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I would like to reply to Dr. Romero's concerns about the Grassroots Connection article about Dr. Keith Latham. > On 6 Aug 2003 at 22:32, Jorge Romero MD wrote: > > In science and medicine there is no cost of going public. > I understand the need for some secrecy at some very early stage in > the development of new drugs; however, once one enters the > "preclinical" stages with the FDA, the whole thing should be a matter of public record, > and be supported by some published preclinical research. -- I've been volunteering with the Parkinson's Pipeline Project www.pdpipeline.org working on its New Treatments in Development database and it has given me some insight on the drug discovery process. While it's true research conducted by the NIH and other government agencies or by academic institutions funded by the government must make information about their research public, the same is not true of pharmaceutical companies or researchers who are privately funded. We've found it is often very difficult to get information from companies about their drugs in development or clinical trials. The current and important GDNF trials being conducted by Amgen, is one example. > Searching the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) I > could find no mention of Parkinol, Latham, or Innovative Laboratories -- I also thought information about new drugs in the pre-clinical stages would be on the CDER database, once an IND has been submitted. However i've learned it is not: According to the FDA's website: "Due to confidentiality rules, FDA is prohibited from releasing information on any drug under development, review or pending approval unless the information has been made public. You may contact the manufacturer directly to ask about products under development." from FAQ on CDER http://www.fda.gov/cder/about/faq/default.htm#1 > Why must access to Dr. Latham's credentials be only via third > parties? How about a listing of his publications? His credential and > publications are not secret, I assume. -- The Grassroots Connection article has been revised to include his information on his educational background and affiliations. see: http://grassrootsconnection.com/klatham.htm For further information, you can contact Dr. Latham directly at: [log in to unmask] I also did a Medline and BIOSIS search and found over 20 citations for KR Latham, from 1975-1986 as well as a patent for Iodothyronine polymers in the Official Gazette of the United States Patent & Trademark Office Patents. 1223(2). Jun.08, 1999 under Keith Roger Latham. If anyone is interested in seeing these, i can send you the citations. > Again, I urge members of the Parkinsn List to exercise great > caution. > Jorge Romero, MD -- i absolutely agree that any medical information found on the web should be carefully evaluated. Important questions to ask are -- What is the source of the information? Can it be verified? Just as Dr. Romero pointed out. I would also like to reiterate that the article about Dr. Latham on the Grassroots Connection website (of which i am one of the co- editors) was not an endorsement of him or an announcement of a cure for Parkinson's. it was a human interest story about how the author, Peg Willocks, discovered a Parkinson's researcher in her own backyard, through the myriad connections made possible on the Internet and our online Parkinson's community. It was also about a scientist who chose to return to medical research after some 20+ years, because his wife was stricken with Parkinson's and he wanted to do what he could to help her. It clearly stated his research is only in pre-clinical stages. Maybe it will continue on through the pipeline and become an actual treatment someday; maybe it won't. Most new drugs in development don't - especially those that are being researched by independent scientists or small companies. But the Grassroots Connection editors believed that our readers would be interested in reading about this "mom and pop laboratory" , where MAYBE one of the pieces to the Parkinson's puzzle could be discovered. NO endorsement, NO claims, NO promises - but we think an interesting "grassroots" story nevertheless. Linda ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn