[Dysphagia] Neurontin: FYI and Medical Ethics

[eripley at yahoo.com (Irene Campbell-Taylor)]

As an admitted cynic about the "wonders" of wonder drugs, I admit to a bias against the apparently too ready prescription of a multitude of drugs that all too often turn out to have disastrous side effects. The following is FYI and I find the article in the Journal of Medical Ethics of particular note:
 

A March 14, 2002, New York Times article revealed that the manufacturer of the seizure medication gabapentin (NEURONTIN) illegally promoted the drug to prescribing physicians for at least 11 "off-label" (unapproved) medical conditions, using their own employees, euphemistically called "medical liaisons." Many of the bases for the safety and effectiveness of gabapentin for these 11 unapproved uses appears to have been fabrications by the corporation. This included paying physicians to appear as the authors of medical journal articles on unapproved uses for gabapentin when the articles had actually been written by others working under the direction of the company?s marketing department. 

This article is based on the Times story and publicly available court documents from a civil complaint filed by the U.S. government against gabapentin?s manufacturer. The rest is available at:

http://www.citizen.org/ELETTER/ARTICLES/neurontin.htm

and a very interseting free fuul article in the current issue of the Journal of Medical ethics:
http://jme.bmjjournals.com/cgi/data/27/6/DC1/10


Dr I Campbell-Taylor
Clinical Neuroscientist
Exclusive Distributor:
www.interactivetherapy.com