"End of Drug Trial Is a Big Loss for Pfizer"--oh yeah, and a big loss to the people who died

Okay, I am cranky, but not necessarily a crank, right? Two days ago, I was ranting,

It's always in Big Pharma's interests to have us on SSRIs (or statins, or birth control pills, etc.) our whole lives (can you say "revenue stream?), who care what it does to our brain, hormones, immune system, OUR UNBORN CHILDREN

...AND OUR LIVES, I should have added.

From The New York Times yesterday,

The news came to Pfizer’s chief scientist, Dr. John L. LaMattina...the company’s most promising experimental drug, intended to treat heart disease, actually caused an increase in deaths and heart problems. Eighty-two people had died so far in a clinical trial, versus 51 people in the same trial who had not taken it...

And the commentary to the Times:

“I’m terribly disappointed...” said Dr. Steven E. Nissen, chairman of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic and lead investigator of an earlier torcetrapib clinical trial.

And, why, do you think? "Terribly disappointed" because the drug killed people? Terribly disappointed for the deceaseds' families right before the holidays? Read on...

"...This drug, if it worked, would probably have been the largest-selling pharmaceutical in history.”

I'm tearing up for this poor man as I write this (sob!). I say to you, condolences on your loss of....equity value! On your second (third?) home. Dang!

tags technorati : Pfizer big pharma torcetrapib deaths clinical trial