Oakland Tribune from Oakland, California • 30

8 LOCAL THE OAKLAND TRIBUNE OTHER OPINIOHS SUNDAY Moy 12005 New thought for drug ads AN intriguing new study reveals what happens when ac tresses posing as patients with psy chological syndromes ask doc tors for antidepressants they have seen promoted by televi sion advertisements The study in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association follows trained actresses who made almost 300 office visits to 152 physicians while posing afe patients with psychological syn dromes like major depression After presenting her symp toms each actress patient en acted one of three scripts: She made no medication suggestion to doctors she asKeq the doctor whether Paxil an antide pressant she had seen adver tised on tv mtgnt neip ner or she made general comments about having seen a TV pro gram on depression that made her wonder if she could benefit from antidepressant treatment Researchers found that re quests for specific (Paxil) or general antidepressants exerted a profound effect on physicians' responses or example when actresses posed with major de pression they were more likely to be prescribed antidepres sants if they had suggested them over 50 percent of Paxil requests were honored as were three quarters of suggestions for a general antidepressant In contrast when no medication suggestions were made doctors prescribed antidepressants only 30 percent of the time Because the trained actress patients presented the same range and severity of depressive symptoms to the doctors one Hky HHH Kate SCANNELL has to ask why there exists such discrepancy In the percentage of patients treated in each of the three test scenarios Do you face a 70 percent risk of being undertreated for depression if you suggest an antide pressant to your doctor? Or do you run a great risk of being over treated if you mention being favorably impressed about antidepressants advo cated by TV promotions? This new study is important because it demonstrates what actually happens when patients confront doctors with prescrip tion drug requests that are rooted in direct to consumer advertising of pharmaceuticals Because of concern that media marketing blitzes promote new and expensive prescription drugs that could harm the public and increase health care costs most nations have banned DTCA of pharmaceuti cals I would favor DTCA of new pharmaceuticals only if several ground rules were changed: irst a new drug should not be advertised to consumers until its safety and efficacy pro files are more legitimately es tabltshed by morejeareful observation of greater numbers of people over longer time pe riods Think Celebrex or Vioxx for example The second new ground rule requires that we have in place a legitimate surveillance system for collecting informa tion about drug safety and cacy that Is pro active and prospective responsible for looking for side effects and effi cacy of newly advertised and marketed drugs as they reveal themselves over time in ex panding populations of people And as a sensible but breathta kingly radical suggestion this surveillance system must be po litically and financially indepen dent of the pharmaceutical industry The third requirement is that drug companies must re veal all data they have collected from research trials to this in dependent surveillance system This includes company studies showing possible harm and possible inefficacy of new drugs inally in order to truly understand if a new drug Is of any value we need to know whether it is more or less safe and effective In comparison with drugs already tested in large numbers of us over long periods of time This would re quire that new drugs be tested head to head against older ones This allows real consumer choice and empowerment In the meantime lessons from the new study require us to conclude that direct adver tising of pharmaceutical drugs works to increase sales of pre scription drugs What it tell us is whether that is a good or bad thing for patients and public health Kate Scannell is an East Bay phy sician and syndicated columnist who wrote of the Good Doctor" 5 notable buildings to go before council IVE landmark building nominations and two preservation district nominations are continuing through the ap proval process and are sched uled to be heard at the City Council this month May is National Preservation Month so tie Umingjseems particu lariyApspidous Im for consideration are the Malonga Casqueldurd Arts Center on Alice Street the Li onel Wilson Building (for merly the Roadway Building) on rank Ogawa Plaza Saint Andrew Missionary Bap tist Church on West Street the Municipal Boathouse on Lake side Drive and the ruitvale Masonic Temple Building on' International Boulevard and 34th Avenue The five are scheduled to be on the coun May 17 agenda says Antialee ALLEN jr HEH he KAMdg 1 LANDMARKS and rehabili tation also stabilizes and en hances property Landmark designation en courages the re use of existing buildings and in so doing helps conserve the materials and energy used to construct those buildings Preserving a community landmark can act as a catalyst for neighborhood revitalization and enhance a being repaired The subsequent Planning Commission vote to delay panting the demolition re quest so that a more thor ough studyof potential options cordd be carried 'Out was considered a victory for the actiyjstUiiimately City Council approved a plan td Incorporate the historic portion of the building (which did turn out to be repairable) Into the complex The Oakland Heritage Alli ance Web site wwwoak landheritageorg now has a complete listing of all of the city landmarks to date The Wilson Building is featured on the free downtown walks sponsored by the Oakland Tours Program or more Information go to wwwoaklandnetcomwalking tours or call 238 3234 Joann Pavllnec a staff member for the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board The Sheffield Village pres ervation district and the Sev enth Street commercial district nominations are scheduled for the Tuesday meeting Pavllnec adds All of the nominations were reviewed at last week's Com munity and Economic Devel opment Committee meeting one last necessary step before going on to the full council The potential landmarks must go through several hearings and reviews at the Landmarks Board and the Plaiming Com mission before reaching the council which votes to add them to the list Currently there are 130 designated city landmarks and six districts The accompanying staff re port on the nominations de tails the regulatory effects of designation the historical and architectural significance and the rationale for approving designation designation has the potential to be a catalyst for further revitalization of distinct and diverse neighborhoods and its strong historical writes Development Director Claudia Cappio in her report honorific designation and re quirements for maintenance and repair would continually promote economic quality of life and sense of community goals throughout the The report contains a sus tainable opportunities section where potential economic ben efits and environmental Issues are analyzed des ignation encourages mainte nance and careful rehabilita tion of buildings which cre ates skilled employment op it says sense of community identity The Lionel Wilson Building was singled out for its distinctive shape at the prominent corner of Broad way 14th Street and San Pablo Avenue and its status as a significant example of an early 20th century commercial structure is a building so often seen and photographed that its image is deeply associ ated with that of the city it states the report Designed In 1907 by the ar chitect Llewellyn Dutton who had previously worked for the New York firm Daniel Burnham Co (respon sible for that famous latiron Building landmark) the Wilson building Was reha bilitated and reused after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake It was then incorporated Into the new City Administrative Complex and officially rededi cated in honor of the late Li onel Wilson Oakland mayor from 1977 until 1990 Materials included in the staff report on the Wilson Building reveal how close the building came to being torn down following the earth quake rather than being re stored The owners at the time filed for a demoli tion permit within weeks after the earthquake seeking to create a vacant lot with future plans for the site deter mined later According to the history files preservation activists acted quickly to prevent the precipitous demolition re questing that the Planning Commission hold an emer gency hearing and demanding that the owners provide better evidence the building had sus tained irreparable damage that would prevent it from Weekly tours start this week bn Wednesday 153rd birthday) in the Old Oakland Historic District The tour starts at 10 am on the corner of Ninth and Wash ington streets Reservations are recommended but not re? quired Next time more on Preservation Month in Oakland IO Windows s3500 Ifi Visionplas Windows Mfg This is our window which we manufacture and we install! a We are not a window dealer! At Visionplas we are 30 year plus manufacturing craftsmen with roots in Europe the birthplace of the window industry 1 800 873 0480 wwwvisionplascom America squanders handling of Abu Ghraib ONE year ago the United States and the world were shocked by the photos of sadistic acts at Abu Ghraib prison Soon after Minutes aired the photos depicting brutality and sexual humiliation Congress and the Bush administration assured us they would get to the bottom of it Was it not former Secretary of State Colin Powell who told foreign leaders America Watch how we deal with this Watch how America will do the right Well ve been watching how the United States has dealt with it and from my vantage point Abu Ghraib is uqliketyo make the highlight reel on howdeihocricies handle matters of injustice It is a stain on our democracy that Brig Gen Janis Karpinski the army reserve officer who commanded the military police unit at Abu Ghraib who was reBeYedqf her com mand and given a written ftpriinancl and the infamous bad been the only ones held accountable The recent high level army'ftivestigation has cleared four of the five top' army officers overseeing operations in Iraq of responsibility for the abuse of detainees As reported in the New York Times bar ring any new evidence the latest in quiry effectively brings closurtf on whether the highest ranking US officenui Iraq during the Abu Ghraib any re sponsibility Army investigation notwithstanding it is premature to close the chapter on Abu Ghraib The world has watched as we conducted what was tantamount to the fox serving simul taneously as chief investigator prosecutor defense council Judge and Jury In what we de scribed as a legitimate attempt to ascertain the whereabouts of the missing eggs Iraq in its current state remains a bastion bf uncertainty After millions of Iraqis risked their lives to vote in January politicians have struggled to form a government Since that time tens of thousands of sup porters of a militant Shiite cleric filled Bagh streets demanding American soldiers go home marking the second anniversary of fall with shouts of no to Satan!" Protesters have burned US flags as well as cardboard cutouts of President Bush Moreover according to Human Rights Watch the abuses at Abu Ghraib were Just the of the of US mistreatment of Muslim prisoners It contends the abuses are part of a larger pattern of US rights violations of detainees in Afghanistan Guantanamo Bay and else where now clear that abuse of detainees has happened all over from Afghanistan to Guantanamo Bay to a lot of third country dungeons where the United States has sent prisoners And probably quite a few cither places we even know about" Reed Brody special counsel for Human Rights Watch said jn a statement jjp what ty our worst military atrocity since theMy Lai massacre this government has done everything in its power to limit account ability to a few underlings But in the words of William Cullen Bryant crushed to earth shall rise or this reason Abu Ghraib will continue to resurface whenever there is a lull in pro gress in Iraq The first anniversary of Abu Ghraib is also a haunting reminder of our collective reluc tance to demonstrate justifiable ward something that is antithetical to theAmerican Experiment Was not the invasion and subsequent occu pation of Iraq designed to end the decades of suffering inflicted by Saddam on his people? We can ill afford to respond to Abu Ghraib with it is bad but" In doing so we give tacit approval to the torture we claim to abhor If a sexual peccadilloes warrant an independent council surely our involvement in torture would demand something similar If this country stands for freedom and de mocracy then Machiavelli must be wrong: Ends cannot Justify the means British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Saddam all handcuffed and dressed in red Meanwhile the world has taken advice I wonder If there is a reaction forth Iraqi prison Jumpsuits which signified they coming had been condemned to death Clwould imagine that they too have heeded advice by watching how the United Byron Williams is an Oakland pastor and Indi cated columnist mail him at byronbyron w1TTT TT Thanks NSA a true lifesaver This is another successful sponsors like NSA partnership between Tribune and civic minded to explain the power of nature using a free educational program called Natural Disasters: The Science and Geography Behind the Events The NATIONAL IRE SPRINKLER ASSOCIATION INC has helped thousands of Bay Area students leam how fires tornadoes hurricanes earthquakes and other natural disasters happen Through a partnership with the Tribune teachers were able or inlormation on hoxs our corporation or husinv can support local schools please call oui lducational at i5 11)1 2HS 6741 Ok 1 I I 1 1 I lltBiWE II 1 II NATIONAL irPMNKLER ASSOCIATION INC dealt with Abu Ghraib rgjgJ1 speakscom or leave a message at (510) 208 6417 I or information on hoxs our corporation or business can support local schools please call oui I (hicationil at iSltli 2HS 6741.