Concerns raised over blood-thinning medication
February 2, 2009 by Personal Liberty News Desk
A powerful anticoagulant’s record is being reviewed by the authorities after several studies questioned its effectiveness in some patients.
The Food and Drug Administration has asked Bristol Myers Squibb – the company which produces Plavix – to cooperate in conducting further studies to better understand the effects of genetic factors and other drugs, in particular the proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) commonly taken for heartburn, on the effectiveness of Plavix.
Cardiologist Dr Richard N. Fogoros writes in his Heart Disease Blog that studies have shown that patients with either of two particular risk factors who take Plavix appear to have a significantly higher risk of coronary artery thrombosis than those without the risk factors.
The factors include a genetic variant, which is fairly common in the American population, and the the use of PPIs to reduce stomach acid. The presence of either appears to reduce the effectiveness of the drug which may have fatal consequences in patients at risk of blood clots.
This is not the first time anti-coagulants face scrutiny. Late last year, scientists established a link between the use of wafarin and increased incidence of intracranial bleeding, in particular if combined with some common over-the-counter medications. 
http://www.gopetition.com/online/26241
Sign Petition To Stop Television Prescription Drug Ads
Published by Marlene B. on Mar 18, 2009
Category: Health
Region: GLOBAL
Target: U.S. Congress, FCC, FDA, European Commission, EMEA
Background (Preamble):
Statistics prove prescription drugs are 16,400% more deadly than terrorists. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in 1998, a report finds that prescription drugs kill about 106,000 Americans each year – that’s three times as many as are killed by automobiles—making prescription drug death the fourth leading killer after heart disease, cancer and stroke.
Last year, the Journal of the American Medical Association puts death from all drugs, illegal and prescription, second only behind car accidents as a cause of death.
The rise in deaths coincides with the direct marketing of prescription medication to the public. Prescription drug sales have soared nearly 500 percent since 1990.
The pharmaceutical industry is a multi-trillion dollar business. Companies spend billions on advertising and promotions for prescription drugs. Pharmaceutical companies claim their drug ads are “educational” to the public. The public seems to genuinely believe that drugs advertised on TV are safe, in spite of the plethora of side effects listed. Many of these drugs have proven deadly.
Every day it’s estimated 2,500 teens abuse a prescription pain killer for the first time.
The White House Office of National Drug Control policy had been planning to unveil an ad campaign to target prescription drug abuse by teens. It is time to stop this form of advertising by the pharmaceutical companies.
Petition:
We, the undersigned, request that Congress, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), the European Commission, EMEA (European Medicines Agency) stop all television advertising of prescription drugs.
THE LAST TIME A CURE WAS FOUND FOR A DISEASE
WAS 1959. DR. JONAS SALK DEVELOPED THE VACCINE
FOR POLIO. HE WAS JUST ONE MAN.
SINCE THAT TIME, HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
HAVE BEEN SPENT ON DISEASE. NOT FOR A CURE, BUT FOR
DRUG TREATMENT ONLY. A CURE WOULD PUT BIG
PHARMA OUT OF BIZ. IT SHOULD BE THE JOB OF A PHYSICIAN
TO PRESCRIBE THE BEST TREATMENTS TO A PATIENT, INSTEAD
OF PATIENTS ASKING DOCTORS TO PRESCRIBE THESE DRUGS.
BY ADVERTISING THESE DRUGS, THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES INVOLVE THEMSELVES IN A LEGAL DRUG TRADE THAT IS KILLING THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE EVERY DAY.