Monday December 7, 2009
According to the journal
Cancer, which publishes an "Annual report to the nation on the status of cancer, 1975-2006," while the incidence and death rates from all cancers combined have dropped quite a bit in the last 30 years, certain cancers have become more common. Specifically, according to the abstract:
Among women, incidence rates decreased...for 6 of the top 15 cancers (ie, breast, CRC, uterine corpus and uterus not otherwise specified [uterus], ovary, cervix uteri [cervix], and oral cavity). In contrast, rates increased for 8 of the top 15 cancers (ie, lung, thyroid, pancreas, urinary bladder [bladder], kidney, non-Hodgkin lymphoma [NHL], melanoma, and leukemia) in women.
According to the researchers, "large increases in thyroid cancer were observed during this period for women in all racial/ethnic groups."
This is not the first time it's been reported that thyroid cancer rates are increasing. Thyroid cancer is consistently rated as one of the few cancers that is in fact increasing in prevalence in the U.S. Read Thyroid Cancer Rates are Increasing: Better Detection is Not the Only Reason, summarizing other findings from the journal Cancer in July of 2009.
More Information on Thyroid Cancer
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Source: Edwards, Brenda et. al. "Annual report to the nation on the status of cancer, 1975-2006, featuring colorectal cancer trends and impact of interventions (risk factors, screening, and treatment) to reduce future rates." Cancer. Published Online 7 Dec 2009.
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Monday December 7, 2009
Forest Laboratories, maker of three medications for thyroid hormone replacement (Armour, Thyrolar and Levothroid) has again refused to comment on a critical issue regarding their medications, leaving physicians and thyroid patients without critical information.
This latest "no comment" is one in a long series of stonewalling responses from the Forest, which has been facing various allegations of wrongdoing from the FDA and authorities for several years.
On the thyroid front, Forest has consistently refused to comment about the unannounced reformulation of their natural desiccated thyroid medication Armour Thyroid that took place earlier in 2009. This reformulation caused significant health problems for a subset of patients using Armour. Even after patients and physicians discovered that the reformulation was causing significant health problems in some patients, Forest Laboratories refused to discuss it, remedy it, or comment on it publicly.
Subsquently, when Armour became unavailable this summer, Forest Laboratories refused to comment about the shortage. They referred patients and physicians to a vague statement at the website which said Armour was on backorder, with no estimated date for its return to the market.
Thyrolar, the synthetic T4/T3 combination drug produced by Forest Laboratories, has also experienced substantial shortages and backorder for several years, but disappeared from the market earlier this year. Forest Laboratories initially blamed the U. S. Pharmacopeia, claiming that new specifications for Thyrolar were forcing the company to rerformulate.
When USP officials refuted Forest, Forest then changed the story to still blame USP, but this time, claimed that new USP specifications for levothyroxine -- an ingredient in Thyrolar -- were to blame. Not surprisingly, this is also disingenuous, as USP again refuted Forest, revealing that Forest has had several years of advance notice in which to reformulate Thyrolar to meet the new USP guidelines, so removing the drug from the market, and leaving patients without their medication, it completely unnecessary.
Now, some patients are reporting difficulties in obtaining Levothroid, Forest's brand of levothyroxine.
So, as a patient advocate, I thought I'd try yet again, to obtain information from Forest. Here is the latest email exchange: Read more...
Monday December 7, 2009
The text of the class action lawsuit filed against Forest Laboratories regarding their marketing practices is
online, in PDF format, and it's an eye-opening list of allegations against the company. The suit alleges that Forest has engaged in a host of marketing efforts to illegally promote two antidepressant drugs -- Celexa and Lexapro -- for off-label use, and engaged in a "rampant scheme to induce doctor to become high prescribers through various forms of illegal remuneration." (In plain speak, they allegedly were paying off doctors to prescribe their drugs.)
You can read the entire 200+ page PDF document -- or you may want to skip right to the PDF's pages 98-114, which provide the gory details about "Forest's Dissemination of Half-Truths," "Forest's Illegal Inducements to Physicians" "Lavish Entertainment and Gifts," and more.
Note from Mary: I guess we don't need to wonder why Forest Laboratories hasn't had time to produce and quality-control Armour Thyroid, reformulate Thyrolar to meet USP specifications Forest knew about several years ago and ignored, or respond to any questions about the complete disappearance of most of their thyroid products from the marketplace. They're apparently way too busy coming up with new ways to sell antidepressants, taking doctors to fancy dinners, and figuring out ways to dodge further legal action.
And one has to wonder...since depression is a symptom of hypothyroidism, if Forest Laboratories dumps its thyroid drugs -- and leaves patients permanently unable to obtain Armour and Thyrolar, at minimum, is it yet another insidious marketing effort to create more demand for their antidepressants?)
More About Forest Laboratories and Their Disregard for their Thyroid Product Line and Thyroid Customers
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Thursday December 3, 2009
The American Thyroid Association (ATA) has issued a
press release/statement regarding
the shortage of radioactive iodine I-131, used for thyroid tests and treatments.
According to the ATA, the shortage is now having an effect on the supply of I-131, and hospitals in some areas of the country are being told that they will not receive any further shipments of I-131 until mid-December of 2009.
Says ATA: "This shortage has led to prioritizing the use of existing I-131 products for those patients with thyroid cancer who have urgency of treatment. It has also brought concerns about the possibility of rescheduling patients who are in the process of preparing for radioactive iodine scans or treatment...It is advisable for physicians to determine the status of I-131 supply locally, with the nuclear medicine department in their hospital or the vendors who provide this product for office-based practices."
Note from Mary: if you are scheduled for a procedure involving radioactive iodine, you may want to call ahead to reconfirm that your physician/hospital will have the I-131 needed to perform your scheduled procedure.
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Source: Notice from the American Thyroid Association (ATA) I-131 shortage
