Pfizer Owes Sickle Cell Patients a Better Explanation
A medicine linked to patient deaths has been abruptly pulled from pharmacies, leading to patient and doctor confusion.
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Photographer: Mario Tama/Getty ImagesThe note was only a few paragraphs long, but sent shockwaves through the community of sickle cell disease specialists: Pfizer Inc.was pulling the drug Oxbryta off the market based on evidence its benefits no longer outweighed its risks.
Concerns over the treatment were known. European regulatory authorities in July had flagged an unusual number of deaths and pain crises in clinical trials and met this week to review the data. But doctors were caught off guard by the way this unfolded. Typically, removing a drug from the market is a slow, carefully planned — even painstaking — process. Pfizer’s product was yanked from pharmacy shelves just under five years after being approved.