experts who praised new ‘skinny jab’ received payments from drug maker

 The drug giant behind weight loss injections newly approved for NHS use spent millions in just three years on an “orchestrated PR campaign” to boost its UK influence.

As part of its strategy, Novo Nordisk paid £21.7m to health organisations and professionals who in some cases went on to praise the treatment without always making clear their links to the firm, an Observer investigation has found.

the full article is here.

Science and "Conflict of Interest"

this post is about Science and the short paragraph at the end of all scientific publications titled "Conflict of Interest".

Have you seen these paragraphs in papers like?

1. Optimal Nutritional Status for a Well-Functioning Immune System Is an Important Factor to Protect against Viral Infections
  
Conflicts of Interest

P.C.C. has research funding from BASF AS and Bayer Consumer Care; acts as an advisor/consultant to BASF AS, DSM, Cargill, Smartfish, Nutrileads, Bayer Consumer Care, and Pfizer (now GSK) Consumer Healthcare; has received reimbursement for travel and/or speaking from Danone, Fresenius Kabi, Baxter, Pfizer (now GSK) Consumer Healthcare, Abbott, Smartfish, Biogredia and the California Walnut Commission; and is President and member of the Board of Directors of the European Branch of the International Life Sciences Institute. A.C.C. has received research funding from Bayer Consumer Care and travel reimbursement from DSM. M.E. acts as an advisor for DSM and received travel reimbursement from DSM. He is member of the Scientific Board of PM International and President of the Gesellschaft für angewandte Vitaminforschung. A.F.G. has received research funding from Bayer Consumer Care and has acted as an advisor/consultant for and has received reimbursement for travel and/or speaking from Bayer Consumer Care.

2. Rosuvastatin to Prevent Vascular Events in Men and Women with Elevated C-Reactive Protein

Supported by AstraZeneca.

Dr. Ridker reports receiving grant support from AstraZeneca, Novartis, Merck, Abbott, Roche, and Sanofi-Aventis; consulting fees or lecture fees or both from AstraZeneca, Novartis, Merck, Merck–Schering-Plough, Sanofi-Aventis, Isis, Dade Behring, and Vascular Biogenics; and is listed as a coinventor on patents held by Brigham and Women's Hospital that relate to the use of inflammatory biomarkers in cardiovascular disease, including the use of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein in the evaluation of patients' risk of cardiovascular disease. These patents have been licensed to Dade Behring and AstraZeneca. Dr. Fonseca reports receiving research grants, lecture fees, and consulting fees from AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Schering-Plough, Sanofi-Aventis, and Merck; and Dr. Genest, lecture fees from AstraZeneca, Schering-Plough, Merck–Schering-Plough, Pfizer, Novartis, and Sanofi-Aventis and consulting fees from AstraZeneca, Merck, Merck Frosst, Schering-Plough, Pfizer, Novartis, Resverlogix, and Sanofi-Aventis. Dr. Gotto reports receiving consulting fees from Dupont, Novartis, Aegerion, Arisaph, Kowa, Merck, Merck–Schering-Plough, Pfizer, Genentech, Martek, and Reliant; serving as an expert witness; and receiving publication royalties. Dr. Kastelein reports receiving grant support from AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Roche, Novartis, Merck, Merck–Schering-Plough, Isis, Genzyme, and Sanofi-Aventis; lecture fees from AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Novartis, Merck–Schering-Plough, Roche, Isis, and Boehringer Ingelheim; and consulting fees from AstraZeneca, Abbott, Pfizer, Isis, Genzyme, Roche, Novartis, Merck, Merck–Schering-Plough, and Sanofi-Aventis. Dr. Koenig reports receiving grant support from AstraZeneca, Roche, Anthera, Dade Behring and GlaxoSmithKline; lecture fees from AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, DiaDexus, Roche, and Boehringer Ingelheim; and consulting fees from GlaxoSmithKline, Medlogix, Anthera, and Roche. Dr. Libby reports receiving lecture fees from Pfizer and lecture or consulting fees from AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, VIA Pharmaceuticals, Interleukin Genetics, Kowa Research Institute, Novartis, and Merck–Schering-Plough. Dr. Lorenzatti reports receiving grant support, lecture fees, and consulting fees from AstraZeneca, Takeda, and Novartis; Dr. Nordestgaard, lecture fees from AstraZeneca, Sanofi-Aventis, Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Merck and consulting fees from AstraZeneca and BG Medicine; Dr. Shepherd, lecture fees from AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Merck and consulting fees from AstraZeneca, Merck, Roche, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Nicox, and Oxford Biosciences; and Dr. Glynn, grant support from AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb. No other potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

= = =

let's talk about Science now:

when the authors themselves explicitly declare these conflicts of interest, could such declarations raise any doubts ?

Let's talk about the data, then.

In relation to CVDs, our team has been studying this field for 20 years.

Our views on omega-3 and statins are presented below in this review paper

 Inflammation and Cardiovascular Disease: Are Marine Phospholipids the Answer?

and this book (chapter 6, on statins may be of some interest)

The Impact of Nutrition and Statins on Cardiovascular Diseases

To conclude: omega-3 and statins do not lower cardiovascular risk. The cholesterol hypothesis can not explain CVDs morbidity; inflammation is the killer, as explained few days ago...

COVID-19: The Inflammation Link and the Role of Nutrition in Potential Mitigation

 

 

Nocebo but not side effects of statins?

 
 

 

This story is very UN-reliable... and the paper of very limited scope.

However, the comments of the readers are Great and really spot on!

Here are some really good ones

 

JENNIFER CARTER

3h ago

8 9

I would suggest that the perceptions of the researchers were affected because they knew they were being funded by Pfizer although they were caused by Pfizer itself.
This seems to have been a very limited study.

scarpia18

3h ago

17 18

Shock horror. Findings from research that received funding from drug maker finds in drug makers favour. Come on people!
 

 

Thespionic

4h ago

13 14

Anyone who has suffered the aching muscles & joints that Statins cause will tell you that it's certainly not in the mind. I ended up on pain killers before ditching Statins completely. They do though effect some but not others. The dosage at one time was overly high and reduced by 50% on health grounds by the med' profession. A survey funded by the drug company that makes them - outrageous!

 

third_eye

5h ago

18 19

What utter, dishonest rubbish! Patients who do not have any knowledge that statins might cause muscular pain complain of pain after taking them. Surely, such blatant commercial hoodwinking must not be allowed. Oh, I forgot, it's an establishment effort.

mc1972

7h ago

11 12

This is a pointless medicine. Cholesterol is a red herring as far as heart attacks are concerned.
 

 

 

Statins and Declaration of Interests

While writing my new book, I came across the following...

Interpretation of the evidence for the efficacy and safety of statin therapy

http://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(16)31357-5.pdf

Declaration of interests

…it has a staff policy of not taking personal payments from industry (with reimbursement sought only for the costs of travel and accommodation to attend scientific meetings).

@..@ is co-inventor of a genetic test for statin-related myopathy risk, but receives no income from it.

@..@ has received research grants from, and served as a consultant to, Merck and Pfizer.

@..@ has twice received travel and accommodation funding and honoraria from Merck.

@..@ receives compensation for serving on data monitoring committees for clinical trials (including of statins) funded by Abbvie, Actelion, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Sanofi and Teva.

@..@ has received research grants for research on statins and polypill development from Bristol-Myers Squibb and BUPA.

@..@ declares that George Health Enterprises, the social enterprise arm of the George Institute, has received investment to develop combination products containing statin, aspirin, and blood-pressure-lowering drugs.

= = =

It's bloody elementary, my Dear Watson ◎

 

Statins and vested interests

The debate on the value of statins gets hotter!

In the heart of the debate are papers, claims and ...patents.

In a recent paper, some interesting facts were published : a Sunday Times investigation in September 2016 uncovered that a statin advocate filed a patent in 2009 for a test that identifies a gene that makes patients more likely to suffer muscle pain with statins.

And a couple of days ago, HEART UK (The Cholesterol Charity) (the emphasis on Charity!) issued this statement concluding: “Patients should work with their doctors to find a statin regime which suits them and achieves good control of their LDL-cholesterol, which can be achieved in the vast majority of cases.”

Our opinion is this: what is the REAL benefit of taking statins as opposed to the REAL risk of developing side-effects? The answer is complicated and we try to give it with this book.

The more I read on this...the more dark stories like this one I find out.
Stories that make me really skeptical about the possible (?) under covered vested interests of the statins advocates...

Ἓν οἶδα ὅτι ουδὲν οἶδα
I know one thing: I know nothing