This is Outrageous - Time to Protest

[chinaco]

This is outrageous. Look what the Bayer company did to 22000 americans for money. They actually led to the death of many more. Apparently they knew about this since way back.

Here is the 60 minutes piece

One Thousand Lives A Month, Researcher Estimates 22,000 Lives Could Have Been Saved Had Trasylol Been Pulled Earlier - CBS News


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Quote:

This is outrageous. See the 60 minutes piece on the drug Trasylol. According to 60 Minutes, the Bayer company's actions may have led to the death of approximately 22000 Americans. The suspected motive was profit. Bayer should be held accountable. The FDA also failed to respond appropriately and should be held accountable. One Thousand Lives A Month, Researcher Estimates 22,000 Lives Could Have Been Saved Had Trasylol Been Pulled Earlier - CBS News

[clifp]

That was a classic 60 minutes story. I always wonder about the other side of the story you don't see on 60 minutes, still even if it is 1/2 true. It is remarkable how slow the system was to stop this dangerous drug.

[chinaco]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clifp That was a classic 60 minutes story. I always wonder about the other side of the story you don't see on 60 minutes, still even if it is 1/2 true. It is remarkable how slow the system was to stop this dangerous drug.

Unfortunately, the other side of the story is about money not public health and safety. Especially when one considers that other cheaper (just as effective drugs were available).

Many of those 22000 would be alive if they used the $50 alternative drug to Trayslol. Trayslol apparently costs about $1000.

It is an outrage.

[clifp]

I'm glad I don't own Bayer stock, the lawyers have phones banks standing by.

[dumpster56]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clifp That was a classic 60 minutes story. I always wonder about the other side of the story you don't see on 60 minutes, still even if it is 1/2 true. It is remarkable how slow the system was to stop this dangerous drug.

It was going to be their 1 Billion Dollar a year drug! Yes almost 1 BILLION dollars a year!

Remember their statin drug years back?? Caused all kinds of problems.

[Walt34]

60 Minutes and their muckraking ilk lost their credibility with me decades ago. They did stories about things that I actually knew about, and left out "The rest of the story".

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

[chinaco]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 60 Minutes and their muckraking ilk lost their credibility with me decades ago. They did stories about things that I actually knew about, and left out "The rest of the story". Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

Walt. I would hope your displeasure at 60 Minutes would not override your concern for us (Americans) where it seems that some large foreign company is (or was) pushing a drug that was unsafe. According to the piece they were advertising it heavily to the medical community.

I would ask you to watch the video or read the segment. It will make you angry (as it should). I do not [for one minute] believe 60 Minutes cooked this up. As a matter of fact Bayer hired a highly qualified Doctor (from I think Harvard) to do a separate review of about 70,000 surgeries using the drug. He concluded the same thing. Bayer did not present that study to the FDA which caused the FDA to delay taking the drug off the market for over a year (it was apparently already obvious to most after the first study). It also seems that the FDA may have some skeletons in the closet... not sure what it is, but it appears that there may be some bureaucratic politics involved on their part (perhaps just denial... we wouldn't make a mistake).

Which interest/concern do you think was the main motivator of Bayer regarding Trasylol ?

• Profits and being sued
• Health and Safety
• Of course they might plead ignorance... but aren't they supposed to be in the business of science and knowing the facts?

To add insult to injury, the alternative drug was 1/20 the cost, just as effective without the negative side effects and risk.

[clifp]

Chinaco

As I said if the story is even 1/2 true it is outrageous. Unfortunately the source matters. 60 Minutes has a long and distinguished history of exposing amazing incident of corporate greed, government corruption, or bureaucratic incompetence, which have result in massive harm to people.

Unfortunately 60 also has a long and contemptible history of badly distorting stories resulting in massive harm to the corporation, person or government agency who is subject to their hit piece.

My rule of thumb is when 60 Minutes breaks a story there is
40% chance it is primarily true
50% chance is partly true but with a lot of mitigating factors.
10% chance it is mostly false

I'd wait to get independent confirmation from another media source before going crazy on this story. As of now the media is only regurgiating what 60 Minutes says.
For instance I'd bet that this statement from the 60 Minute reports is only a 1/2 truth

Quote:

To add insult to injury, the alternative drug was 1/20 the cost, just as effective without the negative side effects and risk.

[chinaco]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clifp Chinaco As I said if the story is even 1/2 true it is outrageous. Unfortunately the source matters. 60 Minutes has a long and distinguished history of exposing amazing incident of corporate greed, government corruption, or bureaucratic incompetence, which have result in massive harm to people. ....

I follow your logic and can understand how you might be skeptical.

I like having media as a watch dog. It can keeps miscreant corporations and politicians in check and looking over their shoulders. Yes, sometimes the media is wrong. But often they are correct.

Here is a sanity check question. You or a family member is scheduled for heart surgery in the next week or so. You find out the surgeon is going to use Trasylol. What would you do? Tell him to go for it or request the alternative $50 drug?

[clifp]

Clearly go for the alternative. Since you seem to be very interested in the story, do me (us) a favor keep us updated on the news.

thanks

[mark500]

60 minutes always tells a biased story. The trial lawyers love these stories.
I remember in 1990 before the first Gulf War, they had piece "revealing" the terrible problems with the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter. Of course, they were wrong. The AH-64 fired the first shots in the first Gulf War and maintenance issues were not a big problem.