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Washington Post Blasts Proliferation of ESAs for Anemia
Anemia drugs sold under the brand names of Procrit, Aranesp, and Epogen come under new and scathing scrutiny in an exclusive report published July 20 in the Washington Post.
The investigative article by Peter Whoriskey alleges that pharmaceutical giants Amgen and Johnson & Johnson "wildly overstated" benefits while understating potentially lethal side effects of these erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs).
While safety trials required by the Food and Drug Administration lagged for more than a decade, the companies successfully lobbied for a payment system that rewarded physicians for giving large doses of their high-priced drugs, according to the report.
Use of the drugs declined in recent years after studies showed higher mortality rates in patients given ESAs. Epoetin-alfa (Procrit and Epogen) and darbepoetin alfa (Aranesp) are used to treat anemia in patients undergoing cancer chemotherapy or dialysis for chronic kidney disease.
Anemia drugs sold under the brand names of Procrit, Aranesp, and Epogen come under new and scathing scrutiny in an exclusive report published July 20 in the Washington Post.
The investigative article by Peter Whoriskey alleges that pharmaceutical giants Amgen and Johnson & Johnson "wildly overstated" benefits while understating potentially lethal side effects of these erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs).
While safety trials required by the Food and Drug Administration lagged for more than a decade, the companies successfully lobbied for a payment system that rewarded physicians for giving large doses of their high-priced drugs, according to the report.
Use of the drugs declined in recent years after studies showed higher mortality rates in patients given ESAs. Epoetin-alfa (Procrit and Epogen) and darbepoetin alfa (Aranesp) are used to treat anemia in patients undergoing cancer chemotherapy or dialysis for chronic kidney disease.
Anemia drugs sold under the brand names of Procrit, Aranesp, and Epogen come under new and scathing scrutiny in an exclusive report published July 20 in the Washington Post.
The investigative article by Peter Whoriskey alleges that pharmaceutical giants Amgen and Johnson & Johnson "wildly overstated" benefits while understating potentially lethal side effects of these erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs).
While safety trials required by the Food and Drug Administration lagged for more than a decade, the companies successfully lobbied for a payment system that rewarded physicians for giving large doses of their high-priced drugs, according to the report.
Use of the drugs declined in recent years after studies showed higher mortality rates in patients given ESAs. Epoetin-alfa (Procrit and Epogen) and darbepoetin alfa (Aranesp) are used to treat anemia in patients undergoing cancer chemotherapy or dialysis for chronic kidney disease.