"143 Sudden Deaths Did Not Stop Approval"..

(143 deaths represents MORE deaths then the total of 1999 mortalities in
Cororado, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Washington, New Mexico, Northand South
Dakota, Oklahoma, W. Virgina, NJ, Delaware and Alaska combined)

A damning and horrifying accounts of how the US Food and Drug
Administration acts in anything but good faith or the public interest. A
blistering seven-page expose that points a finger at AIDS activist efforts
to speed up the approval process.

"Once a wary watchdog, the Food and Drug Administration set out to become
a 'partner' of the pharmaceutical industry. Today, the public has more
remedies, but some are proving lethal."

By DAVID WILLMAN, Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON--For most of its history, the United Food and Drug
Administration approved new prescription medicines at a grudging pace,
daily homage to the physician's creed, "First, do no harm." Then in the
early 1990s, the demand for AIDS drugs changed the political climate.
Congress told the FDA to
work closely with pharmaceutical firms in getting new medicines to market
more swiftly. President Clinton urged FDA leaders to trust industry as
"partners, not
adversaries..."

Choice headlines:

"Drug After Drug, Warnings Ignored...danger signs present...even so, top
admistrators moved ahead often leaving doctors to assume the risks."

"Warning on Label Omits Deaths...heart problems were mentioned in fine
print, not in key dosage data"

"143 Sudden Deaths Did Not Stop Approval...study results kept secret"

"Official Foresaw Deadly Effects..remedy pulled after of death and
surgeries"
Find the whole article at

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/reports/fda/