Sidney M. Wolfe
Encyclopedia
Sidney M. Wolfe, MD, is a physician
and currently the director of Public Citizen
's Health Research Group, a consumer and health advocacy
lobbying group.
He has publicly crusaded against many pharmaceuticals, which Dr. Wolfe believes are a danger to public health.
For more than 30 years, he campaigned to have Propoxyphene removed from the American market, because it can cause heart arrhythmia. In January 2009, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommended that it be withdrawn from the market. The recommendation to ban propoxyphene was ultimately not upheld and instead manufacturers were required to place additional warning labels on packaging. Drugs Dr. Wolfe campaigned against include Phenacetin
, Oraflex, Zomax, Vioxx, Baycol and many others.
He has been interviewed on television by Phil Donahue
, Barbara Walters
, Bill Moyers
, and Oprah Winfrey
.
In 2009, Dr. Wolfe was appointed to the FDA's Drug Safety and Risk Management Committee.
He writes for Huffington Post.
On November 19, 2010, the FDA recommended against continued prescribing and use of propoxyphene. Brand-name drugs include both Darvon and Darvocet. Dr Wolfe was instrumental in having this drug banned.
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and currently the director of Public Citizen
Public Citizen
Public Citizen is a non-profit, consumer rights advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., United States, with a branch in Austin, Texas. Public Citizen was founded by Ralph Nader in 1971, headed for 26 years by Joan Claybrook, and is now headed by Robert Weissman.-Lobbying Efforts:Public Citizen...
's Health Research Group, a consumer and health advocacy
Health Advocacy
Health advocacy encompasses direct service to the individual or family as well as activities that promote health and access to health care in communities and the larger public. Advocates support and promote the rights of the patient in the health care arena, help build capacity to improve...
lobbying group.
He has publicly crusaded against many pharmaceuticals, which Dr. Wolfe believes are a danger to public health.
For more than 30 years, he campaigned to have Propoxyphene removed from the American market, because it can cause heart arrhythmia. In January 2009, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommended that it be withdrawn from the market. The recommendation to ban propoxyphene was ultimately not upheld and instead manufacturers were required to place additional warning labels on packaging. Drugs Dr. Wolfe campaigned against include Phenacetin
Phenacetin
Phenacetin is an analgesic, once widely used; its use has declined because of its adverse effects.-History:Phenacetin was introduced in 1887, and was used principally as an analgesic, and was one of the first synthetic fever reducers to go on the market...
, Oraflex, Zomax, Vioxx, Baycol and many others.
He has been interviewed on television by Phil Donahue
Phil Donahue
Phillip John "Phil" Donahue is an American media personality, writer, and film producer best known as the creator and host of The Phil Donahue Show. The television program, also known as Donahue, was the first to use a talk show format. The show had a 26-year run on U.S...
, Barbara Walters
Barbara Walters
Barbara Jill Walters is an American broadcast journalist, author, and television personality. She has hosted morning television shows , the television newsmagazine , former co-anchor of the ABC Evening News, and current contributor to ABC News.Walters was first known as a popular TV morning news...
, Bill Moyers
Bill Moyers
Bill Moyers is an American journalist and public commentator. He served as White House Press Secretary in the United States President Lyndon B. Johnson Administration from 1965 to 1967. He worked as a news commentator on television for ten years. Moyers has had an extensive involvement with public...
, and Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
.
In 2009, Dr. Wolfe was appointed to the FDA's Drug Safety and Risk Management Committee.
He writes for Huffington Post.
On November 19, 2010, the FDA recommended against continued prescribing and use of propoxyphene. Brand-name drugs include both Darvon and Darvocet. Dr Wolfe was instrumental in having this drug banned.
Works
- Worst Pills, Best Pills. January 2005, Simon & Schuster, ISBN 9780743492560
- Pills That Don't Work, 1981
- "Unethical Trials of Interventions to Reduce Perinatal Transmission of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus in Developing Countries", Bioethics: an anthology, Editors Helga Kuhse, Peter Singer, Wiley-Blackwell, 2006, ISBN 9781405129480
External links
- Public Citizen website
- Worst Pills Best Pills
- "Health Talk: Doctors Online", Washington Post, Abigail Trafford, July 6, 1999