Fahad B.
Iqbal
May 19,
2013
BBH 143
Blog post #1
The withdrawal of many
antidepressant drugs off of many counters in America has exposed many flaws in
a system that was supposedly meant to be designed to protect the citizens and
their well-being. But the battle over who is to blame for these potentially dangerous
and deadly drugs ignores the fact that there may never be such a thing as a
‘safe’ drug. Late 2004 to early 2005, many accusations arose that many drug
companies were hiding the release of negative data about drugs such as
antidepressants and their effect on children (Frantz, 2005). The public image
that these companies once held, had hit an all-time low. So low that film
directors are making films investigated the truths and lies about the
pharmaceutical industry. A drug called rofecoxib was withdrawn from shelves in
New Jersey because this drug was discovered to increase patient’s risk of
stroke and heart attack (Frantz, 2005).
Merck, a company that
was the manufacturing the dangerous drug, was accused of knowingly selling this
dangerous drug. The Food and Drug Administration was under fire for not
spotting the risks of this potential drug sooner. David Graham, who worked for
an undisclosed agency that produced drugs, warned congress that the FDA was
incapable of producing sufficient drugs and that the FDA was incapable of
protecting America from these dangerous drugs that companies were marketing as
‘safe’. Graham also named five other potential drugs that were thought to pose
a very similar threat to the public’s health as was rofecoxib (Frantz, 2005). Drugs
that are older (i.e. aspirin) can cause severe gastrointestinal bleeding
problems and are estimated to lead to more than 16,000 deaths a year in the
United States (Frantz, 2005).
This brought up a
really good point that which companies should be trusted, if companies such as
Merck are knowingly selling dangerous drugs that can cause serious illness or
death to the public. What is important to America is what changes will be made
regarding drug laws and protection from dangerous drugs and how those changes
will affect the trust citizens have on drug companies.
Frantz, Simon. (January 14, 2005).
Dangerous Drugs? Nature. Retrieved
from
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