Normally, I leave topics like this for others, but my dander is up and I feel our government is again abusing our veterans and the Federal Food and Drug Administration plus the Veterans Administration is in bed with Big Pharma. This is a combination that I can't in good conscience look the other way on. My thanks go out to another blogger Jo who blogs at joscafe dot com for blogging about this and providing the links. And I don't care that this is not about diabetes.
Since I am also a veteran, I am compelled to write this and am still pulling my thoughts together. I am not even sure how many parts - I am putting this in two parts. First, I will concentrate on the abuse of our veterans and the shame of our government in cooperation with Big Pharma (Pfizer is just one of many and the maker of the drug being exposed) is doing to our veterans. It is a disgrace that our history is such a minefield for our veterans since the end of WWII and probably goes back further than that. Many veterans have been part of cruel medical experiments since then, and the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts is proving no exception.
Why our Veterans Administration insists on being part of this disgrace is beyond comprehension. Many of our veterans end up in mental institutions because of the experiments they are subjected to and I have to wonder it this is not a part of the increased suicide rate among returning veterans. Even though the article is from June 17, 2008, this and much similar studies are still taking place today.
The ABC News dot go dot com story is properly titled “ 'Disposable Heroes': Veterans Used To Test Suicide-Linked Drugs”. Mentally distressed veterans are being recruited for government tests on pharmaceutical drugs linked to suicide and other violent side effects. One of the human experiments involves the anti-smoking drug Chantix.
Veterans Administration doctors were warned on November 20, 2007, January 18, 2008 and February 1, 2008, by the FDA and Pfizer, but did not issue a warning to the veterans until February 29, 2008.
The following is quoted from the press article to show how little respect the Veterans Administration has for the lives of our veterans. Quote "How this study continued in the face of these difficulties is almost impossible to understand," said Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania.
Doctors at the Veterans Administration say they acted as quickly as they could.
"This didn't justify an emergency warning at that level," said Dr. Miles McFall, co-administrator of the VA study.
Dr. McFall said there is no proof that Elliott's breakdown was caused by Chantix and he sees no reason to discontinue the study(1). Some 140 veterans diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder continue to receive Chantix as part of a smoking cessation study.
Dr. McFall says the VA decided to continue the Chantix study because "it would be depriving our veterans of an effective method of treatment to help them stop smoking."
Caplan, one of the country's leading medical ethicists, said he was stunned by the VA's decision to continue the Chantix experiment.
"Why take the group most a risk and keep them going? That doesn't make any sense, once you know the risk is there," he said.
Chantix is one of the drugs being used in an estimated 25 clinical studies using veterans by the VA.
Pfizer maintains that "the benefits of Chantix outweigh the risks" and that it continues to do further studies on the drug.
The FAA has prohibited commercial airline pilots from using Chantix because of its possible side effects. Unquote
This is my opinion, but doctors like McFall are the mad people in today's military and need to be convicted for their crimes against our veterans. Please read the full news article for the full impact.
(1) This is standard military denial. If you say if often enough and to enough people you can see them actually believing this. (Agent Orange from Viet Nam Conflict anyone?)
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