"The trumped-up Avandia "scandal", Dr. Gilbert Ross, American Council on Science and Health: his prison time and loss of medical license

Dr. Gilbert Ross is the medical director of the ACSH, American Council on Science and Health. Ross defends "scandals" and attempts to squash public fears all the while defending corporations in what appears to be the public's best interest, he in fact holds the company best interest higher.

The lastest Avandia Scandal has placed the diabetes drug in the spotlight for cardio-risk and death and Dr. Ross has come to the rescue (defense) of GSK and AVANDIA in an Op-Ed, at the Washington Times :

From the WaTimes Op-Ed, by Dr.Gilbert Ross

"Sens. Charles E. Grassley and Max Baucus' recently released a 300-plus-page analysis of Glaxo-SmithKline's (GSK) diabetes drug Avandia is a bizarre distortion of both science and the regulatory process. The senators' attack on the drug giant GSK and the FDA claims that Avandia caused more heart problems than a competitor drug and that the drug company hid that fact from the public and from regulators."

AND

"The bureaucratic agenda behind this gratuitous and unscientific attack is spelled out in the report: The authors want to create an independent drug-safety division within - but separate from - the FDA. Even though our drug regulators are the world's most demanding, the senators and Dr. Graham want even more stringency. They have long been advocates for an even more cautious, risk-averse FDA, elevating safety above all other concerns - even at the cost of sacrificing innovative, lifesaving new drugs.

FDA's already risk-averse stance has led to historic lows in the number of new drugs available to sick patients. The "safety first" advocates don't seem to realize that all drugs have risks. Every prescription written by a physician demands an individualized discussion of possible benefits and risks with the patient. The trumped-up Avandia "scandal" provides them and their acolytes with a media megaphone, sounding the alarm to warn us about rampant Big Pharma greed and FDA negligence. Their solution: get all "risky" drugs off the market - leaving us with only the older, tried-and-true drugs, generics if possible. --Dr.Ross

AND

"But there is a place for a drug like Avandia - some patients will do better on it than on the alternatives. That choice - that decision - should not be ceded to politicians who think they know what's best for you, better than you and your own doctor."

Dr. Gilbert Ross is medical director of the American Council on Science and Health.

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Dr. Gilbert Ross spent 46 months in prison and lost his medical license

Dr. Gilbert Ross medicaid fraud:

Dr. Gilbert Ross, the author of the Op-Ed defending GSK and calling the call for removal of AVANDIA from the market a "trumped-up scandal":

"Ross actually had to abandon medicine on July 24, 1995, when his license to practice as a physician in New York was revoked by the unanimous vote of a state administrative review board for professional misconduct.

Instead of tending to patients, Ross spent all of 1996 at a federal prison camp in Schuylkill, Pennsylvania, having being sentenced to 46 months in prison for his participation in a scheme that ultimately defrauded New York's Medicaid program of approximately $8 million."

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You decide who to trust.