A mixture of emotions after watching GSK's promotional video for their anti-doping service they are offering for the London Olympics.
GSK were given the task to test athletes by the World Anti Doping Agency [WADA]. Of all the pharmaceutical companies in the world and they choose one with an abysmal track record of safeguarding human health!
The opening lines of the narration in the promo video had me reaching for the vomit bag.
"The aim is to protect athletes and stop doping in its tracks"
Protect?
This is the same company who were supposed to protect children from taking a drug [Paxil] that was meant for adults. Instead they had ghostwriters draw up an academic paper that claimed this adult drug was safe for kids...when in fact they knew all along that it wasn't.
It's also the same company who promoted the use of an asthma inhaler [Advair] to people with mild asthma when it was only indicated for people with severe asthma.
It's also the same company that pushed it's diabetes medication [Avandia] onto patients when it knew, all along, that the medication caused heart attacks.
It's also the same company that knew that expectant mothers taking it's drug [Paxil] may give birth to babies born with heart and skull defects.
It's also the same company that pushed a drug [Imitrex] for mild headaches and for use in children even though it was not indicated for both.
It's also the same company that hired thousands of guest speakers to promote its anti-epileptic medication [Lamictal], many of whom were child neurologists. In 2010 the FDA issued a warning that Lamictal use can cause aseptic meningitis, an illness characterized by serous inflammation of the linings of the brain.
It's also the same company that advertised its antibacterial agent [Raxar] as being safe and effective until it was withdrawn from the market in 1999 for causing Prolonged QT interval. Records filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) showed that Raxar was cited as a suspect in the reported deaths of 13 patients.
It's the same company that paid out a $7 million dollar settlement to the remaining members of a family after it was found that an antidepressant [Paxil] caused a loving father to take a .22 calibre pistol and a 357 magnum and, in the middle of the night, shoot dead the three people in the world dearest to him.
It's the same company that have settled over 3,000 cases with consumers who complained that they had extreme difficulties in withdrawing from its antidepressant [Paxil]
The same company that recently paid out a staggering three billion dollars to the US government for promoting its best-selling antidepressants [Paxil and Wellbutrin] for unapproved uses and failing to report safety data about its top diabetes drug [Avandia]
Its the same company who are currently fighting a lawsuit in the UK regarding it's antidepressant [Seroxat, known as Paxil in the US] whereby it refuses to accept any liability that consumers taking it had difficulty withdrawing from it. This, despite settling the same type of withdrawal cases in the US.
GlaxoSmithKline are a British based company. They are flying the Union Jack for Britain during the Olympics.
The watching world must be so proud that Britain are being represented by such a prestigious, forthright and morally ethical company.
Here's the promo video.
...and here's one more... just for balance.
Fid
ORDER THE PAPERBACK 'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman US and CANADA HERE OR UK HERE
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