JLF: Big Pharma's Just a Bunch of Drug Dealers
Johnny Lead Foot here, and I'm pissed...
I mean, we are on so many drugs now, that the "run-off" in our urination (we don't absorb all the drugs we pop and pee it out) has polluted our waterways and drinking water. Yes, there are PHARMACEUTICALS in your DRINKING WATER. My lordie. John covered this topic with this good post: Drinking Water, Brought to You By Pharma.
Not only do we take tons of drugs and suffer the side effects (which
always seem to include dizziness and abdominal cramps), but the drugs
aren't always effective. For example, the heart drug Vytorin was just
found to be a dud with regards to preventing heart disease. Though it dropped risk factors to heart disease, it did nothing to stop heart disease. By the way, millions of Americans are on this drug right now. Millions. There's probably some Vytorin in your drinking water... but don't worry, it doesn't do anything.
We can't forget Merck's Vioxx that had to be pulled from the shelves a few years ago because not only was it an anti-inflammatory drug, but it also proved to be a heart-attack-inducing drug.
My biggest problem with the prescription racket in this country is that these pharmaceutical companies are allowed to promote their drugs to the general public. I find that unethical. It's like leading a buffalo off a cliff. They should only be advertising to doctors, educated professionals who can assess the validity of the drug's claims. Not only does the public walk into a doctors office with a cocktail of drugs they'd like just based off advertising during a football game, but pharmaceutical companies have actually convinced people that they have Restless Leg Syndrome when really they just have Sitting on the Ass Syndrome.
Pharma, though, has dropped to a new low (if one can trust an article in the hippy, tree-hugging New York Times). The Times, referencing a report issued by The American Journal of Public Health, reported that hospitals have been including "formula freebies" in the care packages they were given by the hospital. WHA? Yes, the report looks at 4,000 women in Oregon and learned that two thirds were given hospital care packages with formula in it. Now, we all know of the amazing benefits of breast feeding, but there are pharmaceutical companies encouraging mothers to step away from that and send money to pharma for formula. So, what does Pharma do? They give free samples to mothers leaving the hospital with their newborn.
Was it effective? Mothers who were given the free formula were "39 percent more likely to stop exclusive breastfeeding at 10 weeks or sooner than those who didn’t receive free formula." According to the study, "The distribution of these packs to new mothers at hospitals is part of a longstanding marketing campaign by infant formula manufacturers and implies hospital and staff endorsement of infant formula. Commercial hospital discharge pack distribution should be reconsidered in light of its negative impact on exclusive breastfeeding.'’
That makes me sick. This is the essence of making money at someone else's expense. It's just disgusting, and the fact that it worked makes me even sicker. You could give me a quadrillion dollars and I'd still not take up this behavior. I'm full HAWT.
If I was an alien looking in, I'd force the execs of the drug-pushing formula company to breast-feed off Chsslola, the Queen Mother Martian. That stuff tastes like burnt tofu.
Always your pleasure.
- JLF
Find me on Facebook.com, and join the HAWTaction.com Reader group. My name there is Johnny LeadFoot (they didn't allow the space).
We can't forget Merck's Vioxx that had to be pulled from the shelves a few years ago because not only was it an anti-inflammatory drug, but it also proved to be a heart-attack-inducing drug.
My biggest problem with the prescription racket in this country is that these pharmaceutical companies are allowed to promote their drugs to the general public. I find that unethical. It's like leading a buffalo off a cliff. They should only be advertising to doctors, educated professionals who can assess the validity of the drug's claims. Not only does the public walk into a doctors office with a cocktail of drugs they'd like just based off advertising during a football game, but pharmaceutical companies have actually convinced people that they have Restless Leg Syndrome when really they just have Sitting on the Ass Syndrome.
Pharma, though, has dropped to a new low (if one can trust an article in the hippy, tree-hugging New York Times). The Times, referencing a report issued by The American Journal of Public Health, reported that hospitals have been including "formula freebies" in the care packages they were given by the hospital. WHA? Yes, the report looks at 4,000 women in Oregon and learned that two thirds were given hospital care packages with formula in it. Now, we all know of the amazing benefits of breast feeding, but there are pharmaceutical companies encouraging mothers to step away from that and send money to pharma for formula. So, what does Pharma do? They give free samples to mothers leaving the hospital with their newborn.
Was it effective? Mothers who were given the free formula were "39 percent more likely to stop exclusive breastfeeding at 10 weeks or sooner than those who didn’t receive free formula." According to the study, "The distribution of these packs to new mothers at hospitals is part of a longstanding marketing campaign by infant formula manufacturers and implies hospital and staff endorsement of infant formula. Commercial hospital discharge pack distribution should be reconsidered in light of its negative impact on exclusive breastfeeding.'’
That makes me sick. This is the essence of making money at someone else's expense. It's just disgusting, and the fact that it worked makes me even sicker. You could give me a quadrillion dollars and I'd still not take up this behavior. I'm full HAWT.
If I was an alien looking in, I'd force the execs of the drug-pushing formula company to breast-feed off Chsslola, the Queen Mother Martian. That stuff tastes like burnt tofu.
Always your pleasure.
- JLF
Find me on Facebook.com, and join the HAWTaction.com Reader group. My name there is Johnny LeadFoot (they didn't allow the space).
Here, here, JLF. I don't know what pharma can advertise to the public, either. It certainly dances on the ethical line.
Thanks for the call-out on the post Drinking Water, Brought to You By Pharma.
Item 1: At last tally, 19 MILLION Americans are on anti-depressants. I wonder how that will change in the coming year.
Item 2: Though overall teen drug use is down nationwide, more teens abuse prescription drugs than any other illicit drug except marijuana - more than cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine combined. Let me reiterate that last little word-- COMBINED. At least marijuana is natural.
Item 3: Kids are getting these prescription drugs from their parents, using TV as justification: A 15-year-old was quoted as saying that she saw the drug advertised on television and if it were dangerous it wouldn't be on television.
Item 4: Congress is wising up to the FDA. Today, Congress pushed the FDA to do its job and monitor TV advertising and adding an FDA hotline number for consumers to utilize in case of emergency. Like a streamlined 911: "Hello, what is your prescription drug emergency?"
Item 5: JLF, your posts get me so fired up, I have to eat less and go running just to reduce my blood pressure.
Thank you.
Madame M? I've always appreciated your comments, but this one? This is worthy of getting me HAWT in a different way.
Thank you for enhancing my post. I never thought that was possible.
I'm the best blogger, ever.
- JLF
JLF. Maybe we should eat less and go running together. How well do you fare in stilettos?