March 19, 2009

Washington Post Claims Uproar Over Seroquel, Cites No Evidence

There was an odd article in yesterday's Washington Post concerning suppressed Seroquel studies. It appeared on A-1 and was authored by Shankar Vedantam, who usually does good work. But this time out, not so much.

First, the story is old news and contains little that hasn't been previously reported by myself, Bloomberg, the St. Petersburg Times and some other media outlets and blogs. Short story: Study 15 shows patients getting super fat on Seroquel; company knows it has problems with the drug; FDA approves the drug for schizophrenia in 1997; AstraZeneca never has study 15 published, but pushes into the public realm studies showing that the drug doesn't cause weight gain; later evidence shows that patients gain tons of weight and develop diabetes on the drug. That's it. Nothing new there, except that it's on A-1 of the Post.

Second, the paper gave the article the headline "A Silenced Drug Study Creates An Uproar." Nowhere in the article is there anyone quoted calling AZ's tactics outrageous or hinting at any uproar of any kind. In fact, aside from a teensy quote from Columbia University's Jeff Lieberman and quotes from AZ's Tony Jewell, no one is quoted in the article, which is just odd as hell for a longish front page story in a daily newspaper, especially one asserting an "uproar."

It makes you wonder if the author wasn't talking to some sources who claimed an uproar, but an editor hacked their quotes from the article, which would also be damn odd.

Posted by Philip Dawdy at March 19, 2009 12:03 AM
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Comments

I agree, although it was nice to see on the front page of the Washington Post. I was expecting a much longer story with more details especially with the word UPROAR in the heading. Your ending thoughts are interesting.

Posted by: kim at March 19, 2009 12:57 AM

Reread the article.

Everything's there. The only problem you seem to have is that your name wasn't included anywhere.

Posted by: The Duece at March 19, 2009 07:41 AM

I thought it was in the Washington Post because of the meetings coming up in 3 weeks. But I didn't see that mentioned. Did I miss it?

They're trying to get it approved for major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder!!

DATE: April 7-8, 8:00 a.m.
LOCATION: Hilton Washington DC/Silver Spring, The Ballrooms, 8727 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, Maryland
CONTACT: Yvette Waples, 301-827-7001.
On April 8, 2009, the committee will discuss safety and efficacy issues of Seroquel XR (quetiapine maleate), proposed for the treatment of major depressive disorder and proposed for the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder.
Particular safety issues for discussion on April 8, 2009, regarding the Seroquel XR applications are concerns regarding exposing a greatly expanded population to a drug with known metabolic side effects and a possible risk of tardive dyskinesia.

Posted by: Becky at March 19, 2009 09:58 PM
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