Drug firms 'inventing diseases'

by **nomo** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 1:28 pm

Red pill, blue pill, purple pill, anyone? <blockquote>Quote:<hr> Drug firms 'inventing diseases' Pharmaceutical firms are inventing diseases to sell more drugs, researchers have warned. Disease-mongering promotes non-existent diseases and exaggerates mild problems to boost profits, the Public Library of Science Medicine reported. Researchers at Newcastle University in Australia said firms were putting healthy people at risk by medicalising conditions such as menopause. But the pharmaceutical industry denied it invented diseases. Report authors David Henry and Ray Moynihan criticised attempts to convince the public in the US that 43% of women live with sexual dysfunction. They also said that risk factors like high cholesterol and osteoporosis were being presented as diseases - and rare conditions such as restless leg condition and mild problems of irritable bowel syndrome were exaggerated. The report said: "Disease-mongering is the selling of sickness that widens the boundaries of illness and grows the markets for those who sell and deliver treatments. Campaigns "It is exemplified mostly explicitly by many pharmaceutical industry-funded disease awareness campaigns - more often designed to sell drugs than to illuminate or to inform or educate about the prevention of illness or the maintenance of health." The researchers called on doctors, patients and support groups to be aware of the marketing tactics of the pharmaceutical industry and for more research into the way in which conditions are presented. They added: "The motives of health professionals and health advocacy groups may well be the welfare of patients, rather than any direct self-interested financial benefit, but we believe that too often marketers are able to crudely manipulate those motivations. "Disentangling the different motivations of the different actors in disease-mongering will be a key step towards a better understanding of this phenomenon." But Richard Ley, of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, said the research was centred on the US where the drugs industry had much more freedom to promote their products to the public. "The way you can advertise is much more restricted in the UK so it is wrong to extrapolate it. "Also, it is not right to say the industry invents diseases, we don't. It is up to doctors to decide what treatment to give people, we can't tell them." <hr></blockquote> Story from BBC NEWS: <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/4898488.stm">news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-...898488.stm</a> Published: 2006/04/11 09:32:57 GMT

by **marykmusic** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 1:35 pm

"Ask your doctor if (insert name of medication here) is right for you." Drug companies advertising medication has always bothered me. This puts the idea into people's minds that they NEED the product. And at the same time, high-pressure salespeople are spending big bucks on doctors to get them to prescribe their products. It's not really all that much about keeping people well, is it? --MaryK

by **nomo** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 1:55 pm

<blockquote>Quote:<hr>It's not really all that much about keeping people well, is it? --MaryK<hr></blockquote> Did you take your meds this morning?

by **marykmusic** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 1:57 pm

Aarrgh! I haven't had my meds in YEARS! But wait--- I haven't HAD any meds since I stopped smoking pot as a self-medication. --MaryK

by **Sarutama** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 2:16 pm

Contrast this story with the lead story on CNN.com right now. 'I don't want to die' In the final minutes of United Air Lines Flight 93, September 11 hijackers try to shake off passengers fighting for control of the plane as it flies over Pennsylvania. "I don't want to die," a passenger cries out and a hijacker says, "Shall we finish it off?" Moments later, the plane hurtles to the ground, according to a cockpit voice recording played for the Zacarias Moussaoui jury. The story continues but you see the point.

by **antiaristo** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 6:57 pm

Solen from HuffPo comments. <blockquote>Quote:<hr>"In pharmacology, most drugs have 2 names, a trade name and a generic name. For example, the trade name Tylenol has the generic name acetaminophen; Aleve is naproxen etc. The FDA has been looking for a generic name for Viagra. After careful consideration by a team of government experts, it recently announced that it has settled on the generic name of mycoxafloppin. Also considered were mycoxafailin, mydixadrupin, dixafix, and of course, ibepokin. Also, in a suprise move, Pfizer Corp. announced today that Viagra will soon be available in liquid form that will be marketed by Pepsi Cola as a power beverage suitable for use as a mixer. It will now be possible for a man to literally pour himself a stiff one. Obviously, we can no longer call this a soft drink and it gives new meaning to the names of "cocktails" "highballs" and just a good "stiff drink." Pepsi plans to market the new concoction under the trade name of Mount&Do." It's a joke <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/smile.gif ALT=":)"> <hr></blockquote>

by **slimmouse** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 7:10 pm

Ok. Ill follow the money. I am a phd student in a respected US academic institution, and wish to finance research into a free energy device I know could work, with sufficient funding. I am directed to my departments corporate financiers, who happen to be Texaco, or any other Big Oil big energy giant. Or perhaps, Im a phd biology student, who believes that given the correct funding, I might have a cure for Cancer or some similar killer which manipulates light and sound vibration ( rather like that used to Zap kidney stones). I am asked to contact my corporate sponsors, who happen to be Roche, or Pfizer ( by strange 'coincidence <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/wink.gif ALT=";)"> ) What chance my progress ? Answers on the dollar bill.

by **zjurhgvc** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 7:42 pm

I love the little disclaimer at the very end of the credits in the Constant Gardener, which is about an evil drug company that very much resembles Roche Pharmaceuticals (Hoffman family). Horrendous as the story is, basically a nightmare where no one can escape the surveillance of the corporations, the disclaimer by Le Carre states that in no way do the events in the movie resemble actual events...that what really goes on is far, far scarier. Silly reviews of this movie--possibly by terrified reviewers--claimed that at most it might want to make you go and support Amnesty International. I watched it twice and was amazed at how controversial the movie should have been. Just goes to show that when you REALLY strike a nerve, you get ignored. I was reminded that the uber-bad guys in V for Vendetta, the movie, were also a pharmaceutical company. I have to think that we are being warned of the coming plague--V even mentions bird flu (Tamiflu vaccine, by Roche), while CG mentions some type of killer Tuberculosis that the drug company says will wipe out 1/3 of the human race in the 21st century.

by **slimmouse** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 7:59 pm

Gotta love Tamiflu and Roche. A vaccine that costs approximately 3 cents a shot, sold to the US taxpayer at a cost of 100 bucks a shot. Only 100 million doses though <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/wink.gif ALT=";)"> Donny ( aspartame lizard man) Rumsfeld pockets 5 million dollars from the deal. But heres the best bit. I was speaking to someone about this the other day, and when I asked how much the Bird Flu Jab cost, they said " Its free - The Government are paying for it "<img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/eyes.gif ALT=":rolleyes"> Perhaps the fucking masons are right after all. Meanwhile, Im on my "follow the money" pilgrimage at the moment, as has been suggested to me by various mentors.

by **Lizzy Dearborn** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 3:36 pm

thanks for posting...i got to send it to my friend who does work for one of the big 5 pharms. Z - I'm gonna use your line from the post as my sig... I was just talking about this the other day... The system is gamed so that real info gets marginalized and made to look drab. <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/frown.gif ALT=":("> <blockquote>Quote:<hr>"Just goes to show that when you REALLY strike a nerve, you get ignored."<hr></blockquote> -Liz

by **thoughtographer** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 3:40 pm

Dead Kennedys - Government Flu (From: Plastic Surgery Disasters) We got a drug We're gonna try it out on you Won't make you die It'll getcha just a little bit sick (chorus) Got a head cold Got a chest cold And it's three days old (Goin' on forever) Make you hazy Make you lazy Drive you crazy For days and days and days and days And years Barely got the time now To stay on the job Double up the dosage in your water supply Make you even sicker 'til you're slippin' away Getting all depressed It's getting all your friends You can't get up For nothing that'll rock the boat The Government Flu The Government Flu The Government Flu Slip it abroad Keep a-slowin' down the USSR But meanwhile We'll keep an eye On what it's doin' to you (chorus) Got a head cold Got a chest cold And it's three days old (Goin' on forever) Make you hazy Make you lazy Drive you crazy For days and days and days and days and days And days and days and days and days and days And days and days and days and days and days and years The Government Flu The Government Flu The Government Flu Flew Through You "A crooked stick will cast a crooked shadow."

by **stickdog99** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 7:09 pm

It's weird just how many ads are on TV for prescription drugs of all varieties nowadays. TV ads used to be about cars and fast food and the branding of food & beverages and other household products. Now it seems like half of them are about the joys of getting addicted to big pharma. Of course, maybe this has something to do with my limited television choices. You know what they say about an aging middleclass of fools and their money ...

by **thoughtographer** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 7:29 pm

<blockquote>Quote:<hr>It's weird just how many ads are on TV for prescription drugs of all varieties nowadays. TV ads used to be about cars and fast food and the branding of food & beverages and other household products. Now it seems like half of them are about the joys of getting addicted to big pharma. Of course, maybe this has something to do with my limited television choices. You know what they say about an aging middleclass of fools and their money ...<hr></blockquote> Yeah, and if you've ever been to a modern doctor's office, you'll see that everything down to their little clipboards and whatnot are sponsored by major pharmaceutical companies. It's in their best interest to advertise and push medicine that does little more than mask symptoms of underlying problems, because that's what the pharmaceutical and insurance companies want since it not only helps, but is their bottom line. "A crooked stick will cast a crooked shadow."

by **slimmouse** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 7:37 pm

<blockquote>Quote:<hr>Yeah, and if you've ever been to a modern doctor's office, you'll see that everything down to their little clipboards and whatnot are sponsored by major pharmaceutical companies. It's in their best interest to advertise and push medicine that does little more than mask symptoms of underlying problems, because that's what the pharmaceutical and insurance companies want since it not only helps, but is their bottom line.<hr></blockquote> This kind of comment is why, for all our differences, I still harbour immense respect for many of your opinions

by **thoughtographer** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 7:48 pm

<blockquote>Quote:<hr>This kind of comment is why, for all our differences, I still harbour immense respect for many of your opinions<hr></blockquote> Thanks. You seem to tolerate my barrage of noise pretty well, and I appreciate that you see that we're still on at least some common ground. I respect you as well -- especially for your tolerance and "good sportsmanship". I hope you understand my spirit and methods are at the very least well-intentioned. The pharmaceuticals descended on my hometown in the early nineties, consuming the beautiful landscape like a pack of screaming locusts; a small city of ticky-tacky tract homes fresh for the employees heralded their arrival, kicking out small farms and damn near everything else decent about the area. So much shit has been displaced around there that I hardly recognize it anymore. I fucking hate them and find it hard to choke back the bile rising in my throat just thinking about it. "A crooked stick will cast a crooked shadow."Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=thoughtographer>thoughtographer</A> at: 4/13/06 5:50 pm

Drug firms 'inventing diseases'

Drug firms 'inventing diseases'

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Re: Drug firms 'inventing diseases'

Re: Drug firms 'inventing diseases'

Re: Drug firms 'inventing diseases'

Re: Drug firms 'inventing diseases'

Follow the money.

Re: Follow the money.

Gotta love Tamiflu.

anti; that was too funny!

Re: anti; that was too funny!

Re: Drug firms 'inventing diseases'

Re: Drug firms 'inventing diseases'

And this kind of comment is why.....

Re: And this kind of comment is why.....

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