Re: US under fire at AIDS conference
Michael wrote: How can you defeat an alliance of Christian fundamentalists and the drug companies? Or an alliance of Medical Associations and the drug companies? In 2003, Pfizer had sales of $9.2 billion for Lipitor alone, while Merck had sales of $5 billion for Zocor. Imagine the possibilities with the new recommendations below: New rule on cholesterol Millions more urged to take medicine; Pfizer may benefit BY PATRICIA ANSTETT FREE PRESS MEDICAL WRITER July 13, 2004 Millions of Americans are expected to be prescribed aggressive doses of cholesterol-lowering medicines following the release of new health guidelines. The guidelines, released Monday, set the recommended target for so-called bad or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol at 70 -- down from 100. LDL cholesterol is one of two numbers given to measure cholesterol. As many as 36 million people in the United States might benefit from cholesterol-lowering drugs under the new guidelines. That could prove economically significant for Pfizer Inc., a major Michigan pharmaceutical company that produces Lipitor, the biggest-selling cholesterol-lowering drug in the world, with $5.8 billion in U.S. sales alone. The lower the better for high-risk people, that's the message . . . said Scott Grundy, chair of the panel of health experts that released the new guidelines. They were published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. Though aimed at people with established heart disease, the guidelines will affect the general population, said Dr. Douglas Westveer, director of cardiology at Beaumont Hospital in Troy. Most people without a risk of heart disease should aim to lower their LDL cholesterol to 130 and their high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels to 45 to 60, particularly for men 60 and older. For years, doctors have told patients to aim to keep their combined cholesterol numbers to 200 or less. Westveer and other cardiologists also expect that doctors will prescribe a second medicine or increase doses of cholesterol-lowering medicines because of the new guidelines. This will have a major impact, said Dr. Souheil Saba, cardiologist at Providence Hospital and Medical Centers in Southfield. Now large sections of the public will qualify for more aggressive therapy. The guidelines follow an analysis by a government panel of five major clinical studies involving cholesterol-lowering medications. The government's lead agency on heart disease and two national groups of heart experts endorse them. Dr. Thomas Davis, a cardiologist at Detroit's Harper University Hospital, said the guidelines follow studies showing that very low LDL levels reduce a risk of a second heart attack by 30 percent to 50 percent within five years. Though cardiologists have recommended low LDL levels for several years, this will help standardize heart care for high-risk patients, he said. Many patients at risk of a heart attack are treated by primary care physicians, who may not follow cardiologists' recommendations as closely. The guidelines also should help convince people reluctant to take cholesterol-lowering drugs of the significance of taking them, Davis said. Many patients either don't want to take medicine or think their cholesterol isn't so bad and they'll just watch their diet, he said. The reality is that diet and exercise alone often are unsuccessful in reaching the new levels, said Dr. Michael Hudson, director of the coronary care unit at Detroit's Henry Ford Hospital. Smaller changes in diet, which most people are able to do, won't come close to the new recommended levels, he said. Some patients are reluctant to take cholesterol-lowering medicines because of the side effects, primarily irritation of the stomach and a small risk of liver damage. Fortunately, Hudson said, higher doses only raise the risk a few decimal points, he said. It's very small. To check for liver problems, patients are tested before being put on the drugs, shortly afterward, and then yearly, he said. Rick Chambers, spokesman for Pfizer, said he expects the guidelines will increase sales. It certainly appears that this will open the door to new patients, he said. Lipitor was discovered in Ann Arbor by scientists working at the time for Parke-Davis Co., later bought by Pfizer. In some patients, it achieves cholesterol reductions of as much as 65 percent. Pfizer employs 9,000 people in Michigan. Every year, 1.2 million Americans have a new or repeat heart attack. For details on the guidelines, visit the American Heart Association's Web site at www.americanheart.org. Contact PATRICIA ANSTETT at 313-222-5021 or [EMAIL PROTECTED]. Staff writer JEFF BENNETT and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Re: US under fire at AIDS conference
Now all you have to do is add the fast food industry into the mix, getting them to add an antiobesity drug into their hamburgers. The Bushies are making noises about screening people for mental health -- to be treated with drugs. Fox News may also be a drug, but I have not seen the final study on the subject. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
Re: US under fire at AIDS conference
At 08:24 AM 7/13/2004 -0700, you wrote: Now all you have to do is add the fast food industry into the mix, getting them to add an antiobesity drug into their hamburgers. The Bushies are making noises about screening people for mental health -- to be treated with drugs. Fox News may also be a drug, but I have not seen the final study on the subject. LOL. Michael, I think you're on to something. Speaking of Fox News... Happy talk from hell Even if you think you're wise to Fox News' right-wing agenda, Robert Greenwald's Outfoxed will leave you very afraid. Andrew O'Hehir Salon July 13, 2004 | I'm a neutral observer, of course, here to give you a fair and balanced report. But some people would say that Fox News Channel is nothing more than the private right-wing propaganda machine of a sneaky right-wing billionaire who is -- now these are just the facts, people -- not an American at all but some kind of Down Under, funny-accented, shrimp-on-the-barbie-eating, crocodile-hunting, profoundly un-American Australian, for goodness' sake. And while I know Australia is not obviously very much like France -- treasonous, untrustworthy France -- let's look under the surface a little, OK? Do you know what one of Australia's top agricultural products is? That's right, it's wine. Draw your own conclusions, people, that's all I ask. And when you get right down to it, isn't there something French about Shep Smith, if you know what I mean? Isn't that mousse in his hair? Does that sound like an American word to you? Isn't there something about him that suggests the French government of, say, 1943? Something a little Vichy French? Nazi-collaborator French, possibly? I don't know, I'm only asking. You decide. Maybe you think my parody of the methods employed by Fox News itself (yes, French and Australian readers, that's what it is -- please delete those partly composed emails) is a few truckloads too broad. After you see Robert Greenwald's documentary Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism, you might change your mind. Buy the DVD at: http://www.outfoxed.org/ Outfoxed examines how media empires, led by Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, have been running a race to the bottom in television news. This film provides an in-depth look at Fox News and the dangers of ever-enlarging corporations taking control of the public's right to know. The film explores Murdoch's burgeoning kingdom and the impact on society when a broad swath of media is controlled by one person. Media experts, including Walter Cronkite, Jeff Cohen (FAIR) Bob McChesney (Free Press), Chellie Pingree (Common Cause), Jeff Chester (Center for Digital Democracy) and David Brock (Media Matters) provide context and guidance for the story of Fox News and its effect on society. This documentary also reveals the secrets of Former Fox news producers, reporters, bookers and writers who expose what it's like to work for Fox News. These former Fox employees talk about how they were forced to push a right-wing point of view or risk their jobs. Some have even chosen to remain anonymous in order to protect their current livelihoods. As one employee said There's no sense of integrity as far as having a line that can't be crossed. Director/Producer Robert Greenwald has produced and/or directed 53 television movies, miniseries and features. He is the director of Uncovered and the Executive Producer of the UN series - Unprecedented, Uncovered and the soon to be released Unconstitutional.
US under fire at AIDS conference
US under fire at AIDS conference Activists, officials clash on purchase of generic drugs By John Donnelly The Boston Globe July 12, 2004 BANGKOK -- The 15th International AIDS Conference opened yesterday with scenes of tension, repeatedly pitting the Bush administration against activists and top global AIDS officials over the purchase of generic antiretroviral drugs for poor countries. The US government -- by far the largest donor fighting AIDS around the world -- authorized earlier this year the spending of hundreds of millions of dollars on AIDS treatments for 15 poor countries. But it has put on hold the purchase of any generic drugs until the US Food and Drug Administration undertakes its own review of the copycat medicines. While the administration believes the reviews could be done in six weeks, activists worry that the delays could stretch for months or longer. If that happens, they say, dramatically fewer AIDS patients will receive treatment, perhaps just one-third of those who could have taken the generic medicines. Stephen Lewis, the special UN envoy on AIDS in Africa, said in a speech that the Bush administration, by waiting for the FDA reviews, was conducting a ''not-so-subtle attempt to derail the World Health Organization's own review of the efficacy of generic combinations. Although US officials ''say they will purchase generic drugs, the fact is those monies are now being used if not entirely, then mostly, for brand-name drugs, Lewis said. ''We are spending two to three times the cost to treat people at a time when dollars are scarce. The conference, which has attracted an estimated 20,000 delegates from around the world, also featured an opening address by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who called on world leaders to take much stronger action in preventing the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Annan also drew attention to the ever-increasing numbers of young women who are contracting the virus. A UNAIDS report released last week found that in sub-Saharan Africa among the age group of 15- to 24-year-olds, three times as many young women were infected than young men. The report estimated that in some African countries, such as Mali and Kenya, for every 10 boys and young men infected, 45 girls and young women were infected. Annan called that a ''terrifying pattern for girls and young women. He told more than 11,000 delegates attending the opening ceremonies that much more effort should be put toward empowering women and girls to protect themselves against older men. ''Society's inequalities puts them at risk -- unjust, unconscionable risk, he said to applause. ''A range of factors conspires to make this so: poverty, abuse, and violence, lack of information, coercion by older men, and men having several concurrent sexual relationships that entrap young women in a giant network of infection. Annan said men must change their sexual behavior. He called on leaders to free ''boys and men from some of the cultural stereotypes and expectations that they may be trapped in -- such as the belief that men who don't show their wives 'who's boss at home' are not real men, or that coming into manhood means having your sexual initiation with a sex worker when you are 13 years old. As in past conferences, activists became a major presence immediately in Bangkok: staging a march to demand greater access to antiretroviral drugs; jeering Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand during his opening address for his country's crackdowns on drug users, a population with high rates of HIV infection; and challenging the US global AIDS coordinator, Randall Tobias, during a news conference. Tobias told reporters the US policy was to ''buy the least expensive drugs we could find without regard to brand-name, generics, or copied drugs, as long as we could be assured the medicines were ''top quality. ''We should not have two standards of treatment -- good in the Western world and good enough elsewhere, he said. At the beginning of the briefing, Tobias telegraphed that he anticipated a challenge from activists. Two years earlier at the previous international AIDS conference in Barcelona, activists drowned out a speech by US Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson, who chose not to attend the Bangkok meeting. Tobias said yesterday that he hoped activists and others would ''leave whatever agendas at the door, but 20 minutes into his briefing, an activist told him protesters wanted to meet with Tobias to accept a petition demanding treatment for all. Tobias refused. ''I'm not sure I want to help you generate a media event, he said. A second activist, Jerome Martin of Act Up-Paris, shouted at Tobias: ''You are not coming, sir? This is a shame. Tens of thousands of people are dying, and you will not meet with us? The briefing ended minutes later. But demonstrators were not the only ones voicing concern over US policies on generic drugs. Richard Feachem, executive director
Re: US under fire at AIDS conference
How can you defeat an alliance of Christian fundamentalists and the drug companies? -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
Re: US under fire at AIDS conference
On Mon, Jul 12, 2004 at 10:01:11AM -0700, Michael Perelman wrote: How can you defeat an alliance of Christian fundamentalists and the drug companies? This is off topic but: --- qoutes --- If there is evidence that HIV causes AIDS, there should be scientific documents which either singly or collectively demonstrate that fact, at least with a high probability. There is no such document. Dr. Kary Mullis, Biochemist, 1993 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Up to today there is actually no single scientifically really convincing evidence for the existence of HIV. Not even once such a retrovirus has been isolated and purified by the methods of classical virology. Dr. Heinz Ludwig Sänger, Emeritus Professor of Molecular Biology and Virology, Max-Planck-Institutes for Biochemy, München. --- end --- I am not a scientist, but statements like these make me wonder about the whole AIDS thing.
Re: US under fire at AIDS conference
From: Michael Perelman [EMAIL PROTECTED] How can you defeat an alliance of Christian fundamentalists and the drug companies? [Or for that matter, how do you defeat an alliance of drug companies and free-trade advocates?] Trade Pact May Undercut Inexpensive Drug Imports By ELIZABETH BECKER and ROBERT PEAR WASHINGTON, July 11 Congress is poised to approve an international trade agreement that could have the effect of thwarting a goal pursued by many lawmakers of both parties: the import of inexpensive prescription drugs to help millions of Americans without health insurance. The agreement, negotiated with Australia by the Bush administration, would allow pharmaceutical companies to prevent imports of drugs to the United States and also to challenge decisions by Australia about what drugs should be covered by the country's health plan, the prices paid for them and how they can be used. It represents the administration's model for strengthening the protection of expensive brand-name drugs in wealthy countries, where the biggest profits can be made. In negotiating the pact, the United States, for the first time, challenged how a foreign industrialized country operates its national health program to provide inexpensive drugs to its own citizens. Americans without insurance pay some of the world's highest prices for brand-name prescription drugs, in part because the United States does not have such a plan. Only in the last few weeks have lawmakers realized that the proposed Australia trade agreement the Bush administration's first free trade agreement with a developed country could have major implications for health policy and programs in the United States. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/12/politics/12DRUGready.html Carl _ FREE pop-up blocking with the new MSN Toolbar get it now! http://toolbar.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200415ave/direct/01/
Re: US under fire at AIDS conference
That is why the drug companies are not happy with the conference, which wants access to cheap drugs. On Mon, Jul 12, 2004 at 06:26:06PM +0100, Daniel Davies wrote: OTOH, although this is an interesting scientific question, it has surprisingly few political implications. Although there are differences of opinion on how they work, the brute fact of the matter is that antiretroviral drugs do in fact work for AIDS patients, and nothing else does. So for the time being the only important political question revolves around preventing the global economic system from standing between the drugs and the people who need them. dd -Original Message- From: PEN-L list [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Dmytri Kleiner Sent: 12 July 2004 18:01 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: US under fire at AIDS conference On Mon, Jul 12, 2004 at 10:01:11AM -0700, Michael Perelman wrote: How can you defeat an alliance of Christian fundamentalists and the drug companies? This is off topic but: --- qoutes --- If there is evidence that HIV causes AIDS, there should be scientific documents which either singly or collectively demonstrate that fact, at least with a high probability. There is no such document. Dr. Kary Mullis, Biochemist, 1993 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Up to today there is actually no single scientifically really convincing evidence for the existence of HIV. Not even once such a retrovirus has been isolated and purified by the methods of classical virology. Dr. Heinz Ludwig Sänger, Emeritus Professor of Molecular Biology and Virology, Max-Planck-Institutes for Biochemy, München. --- end --- I am not a scientist, but statements like these make me wonder about the whole AIDS thing. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
Re: US under fire at AIDS conference
OTOH, although this is an interesting scientific question, it has surprisingly few political implications. Although there are differences of opinion on how they work, the brute fact of the matter is that antiretroviral drugs do in fact work for AIDS patients, and nothing else does. So for the time being the only important political question revolves around preventing the global economic system from standing between the drugs and the people who need them. dd -Original Message- From: PEN-L list [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Dmytri Kleiner Sent: 12 July 2004 18:01 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: US under fire at AIDS conference On Mon, Jul 12, 2004 at 10:01:11AM -0700, Michael Perelman wrote: How can you defeat an alliance of Christian fundamentalists and the drug companies? This is off topic but: --- qoutes --- If there is evidence that HIV causes AIDS, there should be scientific documents which either singly or collectively demonstrate that fact, at least with a high probability. There is no such document. Dr. Kary Mullis, Biochemist, 1993 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Up to today there is actually no single scientifically really convincing evidence for the existence of HIV. Not even once such a retrovirus has been isolated and purified by the methods of classical virology. Dr. Heinz Ludwig Sänger, Emeritus Professor of Molecular Biology and Virology, Max-Planck-Institutes for Biochemy, München. --- end --- I am not a scientist, but statements like these make me wonder about the whole AIDS thing.
Re: US under fire at AIDS conference
That is why the drug companies are not happy with the conference, which wants access to cheap drugs. They are also tired of the whole pro-abstinence/anti-condom line. Joel Wendland http://classwarnotes.blogspot.com _ MSN 9 Dial-up Internet Access helps fight spam and pop-ups now 2 months FREE! http://join.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200361ave/direct/01/
Re: US under fire at AIDS conference
On Mon, Jul 12, 2004 at 06:26:06PM +0100, Daniel Davies wrote: OTOH, although this is an interesting scientific question, it has surprisingly few political implications. Although there are differences of opinion on how they work, the brute fact of the matter is that antiretroviral drugs do in fact work for AIDS patients, and nothing else does. Hmm, even on the surface I have problem accepting a scientific explanation because it just works but can not be theoreticly explained. Of course, their are also those who deny that it works at all: --- Quote --- I have a large population of people who have chosen not to take any antiretrovirals, says Donald Abrams, M.D., director of the AIDS program at San Francisco General Hospital. They've watched all their friends go on the antiviral bandwagon and die. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1995 showed that one of the things that long-term AIDS survivors had in common was that they didn't take antiretroviral drugs. [...] Trying to cure diseases by focusing on the development of toxic pharmaceutical drugs aimed at killing the viruses associated with them will ultimately make us all more vulnerable to new diseases. President Bush recently pledged an additional $200 million in AIDS funding over the next two years. Global activists think that the U.S. should contribute $2.5 billion. Without a paradigm shift in the way we approach AIDS, however, this money will not only be wasted, but could do more harm than good. -- HIV and AIDS: Myths vs. medicine, Burton Goldberg --- End Quote ---
Re: US under fire at AIDS conference
Dmytri K. writes: I have problem accepting a scientific explanation because it just works but can not be theoreticly explained is it true that the HIV -- AIDS link isn't theoretically explained? Or is it that some disagree with this explanation? The latter is very common concerning matters that are usually seen as theoretically explained but is part of the process of developing better theory. jd
Re: US under fire at AIDS conference
On Mon, Jul 12, 2004 at 11:28:22AM -0700, Devine, James wrote: Dmytri K. writes: I have problem accepting a scientific explanation because it just works but can not be theoreticly explained is it true that the HIV -- AIDS link isn't theoretically explained? Or is it that some disagree with this explanation? The latter is very common concerning matters that are usually seen as theoretically explained but is part of the process of developing better theory. Hi James, from an activist prospective I am deeply scepticle about aids related activism, however, since I'm not an expert on this subject, all I can do is forward you to http://www.virusmyth.net where you will find a lot of qoutes like these: HIV does not cause AIDS. There is no scientific evidence that HIV can kill infected T4 cells. The true problem is that the leaders of the HIV hypothesis have been ignoring important medical facts and are blindly attributing AIDS to the HIV virus. It is very sad and frustrating to know that the AIDS establishment are giving highly toxic drugs such as AZT to pregnant women even with studies that show the depression in the immune system can be reversed by nutrition. Prescribing anti-viral drugs to AIDS patients is like putting gasoline on a fire -- Dr. Mohammad Ali Al-Bayati, Toxicologist and Pathologist, California AIDS has been a disease of definition. If we said that it didn't exist and didn't pay for it with taxpayers' money, it would disappear in the background of normal mortality. -- Dr. Charles Thomas, Molecular Biologist and former Harvard and Johns Hopkins Professor The result of my intensive literature research shows that so far not one publication exists, in which is being described that HIV has been isolated, purified, and charaterized by the criteria of classical virology. -- Dr. Heinz Ludwig Sänger, Emeritus Professor of Molecular Biology and Virology. Former Director of the Department of Viroid Research, Max-Planck-Institutes for Biochemy, München. Robert Koch Award 1978. The sentence of death accompanying the medical diagnosis of AIDS should be abolished. -- Dr. Alfred Hässig, Emeritus Professor in Immunology at the University of Bern, former Director Swiss Red Cross blood banks. The marketing of HIV, through press releases and statements, as a killer virus causing AIDS without the need for any other factors, has so distorted research and treatment that it may have caused thousands of people to suffer and die. -- Dr. Joseph Sonnabend, New York Physician When AIDS patients' bodies finally break down from the effects of these anti-viral drugs, they say, 'Now the virus has become resistant, and the drugs have lost their effectiveness.' What really is happening is the toxicity of the drugs builds up to a point where the patient cannot stand it anymore. And, of course, they say it was the virus -- rather than the entirely inevitable and predictable toxicity of these damned drugs. -- Dr. Peter Duesberg, Professor of Molecular Biology University of Berkely
Re: US under fire at AIDS conference
Duesberg, whom you quote, is a Professor of Molecular Biology University of Berkeley, not a medical scientist. He, alone with a colleague of mine -- a historian who has become a conservative activist -- have been among a handful of people who argue that HIV does not cause AIDS, but that it is a product of the evil lifestyle that they lead. I do not find their work credible, but I'm not a medical scientist either. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
