Dear Practice Members,

One of my mentors in Chiropractic, Dr. Dennis Perman, wrote an excellent article this morning I wanted to share with you. Please take a moment and read it. It could save loved one's life.

Chad Hawk, D.C.

Dear Doctor:

Yet another questionable drug came under attack this week, when Avandia, a popular diabetes medication, was linked to a potentially significant increase in the risk of heart attack and heart-related deaths, according to a 2007 report from the FDA.

This time, though, a Senate report also complained that the FDA sat on this revelation, even though the FDA's own drug safety oversight committee voted narrowly, 8 to 7, against recalling the drug. In fact, consumer advocacy group Public Citizen called for a ban on Avandia, as a result of clear evidence of increased risks of heart attacks, heart failure, bone fractures, anemia and retinal edema with vision loss. Even the American Diabetes Association recommends avoiding the drug.

I found reports on the FDA MedWatch website from 2001, directing manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline to include such warnings on the label, but the Senate report, including the input of a bipartisan team of Senators Baucus and Grassley, suggests that they put public safety at risk because the FDA has been too cozy with drug makers and has been regularly outmaneuvered by companies that have a financial interest in downplaying or under-exploring potential safety risks.

Judging by how timid such reports usually are, you can imagine just how bad this is. The FDA has known Avandia was hazardous for nine years, and the evidence continues to mount for lack of one more vote on their committee, how many more people will suffer or die from their foot-dragging?

I'm not alone in being fed up with the public welfare being ignored or abused for profit -- what will it take to commandeer this runaway train and get control of the widespread poisoning and devastation being perpetrated upon so many of us, in the guise of health care?

It should be obvious that dangerous drugs should not be allowed on the market, but without more responsibility on health consumers part in adjusting their lifestyles to reduce the need for such interventions, drug companies have a point if the only choices are to die from blood sugar issues or take a perilous drug, most would take the drug and hope for the best  but there is another option, to begin wellness-driven lifestyle habits early in life to minimize drug use except when really required.

This paradigm shift is gathering momentum  people want a better quality of life and more longevity, and they're finally accepting that there's no free lunch. As more drugs are found to have too many strings attached, more people will realize that there's something they can do to decrease the need for such violent and unnatural solutions. That's why movements like Eight Weeks To Wellness, Creating Wellness and Discover Wellness are already making a difference in thousands of lives, foretelling a future of personal accountability, better lifestyle decisions, and medicine only when truly appropriate.

This is not an anti-drug position it's an anti-bad-use-of-drugs position, one it will pay to consider, for ourselves, our families, our patients, and for the greater good. Please alert your patients and your sphere of influence, not only about Avandia, but also the need to shift our behaviors toward wellness.

Dennis Perman DC,