Peer Reviewed Science That Is Anything But Good News for Pfizer
From the Pfizer/WebMD point of view, liver and muscle problems are the only major Lipitor side effects. But is that point of view correct? Where’s the evidence? It does not take a “deep dive” into the peer-reviewed scientific literature to unearth a trove of disturbing reports and studies, many of which suggest that Lipitor’s side […]
Why the World Has Gone Bananas for Lipitor and Other Statins
Lipitor — a.k.a. atorvastatin — is a drug prescribed to reduce what is commonly referred to as “bad cholesterol.” Lipitor sales bring in a cool $12+ billion in profits for the drug’s manufacturer, Pfizer, every year. It is the top selling medicine in the entire world. Other statin drugs in the same class include Lescol, […]
How to Be a Better-Educated Patient
Here is one more super-critical rule of thumb: Keep an open mind. Many people have a very difficult time accepting even the possibility that the “malevolent cholesterol hypothesis” could be flawed or even dead wrong. But clinging to a flawed belief system has its consequences. Be skeptical of ideas that are counter to the conventional […]
Conclusion: Where Do We Go from Here?
The damage done to you and your family by Lipitor side effects may not be reversible (or easily reversible). But you do not have to stand idly by and stay passive in the face of the events. Depending on circumstances, you may be able to take aggressive, effective legal action to obtain compensation and justice […]
Conclusion: the Risperdal Debacle
Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, Janssen, are not evil companies. And Risperdal is not an “evil” drug. In fact, atypical antipsychotics like Risperdal no doubt help thousands of patients a year recover from potentially debilitating symptoms and live lives that are happier, more productive, and less painful. At the same time, grievous harm has […]
A 30,000 Foot Perspective on a Profound Legal Issue: Lipitor Lawsuits
Defenders of Pfizer and other drug companies (and of the “malevolent cholesterol hypotheisis”) counter criticisms by attacking Lipitor’s detractors for sensationalizing the dangers and underestimating the benefits of statin drugs. But what is the truth? What does the science actually say? How can educated consumers (and doctors) separate truth from fiction? What is the line between legitimate […]
A Brief Look at Legal Actions Against Johnson & Johnson and Janssen
On April 11, 2012, Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Johnson & Johnson got some really bad news: A judge in Arkansas fined the drug makers $1.2 billion, after a jury agreed that the company had dramatically and dangerously undersold the potential risks of the drug. The judge said that the drug maker committed 240,000 violations of Arkansas’ […]
January 2014: A Shocking Study with Revolutionary Implications
In January 2014, a population study published in the Journal of Negative Results in Medicine shook the statin industry to its core and forced tens of thousands of doctors the world over to reconsider the utility of statin therapy. Actually, it did no such thing. But perhaps it should have. The study examined statin use […]
More Science Linking Risperdal to Gynecomastia
Let us consider a few additional articles from the medical literature. The point is not to revel in the details, but rather to show that many researchers throughout the years found evidence linking Risperdal to high prolactin levels and linking high prolactin with gynecomastia. Note that, while this research was being done, Johnson & Johnson […]
One Last Thought to Ponder about Statins and Lipitor
A blogger at the website HealthyCriticism.com shared this trenchant, if sad, thought on his blog. It is worth pondering: “Between the billions in manufacture profits and the positive reviews of the data, not to mention the effects (placebo and otherwise) experienced by patients, you might wonder what the problem is. Isn’t everyone happy? Well, for […]