped with ice-cold whipped cream afterward, well, you’ll have to agree; there is just nothing better.” Paula Deen, Southern Cooking Bible

Don’t get me wrong, I like Paula Deen. Her down home genuineness is familiar to me, although, I have wondered on occasion if that southern drawl is drawn out just a little more for the cameras.

At my roots, I am a southern lady. I am a baby boomer who grew up in a small town in southwestern Oklahoma. I am a foodie, and I hail from a family that loves to eat. Even before Paula Deen became a household name, my mother used to say that she’d slip in an extra stick of butter into her cheese grits recipe when Dad wasn’t looking. Of course, back then we didn’t really completely understand the health dangers of some of the foods we were eating.

Just a few weeks ago, we enjoyed the holidays with some of Paula’s best recipes, including gooey pumpkin bars for Thanksgiving, chocolate pecan pie for Christmas, and brisket and cheese grits for New Year’s Day.

But the recipes that live on in our family traditions precede the advent of direct-to-consumer advertising by pharmaceutical companies. The Gen X and Gen Y kids have grown up being fed a steady diet of pharmaceutical company ads, sending the message that drugs are good and that a little pill will cure us of our ailments. We are being trained by these pharmaceutical companies and their Madison Avenue advertising agencies to eat whatever we want, including that high fat cheeseburger; after all, we have a pill to lower high cholesterol. And if you develop diabetes, it isn’t a death sentence. We have pills for that. Want to perform better in bed? We have pills for that. Want longer eyelashes? You guessed it…we’ve got a pharmaceutical solution.

Now, as I have said before, there are many good drugs on the market that actually cure disease. There are many drugs on the market that some people can’t live without. But, major pharmaceutical companies are also coming up with a whole new generation of drugs that are more like lifestyle drugs. They don’t cure anything, and they allow people to make really poor choices, thinking that a pill will make up for their bad decisions.

I wish a fraction of the money that was spent peddling drugs for chronic illnesses such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and the like was spent on educating people about how to prevent themselves from getting these conditions in the first place.

What many people don’t know is the high risk and sometimes deadly toll some of these drugs can have on people. For example, the diabetes drug Avandia caused an estimated 83,000 heart attacks between 1999 and 2007, some of which resulted in death. The FDA finally pulled the drug from the market after trial lawyers had filed thousands of lawsuits against Avandia’s maker.

Another popular diabetes drug, Actos, has been pulled from the market in France and Germany after studies show it dramatically increases the risk of bladder cancer. But Actos remains on the market in the United States, putting patients in danger of developing the disease.

I won’t stop buying Paula Deen cookbooks, and I will still make some of her recipes on special occasions. But listen up y’all, I can’t help but wonder why she waited three years to make the announcement that she has type-2 diabetes. Three years Paula? Come on now. Did it take your lawyers and agents that long to strike a 7 figure deal with a pharmaceutical company to endorse its diabetes drug? Was the timing of your announcement pure coincidence when it coincided with the announcement of your endorsement deal with Novo Nordisk?

While I am truly sorry to hear about Paula’s diagnosis, I can’t help but be disappointed in the fact that she has teamed up with a pharmaceutical company to market drugs for people to rely upon, instead of focusing on helping people lead healthier lives. To learn more about how pharmaceutical companies get you to buy their drugs, download my free e-book Prescription Drug Safety: 7 Secrets the Pharmaceutical Industry Does NOT Want You to Know today at www.vanweylaw.com.

FDA's Yaz Panel Influenced by Big Pharma

Kay Van Wey — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:01:31 -0600

Looks like the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) will face pressure to take another vote on the popular birth control pills Yaz and Yasmin as reports surface that at least four of the experts had ties with manufacturer Bayer.

FDA experts met on December 8, 2011, to determine whether Yaz and Yasmin are safe for women to take. The panel voted 15 to 11 to keep the pills on the market, citing that the benefits of the pills outweighed the risk of blood clots.

Experts Received Money from Bayer

Dr. Julia Johnson, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, was one of the experts who served on the Yaz panel and had ties with Bayer. Before 2009, Dr. Johnson was paid by Bayer for work she did for the company.

Additionally, she conducted clinical trials for Berlex, a pharmaceutical company acquired by Bayer, studying the effects of Drospirenone. Drospirenone is the synthetic hormone found in Yaz and Yasmin that health experts believe may be contributing to the increased risk of blood clots in women taking the drugs. That clinical trial involved a hormone replacement therapy, not birth control, and Dr. Johnson has denied any bias for Bayer or its products.

Another expert on the panel who received funding from Bayer was Dr. Anne Burke. On a Bayer internal document, Dr. Burke is listed as a Bayer contraception expert. She received research funding from Bayer, but stated that this occurred several years ago.

Two other experts admitted to having either past financial ties or research ties with Bayer.

All four of the experts voted in favor of Yaz and Yasmin, noting that they believe the risk of blood clots associated with the birth control pills is outweighed by the benefits of the drugs.

One expert who was not allowed on the panel because of an “intellectual conflict of interest” was Dr. Sidney Wolfe of consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. Because he has criticized Yaz as being an unsafe drug in the past, the FDA determined that Dr. Wolfe was too biased to serve on the panel.

This recent development raises the question: To whom is the FDA really catering--consumers or big pharmaceutical companies? Based on the background of the Yaz panel, it would seem that consumers are taking a backseat to pharmaceutical companies with money to hand out.

To learn more about how big pharma influences the FDA, download my free e-book Prescription Drug Safety at www.vanweylaw.com.

Senator Warns FDA about New, Stronger Painkillers

Kay Van Wey — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:37:18 -0600

New York Senator Charles Schumer has seen the effects of prescription drug addiction in his state and has vowed to fight it. He warns that a new painkiller promising to be 10 times stronger than Vicodin could lead to more violent and deadly drug store robberies.

In June 2011, New York resident David Laffer was charged with robbing a Long Island drug store of more than 10,000 highly addictive prescription painkillers and killing four people in the pharmacy. He and his wife had been doctor shopping before the robbery in an effort to get prescription pain pills like hydrocodone, which is highly addictive.

Nationwide, more than 1,800 pharmacies have been robbed in the past three years alone. Long Island alone has experienced a 125 percent increase drug store robberies.

“It’s tremendously concerning that at the same time policymakers and law enforcement professionals are waging a war on the growing prescription drug crisis, new super-drugs could well be on their way, flooding the market. The FDA needs to grab the reins and slow down the stampede to introduce these powerful narcotics” Senator Schumer said.

The new painkillers, which contain pure hydrocodone, could come onto the market as early as 2013, with big pharmaceutical companies looking to cash in on the $10 billion prescription painkiller market. At present, hydrocodone is classified as a strictly controlled Schedule II drug under the 1970 Controlled Substances Act.

Products that contain hydrocodone and another painkiller like acetaminophen fall into Schedule III, which is less strictly controlled. Some experts argue that because of this, highly addictive hydrocodone has been given to more patients, which has increased abuse of the drug and overdose rates in the United States.

A prescription painkiller that contains pure hydrocodone could lead to more accidental overdoses, leading to more emergency room visits. Experts say that already thin hospital emergency room resources could become even more strained if this new drug is allowed on the market. In 2008 alone, emergency room visits related to hydrocodone abuse totaled more than 86,000, up more than 400 percent from 2000 when an estimated 19,000 visits were recorded.

To learn more about prescription drug addiction, read my article “America’s Growing Addiction” at www.vanweylaw.com.

A Tribute to Ken & Esther Scarborough

Kay Van Wey — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 12:17:33 -0600

Far too many families have been devastated by a loved one’s addiction to prescription drugs. Unlike the images we conjure up when we think of a typical drug addict, the faces of prescription drug addiction are the faces of ordinary Americans. One of the casualties of prescription drug addiction was Christopher Scarborough, the 25 year-old son of Ken and Esther Scarborough of Kountze, Texas.

I came to know the Scarboroughs when I represented them in a legal case, which sought to hold the negligent parties accountable for Christopher’s death and to raise awareness about these pill mills, which often masquerade as pain management clinics. In the lawsuit, we alleged that the healthcare providers and clinic owners were nothing more than “drug dealers” who were trying to pass off their “pill mill” as a legitimate pain management clinic.

When Christopher went to this walk-in “pain management clinic,” he was prescribed a cocktail of more than 300 highly addictive narcotic pills, without even receiving an exam or seeing a doctor. Shortly thereafter, Christopher tragically died of an accidental overdose.

Rather than dwell on their son’s heartbreaking death, the Scarboroughs have chosen to help other families who have lost loved ones to prescription drug addiction and accidental overdose.

Since their son’s death, the Scarboroughs have worked every day to fight against the prescription drug epidemic in their son’s name. In 2009, they founded Parents Against Prescription Drug Abuse (PAPDA), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. They have also testified before the Texas Senate, worked to pass legislation to regulate the so-called pain clinics, given countless talks, and comforted other parents who have also lost their children to prescription drug overdoses.

The Scarboroughs need your help to continue their fight. You can help by making a tax deductible contribution to PAPDA at www.papda.net. Your contribution, no matter how slight, will help Ken and Esther keep fighting every day to prevent the reckless prescribing of narcotics from claiming another innocent life.

New Pain Pill to be Stronger than Vicodin

Kay Van Wey — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 12:36:46 -0600

Pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma and three other companies have announced a new prescription drug that will contain pure hydrocodone, a highly addictive narcotic painkiller. The pill is expected to be 10 times stronger than Vicodin, one of the strongest painkillers available on the market.

Hydrocodone is an opiate much like heroin, oxycodone, codeine, and morphine. The United States is the largest consumer of hydrocodone prescription pills, using 99 percent of what is on the world market. Much of the hydrocodone available today is combined with other painkillers like acetaminophen.

Over the years, these pain pills have been criticized for being too addictive. For example, OxyContin, produced by Purdue Pharma, is the most abused pain pill in the United States. When OxyContin was first introduced onto the market in 1995, abusers quickly learned that they could get a stronger high from the time-release caplets by crushing them.

Today, prescriptions that contain hydrocodone are a quick second to oxycodone in terms of abuse. A stronger painkiller that contains pure hydrocodone could be disastrous for a nation already suffering with substance abuse and addiction.

The market for pain pills is $10 billion, and pharmaceutical companies are coming up with new drugs to get into the lucrative market. But big pharmaceutical companies are marketing the new drugs as safer, arguing that fewer patients will experience liver problems like they do with drugs that contain acetaminophen.

A form of pure hydrocodone could be on the market as early as 2013, but with an even more addictive prescription on the market, more patients may become addicted to the drugs, leading to numerous overdoses that will strain hospitals resources. Abuse of hydrocodone alone has led to an uptick in the number of emergency room visits related to hydrocodone abuse. In 2000, more than 19,000 visits to the emergency room were related to hydrocodone abuse, but in 2008 that number grew more than four times to more than 86,000 visits.

Prescription drug addiction is a brain disease that can be fatal if undetected or untreated. To learn more about America’s prescription drug addiction epidemic, visit www.vanweylaw.com.

Yaz Dangers Withheld from FDA & Consumers

Kay Van Wey — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 12:00:00 -0600

Recent studies have shown that women using Yaz and Yasmin birth control pills have a higher risk of experiencing a blood clot while on the pills, but new findings show Bayer knew about the risk as early as 2004.

Former FDA commissioner David Kessler testified in an Illinois federal court that Bayer omitted from its safety analysis of Yaz/Yasmin reports of an increased risk of venous thromboembolism, which can lead to a potentially deadly pulmonary embolism.

By omitting this data, Kessler testified that “Bayer presented a selective view of the data, and that the presentation obscured the potential risks associated with Yasmin.”

Venous Thromboembolisms

One of the most significant risks associated with Yaz/Yasmin is that of a venous thromboembolism, or a blood clot. Blood clots can be deadly if they lead to deep venous thrombosis (DVT) or a pulmonary embolism.

DVT mainly occurs in the lower extremities, but can occur in the upper extremities as well. Symptoms of DVT include swelling, pain, tenderness, and skin that is warm to the touch.

Pulmonary embolisms occur after a blood clot has been released into the bloodstream. If the blot gets stuck in the heart, brain, or other major organs, severe damage or even death may occur.

Yaz & Yasmin Lawsuits

More than 10,000 lawsuits have been filed against Bayer, alleging women taking the pills suffered injuries. At least 50 women died from taking Yaz and Yasmin between 2004 and 2008.

Yaz and Yasmin are two of the top oral contraceptives on the U.S. market, generating $1.58 billion in sales last year alone.

If you or a loved one has experienced a blood clot, DVT, or pulmonary embolism while taking Yaz, Yasmin, or another birth control containing the synthetic hormone Drospirenone, experienced dangerous drug attorney Kay Van Wey may be able to help you. Call Van Wey Law today at (800) 498-5082 for more information.

Medical Device Manufacturer Accused of Paying Kickbacks Settles for $23.5 Million

Kay Van Wey — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 10:44:22 -0600

Pharmaceutical companies are not the only companies accused of paying kickbacks to doctors to sell their products. More recently, Medtronic, Inc., the world’s largest medical device maker, agreed to pay $23.5 million in a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department after the government alleged Medtronic was paying kickbacks to doctors.

In a recent probe into the company’s practices, the government found enough evidence to bring charges against Medtronic, alleging that the company submitted false claims to Medicaid and Medicare using two post-market studies and device registries in which illegal kickbacks were paid to doctors.

As part of the kickbacks, the government alleged that Medtronic paid doctors between $1,000 and $2,000 per patient to get them to use the devices in their patients.

Medtronic has not admitted any wrongdoing despite its settlement with the government. But government attorneys say improper payments like those made by Medtronic to doctors can impair doctors’ judgment when it comes to helping patients choose a pacemaker or defibrillator that is right for the patients.

Other companies that have settled kickback allegations with the government include Boston Scientific and St. Jude Medical. Boston Scientific paid $22 million after the government found it had paid kickbacks to doctors as an incentive for them to use Boston Scientific’s heart devices. And earlier this year, St. Jude Medical paid $16 million to settle allegations similar to those brought against Medtronic. Neither of those companies admitted wrongdoing in their settlements.

This is not the first allegation that Medtronic has paid doctors to influence study results. Earlier this year the U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation into the company's marketing of Infuse, a bone growth product.

For more information on tactics the pharmaceutical industry uses to sell its prescription drugs, download my free book Prescription Drug Safety: 7 Secrets the Pharmaceutical Industry Does NOT Want You to Know today at www.vanweylaw.com.

Yaz & Yasmin Linked to Pancreatitis

Kay Van Wey — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 11:04:39 -0600

The popular birth control pills Yaz and Yasmin are currently being reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for their propensity to increase a woman's risk of having a heart attack or stroke. But more recently, concerns that the pills may also cause pancreatitis have arisen.

Pancreatitis affects the pancreas, which regulates glucose in the body, and occurs when the pancreas becomes inflamed and can no longer control glucose levels. If untreated, pancreatitis can cause severe bleeding and permanent damage. Pancreatitis can cause total organ failure of the heart, lungs, and kidneys, which can lead to death.

The FDA has issued a new warning that Yaz and Yasmin can cause pancreatitis in women who have high cholesterol or who have a family history of developing hypertriglyceridemia, which affects fat cells.

Women taking these birth control pills should watch for symptoms of pancreatitis, which include:

Pain and swelling of the upper abdomen
Nausea
Vomiting
Fever
Rapid heart beat
Sudden weigh loss
Diarrhea
Pain when eating or drinking

If you or a loved one has suffered from pancreatitis while taking Yaz or Yasmin, contact Texas dangerous drug attorney Kay L. Van Wey at 800-489-5082 to learn more about your legal rights.