NBC Nightly News open - 2004-11-18

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:02] Keep watching for your chance to win the

[0:03] coolest snowbird ever.

[0:08] John Chans prescription for trouble.

[0:11] Scathing testimony on Capitol Hill today

[0:13] about the health dangers of vio. Why

[0:15] wasn't more done to protect the public.

[0:18] The Clinton legacy. A rainy day and four

[0:22] US presidents on hand with thousands of

[0:24] others for the dedication of the Clinton

[0:26] Presidential Library.

[0:29] >> In contempt, a television reporter, he

[0:32] helped uncover a scandal caught on tape.

[0:34] So why is the reporter now facing jail

[0:37] time

[0:38] and road hazard? Car versus deer on a

[0:41] collision course and only getting worse.

[0:48] From NBC News world headquarters in New

[0:51] York, this is NBC Nightly News with Tom

[0:54] Brokall.

[0:56] >> Good evening. It was a very tough day

[0:58] for the major pharmaceutical companies

[0:59] in this country and a very unsettling

[1:02] day for the hundreds of thousands of

[1:04] people who depend on some of their most

[1:06] popular drugs. The congressional hearing

[1:08] was called to look into Vio, that's the

[1:10] arthritis drug pulled from the market

[1:12] when evidence piled up that it was

[1:14] causing major heart and stroke problems.

[1:17] Why did it take so long? And are there

[1:20] other drugs out there at least as

[1:21] dangerous? We'll begin with NBC's Chip

[1:24] Reed on Capitol Hill tonight.

[1:27] Vio caused more than 100,000 heart

[1:29] attacks or strokes since 1999 and may

[1:32] have killed nearly 28,000 people before

[1:34] it was pulled from the market in

[1:36] September.

[1:38] That according to a government scientist

[1:40] who has studied Vio extensively and

[1:42] illustrated how many lives that is by

[1:44] comparing it to crashes of commercial

[1:46] airliners.

[1:47] >> This translates to two to four aircraft

[1:49] every week, week in week out for the

[1:51] past 5 years.

[1:53] >> Graham and two other medical researchers

[1:55] told a Senate committee today that for

[1:56] years there were red flags. Studies

[1:59] suggesting that Vio increased

[2:00] cardiovascular risk.

[2:02] >> Only the positive studies, only the

[2:04] studies that show what the company wants

[2:05] are the ones that get published. All the

[2:07] other studies get buried

[2:08] >> the pain of osteoarthritis.

[2:11] >> Despite those studies, they said

[2:12] pharmaceutical giant Merc continued to

[2:15] aggressively market the drug with

[2:16] endorsements from celebrities like

[2:18] Darthothy Hamill.

[2:19] >> Merc puts patients first.

[2:22] >> But the head of Merc told Congress today

[2:24] the company relentlessly pursued

[2:26] research on the safety of Vio but

[2:28] insisted there was no definitive data

[2:30] until recently.

[2:31] >> I believed wholeheartedly in Vio. In

[2:34] fact, my wife was taking Vio, using Vio

[2:37] up until the day we withdrew it from the

[2:39] market.

[2:39] >> The Food and Drug Administration, which

[2:41] approved Vio, also defended its

[2:43] research.

[2:44] >> The cardiovascular risk was examined

[2:47] with a fine tooth comb. There were no

[2:50] suggestion of cardiovascular risk in

[2:53] those data.

[2:54] >> But some senators said the FDA shares

[2:56] the blame. One of my concerns is that

[2:59] the FDA has a relationship with drug

[3:01] companies that is far too cozy.

[3:03] >> The central witness at today's hearing,

[3:05] David Graham, said there are five other

[3:07] popular drugs now on the market with

[3:09] serious safety concerns. And he added

[3:11] that the FDA, which he works for, is

[3:13] quote incapable of protecting America

[3:15] from another vio. Chip Reed, NBC News,

[3:18] the capital.

[3:20] One of the facts of American life these

[3:21] days is that many prescription drugs are

[3:23] now household names as familiar as

[3:26] aspirin or cold medicine. Why is that

[3:28] and what's the effect? NBC's chief

[3:31] science correspondent is Robert Miselle.

[3:35] >> 20 million Americans took Bio.

[3:37] >> Vio relieves arthritis pains

[3:39] >> often some say unnecessarily in response

[3:42] to advertising.

[3:43] >> Probably a very small percentage of

[3:45] those who took Vio needed Vio. Dr.

[3:49] Marcia Angel, former editor of the New

[3:51] England Journal of Medicine and author

[3:53] of The Truth About the Drug Companies,

[3:55] says there is one big reason why Vio and

[3:58] other drugs in the same class, Celre and

[4:00] Beextra, became so popular.

[4:03] >> They were promoted almost incessantly.

[4:06] And the promotions were very skillful.

[4:08] They conveyed the notion that somehow

[4:11] these drugs were better for treating the

[4:13] symptoms of arthritis, even though there

[4:15] was absolutely no evidence that they

[4:17] were better. This knee is good. And

[4:19] >> doctors say many people only need

[4:20] painkillers such as ibuprofen or napone

[4:23] that cost a fraction as much. The one

[4:26] big advantage of the newer drugs is they

[4:28] sometimes lessen stomach related side

[4:30] effects.

[4:31] >> Ask your doctor about

[4:32] >> Since 1997, the FDA has allowed drug

[4:35] companies to advertise prescription

[4:37] medications directly to consumers. The

[4:40] companies now spend more than $3 billion

[4:42] a year on the ads.

[4:43] >> Talk to your doctor about prescription

[4:45] celebrates. Many say the ads, which are

[4:47] featured prominently on this broadcast

[4:49] and many TV shows, play a big role in

[4:51] getting patients to seek expensive