|
|
FDA Approved- Does it mean anything?We have been too trusting of the FDA and government agencies that are
supposed to research and control the products that we put in/on our bodies
such as: medications, food, food additives, and other products.
The FDA should be testing products to make sure they are safe BEFORE they
are put on the market. Instead products are approved as quickly as possible
with little to no research and then if problems start being reported they
will investigate (it could be many years before a dangerous product is
pulled from the public.)
Some examples of FDA products that shouldn’t be approved:
Margarine- Did you know: A study published in the American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition in 1967, compared two populations in India, where the
only difference in the diet was the type of fat they consumed. The group
that used margarine instead of butter had a 15 times greater heart disease
rate than the group using butter. A follow-up study twenty years later found
similar results.
Artificial Sweeteners- Did you know: artificial sweeteners have been liked
to seizures, tumors, headaches, death, depression, and many other symptoms (click
here for the full list) and it was approved by the FDA.
Medications such as Vioxx- Did you know the Vioxx Timetable?
 | May 1999: FDA approves Vioxx.
|
| March 2000: Merck reveals that a new study found Vioxx patients
had Double the rate of serious cardiovascular
problems than those on naproxen, an older nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory
drug, or NSAID.
|
| February 2001: An advisory panel recommends the FDA require a
label warning of the possible link to cardiovascular problems.
|
| April 2002: The FDA tells Merck to add information about
cardiovascular risk to Vioxx's label. (over 1 year after recommendation)
|
| Aug. 25, 2004: An FDA researcher presents results of a database
analysis of 1.4 million patients; it concludes that Vioxx users are
More Likely to suffer a heart attack or sudden
cardiac death than those taking Celebrex or an older NSAID. (4 years after
the original release of this info by Merck)
|
| Sept. 23, 2004: Merck says it learned this day that patients
taking Vioxx in a study were Twice as likely to suffer a heart attack or
stroke as those on placebo. (They released this info in 2000)
|
| Sept. 30, 2004: Merck withdraws Vioxx from the U.S. and the
more than 80 other countries in which it was marketed.
|
More about Vioxx at:
www.usatoday.com
|
