Last night the rhetorical attack on Avandia was fierce.
"We're starting with a story that affects hundreds of thousands of Americans because a new study out today says a drug they take increases their chances of having a heart attack and dying," warned CBS "Evening News" anchor Katie Couric.
ABC's John McKenzie said, "Some doctors warn this could become one of the country's biggest drug catastrophes in recent memory."
And NBC "Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams stated, "A new study out tonight says in effect taking the drug might lead to some fatal consequences."
All those May 21 evening reports were talking about GlaxoSmithKline's Avandia - a drug to treat Type 2 diabetes - and overly emphasized the possible negative side effects found in a recent study.
But the author of the study, Dr. Steven Nissen told CBS viewers not to panic:
"I do not want our study to lead to a public panic," said Nissen, adding "Patients should not stop taking the drug on the basis of a news report."
The drug manufacturer GSK's responses were limited in the broadcasts, and left out this crucial point. "Avandia has a cardiovascular safety profile comparable to other oral anti-diabetic medicines."
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Tonight Katie Couric drops a
May 22, 2007 - 17:11 ET by ArchConservativeTonight Katie Couric drops a bombshell of a news story!
Katie: "A new report just out confirms that birth is the number cause of death for Americans! President Bush had no comment because he is to blame somehow for this, too."
This sort of catastrophysizin
May 22, 2007 - 17:15 ET by QueenMumThis sort of catastrophysizing is just as dangerous as any drug's side effects. My fil has always been very distrustful of doctors and drugs in general. Right now he needs eight different drugs to keep his heart pumping - this because of severe damage to his coronary ateries from several heart attacks for which he refused to seek medical treatment. He keeps a PDR on hand and "researches" every drug he's prescribed. Not a bad idea in general. However, he insists that anything that may be bothering him is likely a side effect of one of his meds. For instance, he has been experiencing seasonal allergy symptoms and insists that one of his meds is to blame - even though he started taking the drugs over a year ago without any sort of problem that resembled allergy symptoms.
Anyway, I'm sure there are a lot of elderly folks out there who are like my fil. This sort of sensational reporting is all some may need to convince them to stop taking their medications.
OMG!!!
May 22, 2007 - 18:27 ET by c5thenYou mean that drugs have side effects??!!! NO!!!
The day that "politician" became a career choice is the day we started losing the Republic