25 Shocking Facts About the Pharmaceutical Industry

Image: Valley of the Dolls, movie, 1960's

From the Nursing Online Education Database

25 Shocking Facts About the Pharmaceutical Industry

By Laura Milligan
Researching and snagging an adequate, wallet-friendly health care plan is tough these days, despite its high-profile presence in political debates. A large part of the controversy over expensive health costs stems from criticism of high-priced medications marketed by powerful pharmaceutical companies. From Medicare fraud to CEOs worth billions of dollars, big drug companies are accused of putting profits above patients, spinning false PR campaigns and more. We've uncovered 25 of the most shocking facts about the pharmaceutical industry in this list.
Some excerpts:

The price of drugs is increasing faster than anything else a patient pays for: Marcia Angell writes in her book The Truth About Drug Companies that "drugs are the fastest-growing part of the health care bill which itself is rising at an alarming rate."

Your doctor may have an ulterior motive behind your prescription: In 2007, the St. Petersburg Times reported that drug reps often give gifts to convince doctors to prescribe the medications that they represent.

Pharmaceutical companies spend more on marketing than research: According to ScienceDaily, a "new study by two York University researchers estimates the U.S. pharmaceutical industry spends almost twice as much on promotion as it does on research and development."

Brand name meds often have a 1,000% mark-up price: Many Americans are aware that brand name prescriptions cost more than generic meds.

Read the rest here

Thomas Szasz on NAMI

While we don't agree with Thomas Szasz that mental illness is a myth, we applaud his stance on human freedom and dignity. We were pleased to see him expose misdeeds of NAMI here:

The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill

"The NAMI web site describes the organization as follows: "NAMI is dedicated to the eradication of mental illnesses and to the improvement of the quality of life of all whose lives are affected by these diseases. ... Founded in 1979, NAMI has more than 210,000 members who seek equitable services for people with severe mental illnesses, which are known to be physical brain disorders. ... In addition to 1,200 state and local affiliates in the United States, NAMI has affiliates in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Canada, and American Samoa, and has helped start sister organizations in Australia, Japan, and the Ukraine."

The NAMI rhetoric conceals that the organization is composed of, and controlled by, principally the relatives of so-called mentally ill persons and that its main purpose is to justify depriving such persons of liberty in the name of mental health. So convinced is NAMI of the nobility of its cause, that its web site offers this scenario:

Sometime, during the course of your loved one's illness, you may need the police. By preparing now, before you need help, you can make the day you need help go much more smoothly. ... It is often difficult to get 911 to respond to your calls if you need someone to come & take your MI relation to a hospital emergency room (ER). They may not believe that you really need help. And if they do send the police, the police are often reluctant to take someone for involuntary commitment. That is because cops are concerned about liability. ... When calling 911, the best way to get quick action is to say, "Violent EDP," or "Suicidal EDP." EDP stands for Emotionally Disturbed Person. This shows the operator that you know what you're talking about. Describe the danger very specifically. "He's a danger to himself "is not as good as "This morning my son said he was going to jump off the roof." ... Also, give past history of violence. This is especially important if the person is not acting up. ... When the police come, they need compelling evidence that the person is a danger to self or others before they can involuntarily take him or her to the ER for evaluation. ... Realize that you & the cops are at cross purposes. You want them to take someone to the hospital. They don't want to do it. ... Say, "Officer, I understand your reluctance. Let me spell out for you the problems & the danger. ...While AMI / FAMI is not suggesting you do this, the fact is that some families have learned to "turn over the furniture" before calling the police. Many police require individuals with neurobiological disorders to be imminently dangerous before treating the person against their will. If the police see furniture disturbed they will usually conclude that the person is imminently dangerous."

Deliberately giving false information to the police is a felony. Except, it seems, when the falsehood serves the avowed aim of providing mental health treatment for a "loved one."

Read the rest here

Vitamin Therapy: Niacin for Arthritis and More

Image from NLM/NIH.

Niacin - Vitamin B3 - can correct Pellagra, Schizophrenia, Arthritis and so much more.
Read about B3/Niacin therapy for arthritis at Dr. Andrew Saul's site.
Niacin can cause some unpleasant but harmless reactions, and before beginning to take it, you may wish to read
this article.
The Wikipedia article about Pellagra is here.
Tom Lehrer used Pellagra in a song, here

NYT: Merck wrote studies for doctors to sign

Great cartoon from Jabberwock via Veracare/AHRP, with thanks.


April 16, 2008
Merck Wrote Drug Studies for Doctors

By STEPHANIE SAUL
The drug maker Merck drafted dozens of research studies for a best-selling drug, then lined up prestigious doctors to put their names on the reports before publication, according to an article to be published Wednesday in a leading medical journal.

The article, based on documents unearthed in lawsuits over the pain drug Vioxx, provides a rare, detailed look in the industry practice of ghostwriting medical research studies that are then published in academic journals.

The article cited one draft of a Vioxx research study that was still in want of a big-name researcher, identifying the lead writer only as “External author?”

Vioxx was a best-selling drug before Merck took it off the market in 2004 over evidence linking it to heart attacks. Last fall, the company agreed to a $4.85 billion settlement to resolve tens of thousands of lawsuits filed by former Vioxx patients or their families.

The lead author of Wednesday’s article, Dr. Joseph S. Ross of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, said a close look at the Merck documents raised broad questions about the validity of much of the drug industry’s published research, because the ghostwriting practice appears to be widespread.

“It almost calls into question all legitimate research that’s been conducted by the pharmaceutical industry with the academic physician,” said Dr. Ross, whose article, written with colleagues, was published Wednesday in JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association. and posted Tuesday on the journal’s Web site.

Merck acknowledged on Tuesday that it sometimes hired outside medical writers to draft research reports before handing them over to the doctors whose names eventually appear on the publication. But the company disputed the article’s conclusion that the authors do little of the actual research or analysis.

Read the article here


Ghost Writers in the Sky

Leonard Cohen Threw Out His Antidepressants

Here's another reason to love Leonard Cohen.

He has taken antidepressants without success, leading to his unilateral discontinuation of those medications, as noted in this excerpt:

[Leonard Cohen] “… I was taking things like Prozac for depression, but none of those antidepressants worked.”
[Interviewer] Which have you tried?

[Leonard Cohen] “Oh, let’s see. I was involved in early medication, like Desipramine. And the MAOs [monoamine oxidase inhibitors], and the new generation — Paxil, Zoloft, and Wellbutrin. I even tried experimental anti-seizure drugs, ones that had some small successes in treating depression. I was told they all give you a ‘bottom,’ a floor beneath which you are not expected to plunge.”

[Interviewer] And?

[Leonard Cohen] “I plunged. And all were disagreeable, in subtly different ways.”

[Interviewer] How?

[Leonard Cohen] “Well, on Prozac, I thought I had attained some kind of higher plateau because my interest in women had dissolved.” He laughs. “Then I realized it was just a side effect. That stuff crushes your libido.”

[Leonard Cohen] “… So one day, a few years ago, I was in a car, on my way to the airport. I was really, really low, on many medications, and pulled over, I reached behind to my valise, took out the pills, and threw out all the drugs I had. I said, ‘These things really don’t even begin to confront my predicament.” I figured, If I am going to go down I would rather go down with my eyes wide open.”

The page, with footnotes, is here

What You Didn't Know About Vaccines And Human Animal Husbandry

By Mark Owen

February 14, 2005

In 1946, future pharmaceutical czar George Merck reported to the US Secretary of War, that he'd managed to weaponize the toxin extracted from the Brucella bacterium and to isolate it into an indestructible crystalline form using only the DNA particles. Aerial spraying of the crystals via chem-trails was deployed on Chinese and Korean populations during the Korean War. Many veterans of the war later developed Multiple Sclerosis. The army recognized that the MS was Brucella-related and paid the veterans compensation. Although the Brucella micoplasma can lay dormant for decades, it can be triggered by vaccines. Vaccines have been mandatory in the US military since 1911.

Besides MS, this bacterium has been linked to a variety of diseases including; AIDS, cancer, diabetes, Parkinsons, Alzheimers and arthritis. In 2000, Dr. Charles Engel of the National Institute of Health stated that the brucella mycoplasma was probably responsible for chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia as well.

In addition to the aerosol vector, mosquitoes were heavily tested as pathogen dispersal agents. In the 1950s, the Dominion Parasite Laboratory in Belleville, Canada was raising 100 million mosquitoes per month. They were then shipped to Queens University in Kingston and other facilities where they were infected with the crystalline disease agent.

A large outbreak of chronic fatigue was reported in 1957 in Punta Gorda, Florida. The previous week a huge influx of mosquitoes was reported. The National Institute of Health stated that 450 persons became ill with chronic fatigue within the month. Many such tests have been carried out on civilians over the last 50 years.

Dr. Maurice Hilleman, Merck's current chief virologist, stated recently that the Brucella pathogen is now carried by everyone in North America and possibly the world.

con't here-link

Update: Pharmawater report misses deadline

The series revealed how drugs — mostly the residue of medications taken by people, excreted and flushed down the toilet — have gotten into the water supplies of at least 24 major metropolitan areas, from Southern California to Northern New Jersey. The stories also detail the growing concerns among scientists that this pollution has adversely affected wildlife, and may be threatening human health.

EPA officials responded with concern, pledging to organize additional research and by saying people should be informed if drugs are detected in their water supplies.

But Kyla Bennett, a lawyer and former EPA biologist, said the EPA "is moving with all deliberate delay."

Bennett, who directs the New England branch of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said Congress first ordered the EPA to address the issue 12 years ago.

"When it should be pressing forward, EPA is spinning in place, as if it has overdosed on pharmaceuticals," she said.

Imagine that.