Rape of the Medical Peer Review Process in the USA

Sham Peer Review... Lots to read here

from the Semmelweis Society International


I knew it wasn't just me.Heh.






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another Semmelweis...

click on the pic to view it properly


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Combining Statins and CoQ10

Combining Statins and CoQ10

Fortunately, CoQ10 depletion from statin use can be reversed with CoQ10 oral supplements.¹

CoQ10 supplementation does not appear to affect the cholesterol-lowering efficacy of statins, and may even reverse any CoQ10 depletion that results from statin use. According to cardiologist Peter Langsjoen², combining CoQ10 and statins “not only prevents the depletion of CoQ10 but may enhance the benefits of statin drugs by lessening the oxidation of LDL cholesterol."

It is noteworthy that Merck, a major pharmaceutical company, considers maintaining proper levels of CoQ10 so important for people taking statins that it has taken out two patents for combining CoQ10 and statins in a single capsule.³

Bottom line: Statins are an effective way to lower cholesterol. However, if you are taking statins or considering taking them, talk to your doctor about CoQ10 supplements.

¹ Langsjoen, P. and A., “Coenzyme Q10 in Cardiovascular Disease with Emphasis on Heart Failure and Myocardial Ischaemia, Asian Pacific Heart Journal, 1998;7(3).
² Peter Langsjoen, M.D.,FACC, Clinical Cardiologist, East Texas Medical Center
And Trinity Mother Francis Health System, Tyler, TX.
³ Merck & Co.: US Patent 4929437, issued May 29, 1990, and US Patent 4933165, issued June 12, 19900, both titled “Coenzyme Q10 with HMG-CoA Reductase Inhibitors.”

Statins

Field Title Author Journal

1 Statins and coenzyme Q10. Ellis CJ, et al. Lancet 2003; 361(9363):1134-5 2 ACC/AHA/NHLBI clinical advisory on the use and safety of statins Pasternak RC, et al. J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 2002; 40(3):567-72 3 Statins and myopathy. Hargreaves IP, et al. Lancet 2002; 359(9307):711-2 4 Biochemical and clinical consequences of inhibiting CoQ10 biosynthesis by lipid-lowering HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins): a critical overview Bliznakov EG, et al. Adv. Ther. 1998; 15(4):218-28 5 Evidence of plasma CoQ10-lowering effect by HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Ghirlanda G, et al. J. Clin. Pharmacol. 1993; 33(3):226-9

Calling Dr. Cheetum...

Doctor Falsified Study on Injured G.I.’s, Army Says

A former surgeon at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, who is a paid consultant for a medical company, published a study that made false claims and overstated the benefits of the company’s product in treating soldiers severely injured in Iraq, the hospital’s commander said Tuesday.

An investigation by Walter Reed found that the study cited higher numbers of patients and injuries than the hospital could account for, said the commander, Col. Norvell V. Coots.

“It’s like a ghost population that were reported in the article as having been treated that we have no record of ever having existed,” Colonel Coots said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. “So this really was all falsified information.”

The former Army surgeon, Dr. Timothy R. Kuklo, reported that a bone-growth product sold by Medtronic Inc. had much higher success in healing the shattered legs of wounded soldiers at Walter Reed than other doctors there had experienced, according to Colonel Coots and a summary of an Army investigation of the matter.

Dr. Kuklo, 48, now an associate professor at the Washington University medical school in St. Louis, did not respond to numerous e-mail messages and telephone calls to his office and home seeking comment over the last two weeks. Walter Reed officials say he did not respond to their inquiries during their investigation.

Army investigators found that Dr. Kuklo forged the signatures of four Walter Reed doctors on the article before submitting it last year to a British medical journal, falsely claiming them as co-authors. He also did not obtain the Army’s required permission to conduct the study.

read more.

Dr. Timothy R. Kuklo's Journal Article (pdf)

Journal Retraction (pdf)

Letters to and From Walter Reed (pdf)

Walter Reed Executive Summary (pdf)

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I'll Hold That Two Trillion for ya....

Obama has meeting today to discuss health care

WASHINGTON – Hospitals, insurance companies, drug makers and doctors are planning to tell President Barack Obama today that they'll voluntarily slow their rate increases in coming years in a move that government economists say would create breathing room to help provide health insurance to an estimated 50 million Americans who now go without it.

When President Bill Clinton took on health care reform, industry leaders fought back, killing the White House proposal before it could gain any traction. Now those industry leaders are trying to help Obama find a solution to the problem of uninsured Americans, offering $2 trillion in spending reductions over 10 years.

read more.

UPDATE...

3 days later they retracted the offer.

I'm shocked, shocked to learn there's gambling going on here!



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In the wake of the first alleged swine flu "death"...

With much fanfare the media have announced the first death in the U.S. alleged to be caused by swine flu. The victim is a 2-year old Mexican toddler who had traveled with his parents to Brownsville, TX.
Of course, to the parents this is an unspeakable tragedy. To us it means that the World Health Operators mean business (to be taken literally). The little boy was taken to a hospital in Houston, where he was treated by doctors with one-track minds. He died in spite of this treatment... Or was it because of this treatment? What exactly did they do to this unfortunate little tyke? Give him toxic "antiviral" medication?

Health Sense Blogger remembers Japans' Smon debacle...

as does

Health Toronto...

The disease, called SMON, was blamed for over ten years on various viruses, until it was discovered that the drug used to fight the disease - Clioquinol (marketed by Ciba-Geigy under the name Entero-Vioform) - was actually its cause. By the time the government finally banned the drug in 1970, 11,000 people had been afflicted by SMON in Japan. Iatrogenic disease due to pharmaceutical drugs may be a far greater problem than we realize. One indication is the fact that 100,000 Americans die each year from adverse reactions to prescription drugs -- the USA's fourth-leading cause of death -- and that is just among hospital patients (JAMA 1998; 279: 1200-05). Estimates suggest that pharmaceuticals are responsible for 199,000 additional deaths among out patients (BMJ 2000;320:774-777).

SMON--a model of the iatrogenic disease

Takasu T. The subacute myelo-optico-neuropathy (SMON) was hazard caused by clioquinol, an antiseptic, prescribed for the treatment of diarrhea and other bowel symptoms. Its overdosing and long-term taking led to the occurrence of SMON, for which physicians should be responsible. Clioquinol, originally a disinfectant powder for external use, was diverted later to a drug for internal use to sterilize the bowel where no intestinal absorption or action after absorption was expected. An annotation on the 6th Revision of the Japan Pharmacopoeia (1954) allowed irregular increase in its dosage depending on the severity of illness. An annotation on the 7th Revision (1961) ignoring the 6 papers published in the 1930's, 1940's or 1950's claimed that its metabolism was poorly known, yet neglected significant side effect and substantial absorption from the intestine. Its characterization as a superficial disinfectant helped the annotators be less interested in its absorption and its internal actions and side effects. Attention paid by clinicians to a polyneuropathy-like syndrome that complicated an uncontrollable hemorrhagic diarrhea (1958) and an encephalomyelitis or a paralysis of the lower half of the body associated with diarrhea or other bowel symptoms (1960, 1961) started the recognition of a new disease. During the dispute induced by the mass occurrence of the disease in several instances postmortem examination with neuropathologic expertise, especially of T. Tsubaki, Y. Toyokura and H. Tsukagoshi (1964), characterized SMON as a non-inflammatory new disease of the spinal cord, optic nerve and peripheral nerve with a pseudo-systemic degeneration of posterior and lateral columns and, therefore played a decisive role in establishing the truth of SMON. The discovery of the green hairy tongue (the tongue coated with green hairs) of SMON by T. Takasu, A. Igata and Y. Toyokura (January 1970) aroused researchers' interest in the green color of SMON and thereby began solving the cause of SMON. The discovery of the green urine in SMON patients by A. Igata, M. Hasebe and T. Tsuji (May 1970) especially facilitated the identification of the green substance in SMON that was achieved by M. Yoshioka and Z. Tamura (June 1970). The green color was derived from a chelate compound of clioquinol with ferric iron. The early epidemiological analysis related clioquinol taking to the occurrence of SMON well enough for the Japanese Government to take an administrative measure for the temporary suspension of selling clioquinol containing drugs and the postponing of their use (September 1970). Extensive and intensive multidisciplinary investigations conducted for the subsequent 20 months led to the conclusion by the SMON Investigation and Research Committee (Head: R. Kono) that the neurological disorders of patients who were diagnosed as SMON for the most part were caused by taking clioquinol (March 1972). Close clinical observation of patients opened a way to recognize a new disease and elucidate its cause. Expert specialized technical knowledge and skills established the firm knowledge of the new disease. The study of SMON began as a personal research and after its achievement was exposed to the public a great many investigators in different fields concerted efforts to solve problems. Both steps were indispensable for completing the study.


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15152488




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McDonald's aims for a low-pesticide potato for its french fries

from The Daily Green News blog

McDonald's, the largest fast-food chain in the world and the largest buyer of potatoes in the United States, is under pressure from shareholders to do something about pesticide use on the potatoes it buys.

To avoid a shareholder resolution on the subject, McDonald's has agreed to a survey that will determine its potato producers' pesticide practices and recommend those best practices to its global suppliers. It's too early to say whether there would be any impact on price. There wouldn't be any change in taste; a potato is a potato.

Potatoes have been on or near the list of the Environmental Working Group's dirty dozen foods with the most pesticide residue for years. That means, according to a government analysis, that after a typical person buys a typical potato and prepares it in a typical way, it's among the fruits and vegetables most likely to be laced with pesticides. (The government regulates pesticide residue, so any chemical left on food is deemed to pose no health risk; that said, pesticides are designed to kill something -- a bug, worm, fungus, or weed -- and most people don't like the idea of taking each meal with a little drop of poison.)

read more.

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