More Docs Just Say No to Pharma Reps

Careless prescriptions turned shy chess nerd into into belligerent hulk

(NEWSER) - The careless prescription of anti-psychotic drugs, often by psychiatrists who draw pay checks from the companies who make them, has drawn attention in the New York Times recently. Now Ann Bauer, writing in Salon, draws an intimate portrait of the effects of such carelessness on one autistic teenager, who turned from shy chess nerd to psychotic bruiser. More»

Johnson & Johnson division under scrutiny for manufacturing practices

(NEWSER) - After multiple drug recalls and an FDA safety probe, federal authorities are taking control of three Tylenol plants, CNNMoney reports. The plants, run by Johnson & Johnson’s McNeil division, are in trouble for dodging federal manufacturing rules; now, the company has agreed to let the FDA supervise the three—two in Pennsylvania and one in Puerto Rico—a decision that effectively wards off a threatened FDA lawsuit. The agreement, a so-called "consent decree," is subject to a Pennsylvania judge’s approval. More»

(NEWSER) - One of Michael Jackson's doctors prescribed him a drug to curb his apparent desire for young boys, the Daily Mirror reports. Seeing Jackson enjoy wine and sleepovers with children at Neverland Ranch between 2001 and 2003, Dr. Alimorad Farshchian gave him Depo Provera, a birth control drug that limits testosterone. “Yes, that’s exactly it," says a Farshchian spokesman. "He was trying to help Michael.” More»

Docs not suspects, says insider

(NEWSER) - Despite “a lot of hysteria,” there likely won't be murder charges in Michael Jackson’s death, a top law enforcement official tells the Los Angeles Times. “There's nothing I have been told that would suggest a murder charge. It's just so remote and so unsupported by the facts as they've been gathered,” he said. Jackson’s doctors “are not suspects,” he noted. More»

(NEWSER) - Federal regulators have consistently looked away as Big Pharma and other manufacturers poured at least 271 million pounds of drugs into waterways that supply US drinking water, the AP reports. Records kept unintentionally by the FDA and EPA show that 22 compounds, some considered dangerous by scientists, have leaked into America's water supply. But drug-makers say they're in compliance with federal laws—and officials agree. More»