Dr. Andreas Laupacis is neither an MS specialist, nor a neurologist, nor a vascular specialist, yet he has published much on CCSVI in MS. Yesterday's coverage on his meta analysis was further proof---Dr. Laupacis is well-connected and media saavy.
Who is this doctor? Why is he publishing on CCSVI?
in his own words....
I have a longstanding and broad interest in clinical epidemiology/health sciences research, covering a variety of topics such as the number needed to treat, randomized trials, and economic evaluations. More recently I have become interested in health policy and public engagement in health policy and developed a web site about important health care issues, aimed at the general public - www.healthydebate.ca.
Dr. Laupacis has long worked with pharmaceutical companies and the Canadian government, establishing parameters for clinical trials, pharmacoeconomics, and serving on many boards and panels: such as Drug Quality and Therapeutics Committee in Ontario, Canadian Common Drug Review, Canadian Expert Drug Advisory Committee, and as CEO of the Institute for Clinical Evalutive Sciences.
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Dr. Laupacis was one of the doctors who voted to allow Merck's arthritis drug Vioxx back into the Canadian market, after the drug had been voluntarily pulled by the manufacturer in 2004, due to cardiovascular risk.
“There's no question [rofecoxib] increases cardiovascular risk compared to placebo,” says Dr. Andreas Laupacis, who headed Health Canada's Expert Advisory Panel. “But the absolute increase is very small.”
Given that the risk is comparable to that of traditional NSAIDs, such as ibuprofen (see article on page 233), but that it has a lower incidence of gastrointestinal problems, “What's the rationale for not making it available?” asked Laupacis the president and CEO of the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences.
http://www.cmaj.ca/content/175/3/234.full
Apparently, the rationale for "not making Vioxx available" was death.
At the time Dr. Laupacis made this statement, the FDA had estimated Vioxx had contributed to 27,785 deaths in the US alone.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/vioxx_estimates.html
Vioxx was eventually pulled from the worldwide market for good in 2009, due to severe risk of stroke and cardiovascular events.
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Dr. Laupacis twitters
http://twitter.com/#!/AndreasLaupacis
He has been published in Nature on CCSVI-and the "Rise in People Power"
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v472/n7344/full/472410a.html
and In Open Medicine- Endovascular Treatment fo MS-
http://www.openmedicine.ca/article/view/443/366
Dr. Laupacis in on the Ontario Government Expert Panel to Provide Advice on Best Practices for CCSVI.
On bias and transparency in the development of influential recommendations--by Andreas Laupacis
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1373717/
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Dr. Laupacis claims that physicians must be open and honest regarding their medical bias, especially when making medical recommendations. Which begs the question, is he himself without bias towards CCSVI research? Can he truly evaluate the evidence of venous insufficiency in MS, when he is being paid by companies that have a vested interest in maintaining the autoimmune paradigm in MS?
disclosures:
Dr. Laupacis is reimbursed by Novartis for his membership on a Data Monitoring Committee that is monitoring studies of the use of 2 drugs, fingolomid and a drug that has not yet been licensed, in patients with MS.
The author receives fees and travel expenses from the Common Drug Review for his work as chair of the Canadian Expert Drug Advisory Committee and from Novartis for working as a member of Data Safety Monitoring Boards.
(I wondered why U.S. neurologist, Dr. Robert Fox from the Cleveland Clinic, was called in to comment on Laupacis' meta review of CCSVI....and then found that Dr. Fox and Dr. Laupacis have worked together in clinical trials for multiple sclerosis drugs, including oral fingolimod in the FREEDOM and TRANSFORMS studies. )
Dr. Laupacis began research of cyclosporine (Cytoxan) in auto immune disease.
Cyclosporin A: a powerful immunosuppressant
Abstract Cyclosporin A (CyA) is a powerful immunosuppressive agent whose lack of myelotoxicity makes it unique among nonsteroidal drugs currently given for immunosuppression. It has been used with initial success in recipients of kidney, liver, bone marrow and pancreas transplants, and it may also have clinical application in the treatment of autoimmune disorders.
http://en.scientificcommons.org/22081185
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Dr. Laupacis claims that he wants the public input. That his website, Healthy Debate, wants to encourage the participation of the public. Let's ask him some questions on his site.
The larger question is--When will we have independent review---without the interference of the autoimmune paradigm and their pharmacological gate-keepers? When will the many papers being published by vascular doctors on the reality of CCSVI be picked up by the press?
Joan
