Adverse Reactions: The Fenoterol Story

by Neil Pearce

Overview

Recounting the fenoterol epidemic—a major medical controversy that took place more than 15 years ago—this narrative explores the involvement of the asthma drug that caused numerous asthma deaths. Although the epidemic occurred in New Zealand, its shocking discoveries and subsequent consequences attracted worldwide attention in medical journals and conferences. Neil Pearce, the researcher who discovered that fenoteral was the cause of the epidemic, tells this personal story while raising concerns about drug safety internationally and analyzing the battle between money and science in medical research.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781775580119
Publisher:	Auckland University Press
Publication date:	11/01/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	232
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Neil Pearce is a professor at Massey University in Wellington, New Zealand, and established the university's Centre for Public Health Research. He has written 14 books on the epidemiology of cancer, asthma, and occupational health.

Table of Contents

List of Figures     viii
List of Tables     ix
Abbreviations     x
Beta agonists (and brand-names)     x
Foreword     xi
Acknowledgements     xiii
Introduction     1
Some history     3
History is rewritten     23
History repeats itself     31
'Maybe these drugs are not all the same'     45
The first study     61
Getting the paper published     83
Adverse reactions     114
The second study     134
Mixed reactions     144
Positive reactions     164
Conclusion: Parting shots     176
Notes     194
Bibliography     206
Index     212

Editorial Reviews

The book is timely in the US coming as it does on the heels of the Vioxx episode and in the midst of active discussion about drug safety reform.

Epidemiology Monitor

"This is a 'rattling good yarn.' It reads well and tells a very good story that needs to get out to a wider audience." —AUP's academic referee



"The book is timely in the U.S. coming as it does on the heels of the Vioxx episode and in the midst of active discussion about drug safety reform." —Epidemiology Monitor

From the Publisher