Using Rezulin to Treat Diabetes
I am a physician at UCLA and a consultant for Parke-Davis. I have also either consulted for, spoken for and/or done research with most of the major drug manufacturers for the treatment of diabetes. Pharmaceutical dollars fund much clinical research and sponsor many educational initiatives.
Your Dec. 6-7 articles are one-sided and present data only on risk, not benefit. Rezulin is unique in its action. It has allowed me to effectively treat hundreds of patients who were not otherwise controlled on anti-diabetes medication. I have monitored liver function tests from the beginning in my patients. A few have had elevations and I have stopped the drug without any further problems. Can Rezulin cause liver failure? Yes. But what of the other classes of anti-diabetes drugs? All can cause death or serious illness at approximately the same rate as does Rezulin. None are risk-free, yet if used correctly all can treat diabetes. What is the risk of poorly controlled diabetes? Blindness, kidney failure, amputation, impotence, death. Treatment risks must be weighed against the benefits of treatment and the risk of untreated disease.
The public has long demanded that the FDA approve drugs more rapidly. Now that it is, there is concern that it is too fast. It is hard to find the middle path. From my own experience, Warner-Lambert has kept me informed at every step. I have known of the deaths due to Rezulin and have been able to evaluate for myself the risk to my patients.
As for Dr. Richard Eastman, he is one of the brightest, most caring researchers I have ever met. Meeting him at Parke-Davis-funded meetings, I have been able to learn about his research in health care economics. Due to my discussions with him, I have learned enough to help many managed care organizations design cost-effective programs for treating patients with diabetes. He is a man with much integrity, doing what all of us do who care about patients with diabetes, using whatever resources he can to provide better opportunities for treatment and education. Are we “owned” by the drug companies? Most are not. If another company comes out with a Rezulin-like drug for treating patients with diabetes that does not have liver toxicity, I will use it without hesitation.
ANNE L. PETERS MD
Director, UCLA Clinical
Diabetes Program
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Congratulations to The Times on its expose of the conflict of interest behind the diabetes drug Rezulin--linked to 33 deaths so far. Your articles can only increase public awareness of the close ties between government regulators and the pharmaceutical industry, and the contamination of pure science by corporate profit motives.
Let us hope your reporting will also spark awareness in physicians and patients that we are all being bombarded by hard-sell marketing of potentially toxic drugs, which increases the rush toward use of prescription medications. For chronic disease, safe and effective alternatives are available--nutrients such as herbs, minerals, vitamins, amino acids, fatty acids--plus lifestyle changes in diet, exercise and stress management.
JUDITH PLOWDEN
Venice
