The recent approval of a drug for use in combating leukemia by the US Food and Drug Administration has shed light on the relatively controversial, albeit common practice by that organization of using surrogate markers of efficacy for determining the benefit of a given drug or therapy. Some believe this constitutes a low bar for
The first thing any industry faced with negative scientific evidence does is form a trade group. And the first thing that trade group does is gin up “scientific” evidence that claims the industry is being falsely maligned. The asbestos industry did (and does) it, and of course so did the tobacco industry. Now, it’s the
In my day job, I’m an asbestos and mesothelioma lawyer. As part of that job, I have to keep track of the various significant events related to asbestos and mesothelioma. I have a database of hundreds of scientific articles, corporate studies, etc. that track the development of the knowledge that asbestos is harmful. I’ve decided not