Monthly Archives: July 2004

Appointment with Dr Freed.

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Well, finally today is my appointment with Dr Robert Freed, a Rheumatologist. Going to be a long drive up to Irvine, but at least I don’t have to drive back down today. Not sure what to expect. I don’t even know if this guy “believes” in Fibromyalgia. I say believes, because, not many Doctors seem to, or they want to call it something else; a Nervous System feedback loop, Chronic Pain syndrome. Prove that it’s not Fibromyalgia, then we’ll talk. Either way, I’m in constant pain, and I’d rather be treated, by someone who doesn’t think it’s all in my head, or wants to call it something else. Besides the fact, that it’s taken almost a year to see someone who is supposed to specialize in Fibromyalgia, so any other diagnoses I’ve gotten in the mean time, from the non-believers, I take with a grain of salt.

Drugs: Neurontin

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Well, just did some research, and found something very interesting about Neurontin.

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

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.

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2. Pain Syndromes, Peripheral Neuropathy, and Diabetic Neuropathy. Parke-Davis medical liaisons were trained and instructed to report that “leaks” from clinical trials demonstrated that gabapentin was highly effective in the treatment of a number of pain syndromes and that a 90 percent response rate in the management of pain was being reported. No such evidence existed. Medical liaisons were trained to claim support for these findings as a result of inside information despite the fact that no such information existed. The only basis for these claims were anecdotal evidence of minimal, if any, scientific value. Many of the published case reports, according to the court papers, had been created and sponsored by Parke-Davis in articles that frequently hid the company’s involvement in the creation of the article. The company’s payment for the creation of these case reports was also concealed.

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Parke-Davis’ concocted uses for gabapentin turned the drug into a “blockbuster.” A blockbuster is the Wall Street description for any drug that sold $1 billion per year or more. In 2000, the company reported that gabapentin had earned $1.3 billion. As much as 78 percent of these sales were for uses without evidence that gabapentin was safe and effective. In 2001 a market research firm estimated that gabapentin sales totaled $1.7 billion.

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What You Can Do

If you or a family member are taking gabapentin for one of the 11 unapproved, often apparently concocted, uses listed above, you and the prescribing doctor should evaluate the need for gabapentin.

So the reason Neurontin was perscribed for me, pain, was a hoax. Atleast back in 2002. I wonder what has changed if anything. I knew I should have been more leary of this perscription.

Underestimation

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U.S. Underestimated War Costs by $12.3 Billion – GAO


Wed Jul 21, 7:21 PM ET

 Was

By Anna Willard

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Pentagon (news – web sites) said on Wednesday it may tap emergency funding for Iraq (news – web sites) and Afghanistan (news – web sites) earlier than requested as a congressional report found that the Bush administration underestimated war costs by $12.3 billion.

Photo Reuters Photo The report fueled criticism that the wars were badly planned and comes as Congress prepares to approve this week $25 billion in war funds that the White House requested for the 2005 fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. Those funds will become available when the legislation is passed. But a Pentagon spokeswoman said the Defense Department may need to use that money earlier if Congress does not approve a request to divert unused money from other Pentagon accounts. “If we do not get the … reprograming, we will have to tap into the $25 billion earlier than fiscal year 2005,” the spokeswoman said. The report by Congress’ investigative arm found that the Defense Department has been forced to shift funds from other uses, including pushing expenses from the 2004 fiscal year into 2005, in a move likely to boost war costs further down the line. “Analysis … suggests that anticipated costs will exceed the supplemental funding provided for the war by $12.3 billion for the current fiscal year,” the report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said. Congress approved an $87 billion emergency spending bill in October 2003 to finance military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through the end of September. Democrats estimate that the Pentagon has $5 billion left to fund the 2004 shortfall but will need to find $7 billion to cover it in the last two months of the fiscal year. WARTIME PRESIDENT “George W. Bush likes to call himself the wartime president, yet … he has grossly mismanaged the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq,” said a spokesman for Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry (news – web sites). “This latest report … is another example of how George W. Bush planned for the best case scenarios and failed to prepare for the realities of war.” A Pentagon spokeswoman said it is hard to predict the exact cost of a war. “No one knows how long it’s going to last and what nations will support it or end support.” The report warned that deferring activities planned for the 2004 fiscal year “adds to the requirements that will need to be funded in fiscal year 2005 and potentially later years and could result in a ‘bow wave’ effect in future fiscal years.” Democrats say the White House is trying to avoid using the $25 billion in the 2004 fiscal year to keep down the size of the record budget deficit ahead of the November election. The White House is expected to seek a larger emergency spending bill after the U.S. election for Iraq and Afghanistan — which Democrats say will top $50 billion. The GAO also criticized the Pentagon for lack of transparency into how the money has been spent. The report said “large amounts” were reported as miscellaneous, providing little insight into where the money went. Lawmakers have agreed to tighten controls and want monthly reports on the how the latest $25 billion will be used. But, the GAO said, “additional actions are necessary.” In a separate report, the GAO criticized the Army and Halliburton for their logistics work in Iraq, citing the Army’s poor planning and problems with the Texas contractor’s cost controls. (Additional reporting by Adam Entous)