Hello our Poison Friends! We are back to fill you in on some more shady deeds from Johnson & Johnson's past. We have another Pharma guest appearance in this one, because Amgen was also involved in the synthetic erythropoietin business. Erythropoietin is the hormone released by the kidneys that stimulates red blood cell production. RBCs are produced in the blood marrow within bones. It always amazes me how the various systems of the body team up to keep everything balanced. Unfortunately, anemia (low RBCs/hemoglobin) is a common issue with kidney diseases, those on dialysis, and cancer patients.
As such, these pharmaceutical companies sought to create synthetic erythropoietin to sell to these groups of patients. They succeeded and the treatment made billions of dollars in sales over the years. Relieving the effects of anemia in those with these already taxing conditions sounds great, but there were a number of problems. As it turns out, an increase in the hormone (and RBCs as a result) can lead to clotting, strokes, and heart attacks. Even worse, one researcher called the drug Miracle-Gro for tumors. Hundreds of thousands of patients were likely killed as a result of the treatment and J&J's hiding of study results.
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