Cancer Cover-Up News & Views

Monthly Newsletter | April 2002

Who Is The Real Snake Oil Salesman?
(part 4)

On November 23, 1999, the FDA wrote Glaxo-Wellcome saying in part:

“…The overall presentation in the advertisement is misleading because it suggests that Relenza is more effective than has been demonstrated by substantiated evidence.”

Although Glaxo-Wellcome eventually withdrew the offending ads, it replaced them with equally misleading materials. As a result, the FDA sent yet another warning letter citing the pharmaceutical giant in part for promotional materials:

“…that lacks fair balance, contains misleading safety and efficacy claims, unsubstantiated comparative claims, misleading drug resistance claims and misleading productivity and pharmaeconomic claims.”

Even more disturbing, however, was another failure cited in the FDA letter concerning Glaxo-Wellcome’s failure to notify patients that:

“… This product (Relenza) has not been shown to be effective, and may carry a risk in patients with severe or decompensated chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma. Any patient who develops bronchospasm or decline in lung function should stop the drug and contact their physician promptly…”

And what punishment was meted out for these false, misleading and potentially dangerous misrepresentations? None. No fines, no penalties, no criminal sanctions were imposed. Instead the company was simply told to withdraw the offending materials. Meanwhile, consumers had spent $450 million to purchase a drug which the FDA admits didn’t work! Worse, some 22 deaths have been linked to Relenza.

Where was Attorney General Curran when countless thousands of Maryland consumers were being sold a worthless and potentially lethal pharmaceutical at exorbitant prices? How quick was Attorney General Curran to jump to the defense of Maryland senior citizens victimized by Glaxo-Wellcome’s grossly exaggerated claims? Or perhaps Mr. Curran believes that knowingly selling a product that doesn’t work at inflated prices while concealing its potentially dangerous side effects isn’t a matter of concern when it involves a huge pharmaceutical company. It would seem so, because not only has Attorney General Curran ignored the case of Relenza, he has ignored all the other instances where Glaxo-Wellcome and other pharmaceutical firms have been cited for false and misleading advertising – the same charge he leveled at T-Up, Inc.

When it comes to manufacturers of dietary supplements, however, his attitude is entirely different.

In the last paragraph on page 2 of Mr. Curran’s testimony, he states:

            “In 1997 we learned that a company located in Baltimore, Maryland was marketing products as treatments or even cures for diseases that included cancer, AIDS, herpes, arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, lupus, multiple sclerosis, pneumonia, Chron’s disease, emphysema, and a wide variety of other human diseases and illnesses.”

Contact Kathleen Deoul, Media Matters
Email: admin@cancer-coverup.com