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More evidence of misbehavior and concealment by pharmaceutical companies has surfaced. Seroquel, a drug which was designed to help persons with psychological problems, has been identified as causing serious physical harm to many people. Recently an internal E-mail was unsealed as part of the litigation over the Seroquel drug. This E-mail revealed that AstraZeneca failed to publicize results of at least three clinical trials of Seroquel with less favorable results, but on the contrary "cherry picked" data from one of the studies which was more favorable. At present AstraZeneca faces approximately 9,000 lawsuits because it failed to properly warn users that Seroquel can cause diabetes and other health problems. In spite of this revelation, AstraZeneca continues to claim that it acted properly. Corporate accountability in America is absolutely missing, and yet state legislatures and Congress continue to consider and pass laws to further insulate them from accountability through civil justice lawsuits. One of the E-mails which was located indicates that an AstraZeneca official stated that the company had engaged in a "great smoke-and-mirrors job" in dealing with U.S. and Canadian investigators on the trial's results. AstraZeneca is a British-based corporation. Some of the concealed information failed to show that Seroquel did not outperform Isperdal, another drug utilized for the same function, and only outperformed a placebo used in the study. At present AstraZeneca officials have refused to accept responsibility and vowed to defend the cases and refused to settle any claims. These cases involving Seroquel are classic examples of the importance of the American legal and civil justice system. Without trials by a jury, unencumbered by so-called tort reform legislation, corporations will continue to take great risk with the health and safety of Americans, knowing that the penalty for wrongdoing is very small. Contact your state legislator and congressmen and tell them that you believe that you do not agree with super business-friendly "tort reform" which is simply a stripping away of responsibility and accountability and leaving Americans in a less safe environment.
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