How Drug Companies Deceive You

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http://www.mercola.com/2006/jun/13/how_drug_companies_deceive_you.htm

 

 

 

How Drug Companies Deceive You

 

 

 

This Washington Post article focuses on a relatively new, and some say increasing, phenomenon dubbed "disease mongering."

In disease mongering, a feeling or symptom that would normally be considered a normal part of life is labeled as a disease that requires a drug to treat it.

 

Drug companies are the ones bringing disease mongering into the mainstream. The article used Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS), a once obscure condition that has gained much attention in the public's eye after drug maker GlaxoSmithKline ran a commercial for their RLS drug Requip, as an example.

GlaxoSmithKline spent $27 million to advertise Requip for the treatment of RLS in 2005. Perhaps as a result, sales have increased from $97 million to $146 million.

 

While some say the ads have raised awareness about an under-diagnosed condition, others say there is not enough to distinguish a normal fidget from the actual disease. The result? The ads may make healthy people feel like they're sick.

Researchers say disease mongering is not unique to RLS, but has expanded to include any number of conditions including:

 

 

Shy people who think they have "social phobia"

 

High-strung boys who are diagnosed with attention deficit disorder

 

People with slightly elevated blood pressure who have "pre-hypertension"

 

 

Drug makers maintain that the drug ads help people who are suffering with illness, but critics remain skeptical that disease mongering encourages people to think they need prescription drugs when they may not.

 

 

Washington Post May 30, 2006

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Mercola's Comment:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is really great to see a prominent newspaper like the Washington Post take on the mind controlling and deceptive marketing practices of the multi-national drug corporations.

They are one of the most profitable industries on the planet and as such have the resources to pay for some of the best evil marketing geniuses money can buy. They have the system figured out better than you can ever imagine.

They have more lobbyists in Congress than any other industry and can influence legislation to optimize their marketing efforts. How else do you think America is one of only two countries in the world that allows drug companies to advertise prescriptions drugs?

The other country, New Zealand, is actually considering repealing their law, so America will likely soon be the sole country where this is possible.

The drug corporations' government control extends all the way down to the FDA, which was originally designed to monitor them but now merely serves to help them increase their massive revenue stream.

Then they cleverly control the foundation of the conventional medical system by funding most of the studies that wind up getting published in the gold standard, peer-reviewed journals. The studies then get accepted as gospel and are passed along, and accepted by, nearly all physicians.

If that wasn't enough, drug companies spend $16 billion to influence physicians in the United States alone. That is $10,000 for every single physician in the country.

They haven't spent a penny on me for many years though, nor on many other natural physicians, so some other doctors are receiving our share of their bribes. In this way, they are actually paying more than $10,000 every year to some physicians.

The Post article focuses on how drug companies are using diseases to set up a need for their drugs. If you want a great laugh you can look at the humorous parody Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, did on this last year.

 

 

 

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