The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Rezulin" ...
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Hidden Risks, Lethal Truths
This story was initially reported in June of 2000, when the dangerous effects of the diabetes pill, Rezulin, were first discovered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The pill, which was found to cause liver-related deaths in patients, was finally taken off the market in March 2000 after bringing in $2.1 billion in sales for Warner-Lambert Co. This investigation looks at internal documents which uncover Warner-Lambert executives hid early indications of the drug's effects from regulators. The documents also indicate that the company put off sharing the information with family doctors prescribing the medicine with their patients.
Tags: Warner-Lambert Co; Rezulin; federal regulation; Food and Drug Administration; Pfizer; Inc.; drugs
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The Rise and Fall of the Killer Drug Rezulin
The Los Angeles Times explains how "a disparate collection of physicians inside the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ... combined research and bluntly worded e-mails" to convince their superiors to pull Rezulin, a pill fast-tracked by the FDA that was causing liver failure in patients. It took 90 deaths from the blood-sugar medication before the FDA and manufacturer Warner-Lambert Co. took action.
Tags: Rezulin; Food and Drug Administration; FDA; Warner-Lambert Co.; drugs; fast track
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FDA and Drug Safety
A CBS investigative series reports on different aspects of dangerous medicine. Some of the reports reveal that the managed care has gone out of control. "Health insurance giants ... are harming patients by denying crucial medical care, illegally denying and delaying claims, and using unfair and deceptive trade practices." Insurers also "downcode" doctors' claims - that is, change them to services that pay less or nothing at all. Other stories look at the risks posed by drug studies and the lack of enough oversight from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). One of the reports tells how a healthy baby died after being enrolled in a study of Propulsid, a heartburn drug that turned out to be dangerous and has been repeatedly rejected by the FDA for pediatric use. The series also examine cases of prescription drugs that should have never been sold, and concludes that FDA has become too close to the pharmaceutical industry. A major finding is that pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. have huge financial incentives to keep dangerous drugs on the market at the cost of patients' deaths and injuries.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; medicine; HMOs; health care; patients; Cigna; Oxford; Connecticare; Aetna; Physician Health Services; Anthem Bule Cross/Blue Shield; Rezulin; Pfeizer; Warner Lambert
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Undue Influence
The American Prospect examines the deregulation trend in the pharmaceutical industry. The report finds that laws passed in 1992 and 1997 "left the Food and Drug Administration beholden to the very industry it is supposed to regulate, and the public vulnerable to unsafe drugs." The story reveals that more than 100,000 Americans die each year from adverse reactions to prescription drugs. However, President Bush, who received contributions of $456,000 from the pharmaceutical industry, will likely prove receptive to drug companies' pleas for additional deregulation, points out the magazine.
Tags: FDA; biotech; AIDS; regulations; George W. Bush; life-threatening diseases; medications; drug testing; Prescription Drug User Fee Act; Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act; television ads; research; safety; health; Viagra; Rezulin
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Dangerous Drugs
A CBS News investigation into the FDA reveals that the organization has approved a number of drugs despite objections from its own scientists. Among the questionably approved drugs was Rezulin, a diabetes drug, and Relenza, a flu drug. "The series exposed a serious rift between FDA rank-and-file scientists who felt their concerns were being ignored, and FDA executives who repeatedly sided with pharmaceutical companies over issues of safety regarding controversial drugs."
Tags: VIDEOCLIP; TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; FDA; Rezulin; Relenza; scientists; pharmaceutical companies; safety; drugs
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Rezulin Helps Many, Leaves Trail of Despair
The Ann Arbor News investigated an alleged cover-up of concerns about the side effects of a new diabetes drug - Rezulin - prior to its approval by the Food and Drug Administration. The investigation revealed that "it took at least 63 deaths over 2 1/2 years to convince the FDA and Parke-Davis [the producing company, based in Ann-Arbor] to finally pull Rezulin off the market." The reporter found out that "pre-approval data from Parke-Davis had suggested the possibility of liver problems," but the producer didn't "point this data out to the FDA, and the FDA ignored or covered up this concern." The series raised questions about conflicts of interest, stemming from the fact that "some members of the FDA committee of doctors who approved Rezulin, as well as a top decision maker....had worked as paid consultants for Parke-Davis..." The stories questioned the proper work of the country's drug approval system.
Tags: FOIA; the Food and Drug Administration; diabetes; insulin; doctors
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Bitter Pill: Rezulin may cause acute liver failure, but the FDA still won't take it off the market.
The Washington Monthly reports "By January 1997, the Food and Drug Administration's files were loaded with enough warning signs (of side effects) to have kept Rezulin out of the hands of unsuspecting diabetic patients....The FDA by (March 1999) was in the midst of an extraordinary re-evaluation of Rezulin, undertaken in response to a series of articles that (Willman) had authored for the Los Angeles Times..Yet when Dr. Graham told the advisory committee that, based on his research, as few as 10 percent of Rezulin-related adverse events had been reported, members of the panel would have none of it..."
Tags: Pharmaceuticals; FDA; Rezulin; Warner-Lambert
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Rezulin: A Billion-Dollar Killer
The series revealed that senior Food and Drug Administration officials dismissed explicit warnings of danger while racing to approve the diabetes pill Rezulin. It also disclosed that the government's top diabetes researcher was a paid consultant for the manufacturer of Rezulin while overseeing the drug's inclusion in a $150 million federal study. The reporting forced the FDA to acknowledge that at least 33 deaths were linked to Rezulin.