Comments on: More about Unreported Side Effects of Powerful Drugs

by: Seth’s blog » Blog Archive » Unreported Side Effects of Powerful Drugs (part 3)

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 03:06:18 +0000

[…] More about Unreported Side Effects of Powerful Drugs […]

by: VesnaVK

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 18:52:33 +0000

Speaking of side effects of powerful drugs, here’s an excellent post about statins on the blog of Dr. Michael Eades, co-author of Protein Power:

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/statins/statin-disaster/

It tells the story of a man with no health problems other than a set of numbers — triglycerides and cholesterol — that his doctor didn’t like. His subsequent slide into medicalization and suffering is chilling, and revealing. Lots of great comments, also.

by: seth

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 04:05:49 +0000

BBroley, if you think I’m wrong that serious side effects are “woefully underreported”, could you explain why?

Ms. Bass said that it was the way drug companies would shift the endpoints after the trial was over that led to the current requirement that clinical trials be registered.

Andrew, he didn’t take the drug to see how it would affect his weight. He took it because he thought it might help something else. Which it did. He didn’t measure his weight because he thought the drug might affect it. He measured his weight for other reasons. So he was doing two ordinary things. To say anytime anyone takes a drug it’s self-experimentation is going a bit far. To say anytime anyone keeps track of their weight it’s self-experimentation is probably going too far. That’s why it’s a borderline case.

by: BBrolely

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:47:45 +0000

I can’t speak for all pharma’s, but several have a transparency policy.
http://www.lillytrials.com/results/results_by_ta.html
Ms. Bass can search to her hearts content through the adverse events reports: rule of thumb- the bigger the number the more there are, help her look for those ‘severe’ adverse events that are ‘woefully underreported’. In regards to vaccines, you’re not part of the “Green Vaccine Team” are you now? http://thestatsblog.wordpress.com/2008/07/17/hurrah-for-amanda-peet-and-salon/
Finally, not that long ago, big pharma was looked upon as a good business model, now they are vilified, why the sudden change? Perhaps it’s the same phenomena that Tierney speak about with information cascades: http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/how-the-low-fat-low-fact-cascade-just-keeps-rolling-along/

by: Andrew Gelman

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:02:49 +0000

Seth,

Why do you say “let’s call it self-experimentation”? If he’s doing an experiment on himself, that’s self-experimentation, right? What do you mean by “let’s call it”?

by: seth

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 05:38:11 +0000

Mike, that’s an excellent idea.

Nathan, I didn’t know that about the Vitamin E study. Thanks.

by: Nathan Myers

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:18:26 +0000

Is this the place to repeat my mother’s report that 1000 IU Vitamin D supplements caused all-over itching in herself and (later) in my father, mitigated by reducing dosage?

Or the place to complain that the huge study skewering vitamin E as increasing cancer risk used a synthetic alpha- acetate formulation, despite that nowhere in nature do you find only alpha-, and that the acetate compound interferes with some people’s (e.g., my) digestion? Where is the study using mixed alpha, beta, gamma free-form natural extracts as they appear in, you know, food?

OK, never mind.

by: mike kenny

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 22:09:31 +0000

hm, are there database of self experimentation available to and created by the public regarding drugs (and i suppose anything self experimentation could help on)? would such a thing be useful if it existed, as a supplement or check on more expensive studies with problematic biases? i guess this database might be a kind of wikipedia of self experimentation.