Friday, July 16, 2010
For Sale: Your Health and the Integrity of the Medical Profession
Posted by Will Moredock on Fri, Jul 16, 2010 at 1:11 AM
I have been writing for years — in this blog, in my weekly City Paper columns and elsewhere — about the corrupting influence of corporate money on science. The most alarming example, of course, is the influence of fossil fuel money on the climate change debate. And there is the case of Big Tobacco spending hundreds of millions of dollars over the years to muddy the debate on the dangers of smoking. Less publicized, but no less shocking, is the influence of Big Pharma money on healthcare in this country. Apparently everything is for sale, including our health and the integrity of the medical profession. Take a look at this story by David Bollier in Common Dreams. This is really scary. http://onthecommons.org/best-science-money-can-buy.
A friend of mine who’s a doctor says that he doesn’t trust what he reads in his medical journals any more. He believes that they’ve been too corrupted by the drug companies. I also know of a psychiatrist who considers medical journals and professional education seminars so compromised by Big Pharma that he relies chiefly on the anecdotal accounts of his peers in prescribing drugs.
Paranoid doctors? Hardly. In today’s Wall Street Journal, we learn that such skepticism about the reliability of medical journals is entirely warranted. Reporter Anna Wilde Mathews writes:
"Many of the articles that appear in scientific journals under the bylines of prominent academics are actually written by ghostwriters in the pay of drug companies. These seemingly objective articles, which doctors around the world use to guide their care of patients, are often part of a marketing campaign by companies to promote a product or play up the condition it treats."
Comments (9)
Showing 1-9 of 9
How about Johnson and Johnson who uses their profitable "non" profit foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to give "grant" money for lobbying for laws and funding "research" that moves their products? Case in point. The writer speaks of Big Tobacco but what of RWJF's funding of how to market smoking cessation? RWJF owns 42,343,491 shares of Johnson and Johnson stock. Johnson and Johnson sells Nicoderm, Nicoderm CQ, Nicorette gum and Nicorette mints. They're behind the war on obesity. They push to tax pop with sugar; J&J owns Splenda. They have a new "diet" cure going before the FDA this fall. RWJF funds "fellows" (they pay them up to $165,000 a year) and plants these "fellows" with U.S. Senators, Representatives and Congressional Committees. First Lady Obama is the spokeswoman on childhood obesity. SHE has a fellow assigned to her. They discount any research that was funded by Big Tobacco but where's the discounting (and outrage) of funding by the "control" du jours, such as Tobacco CONTROL? It's all corrupt. It's about the almighty dollar and making CEOs, boards and shareholders money. As the economy worsens, so does their greed and corruption. Who do you ask to investigate? RWJF has inflitrated Congress. http://www.jpands.org/vol15no2/corresponde… Scroll to "Private Foundations"
like
dislike
Do you really think they would tell you anything that goes against the drug industry's agenda? A "study" was performed at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health by Liz Klein Assistant Professor, Health Behavior and Health Promotion, Ohio State University funded by ClearWay Minnesota, a non-profit organization that funds Minnesota tobacco control, but her study was done before a ban even began and included restaurants! This study ignored an earlier study by the same pharma-front group that showed drastic customer reductions in 7 out of 10 bars in publicly shared data. An Ohio Senator has since asked her to separate restaurants and bars since she clearly had such data. She refused. These studies by tobacco control have results favorable to their cause. They are not done by economists. In many cases, the results are determined before a study is even begun, they are paid for. Many "non-profits" have major ties to huge entities. First, the non-profits CREATE a crisis that benefits these huge entities. They are not really concerned with health, they are concerned with profits to be made. Then the state gets their hands in there for the taxes to be raised. Just like the global warming scammers trying to make people believe that skyrocketing taxes in the name of the planets health are acceptable, and the newly CREATED obesity "crisis" demonizing our youth, these non-profits have a global agenda of trying to make people believe that tobacco and the second hand smoke scam is a legitimate reason for skyrocketing taxes on one segment of society that everyone pays at the end due to trickle down economics, leading to banning legal products on privately owned property. Ohio even used election fraud to get it on the ballot. The owners can no longer decide what happens on their own property and lose everything they've worked for. Ask bar owners. Tens of thousands of small mom and pop businesses worldwide have closed due to the interferece of these "health advocates". In truth, these scams land on the heads of incompetent politicians.
The drug and pharmaceutical companies have their hands in everyone's wallet and it has been this way for a long time. This country has been asleep for too long and now it is too late to hope for a quick fix.
Sark, it's the hidden word in Big Pharma that pisses you off: profits. Profits good; pain and early death bad.
I'm glad that you wrote this piece. I am a doctor also, and it's so true! True health resides in alternative, natural care and prevention. Kudos to you!
No, it's not profits, it's when they're making their profits by patenting life-saving drugs and suing poor Africans who try to make generic versions because, you know, they're dying. Yes, that really happened.
Thank you for your comments person called "investigate non profits". Very interesting.
- Charleston Place sues Republican conference organizers1 comment
- Glenn Beck coming to PAC48 comments
- S.C. Senate votes to halt Savannah Port dredging31 comments
- Ravenel Bridge arrestee had prior records of stalking, service7 comments
- Super Bowl XVLI: Where to go for the big game2 comments
- Business owners work to create a stronger identity for growing district3 comments
-
Raul's Taqueria & Mexican Grill
The mole is one of the best I have ever had. Raul said it is… -Charles Robinson
-
The Griffon
Thanks for the suggestion! While I didn't have the "Honey Badger Wrap," I can tell… -Urmothershusband
-
Little Tokyo
I absolutely love this place. I only go out to eat about once a week,… -Muskie
-
The Grocery
We enjoyed our experience! The menu is set up in a way that is perfect… -foodful
-
The Cocktail Club
We had an amazing experience at the Cocktail Club! We are new to Charleston and… -foodful
-
S.C. Senate votes to halt Savannah Port dredging
Second reading of bill passes 35-0
-
Ravenel Bridge arrestee had prior records of stalking, service
Who is Phillip DeClemente?
-
Charleston Place sues Republican conference organizers
Says GOPers didn't pay $227,000 hotel tab
-
Business owners work to create a stronger identity for growing district
Name-calling
-
Richard Todd will return to WTMA Feb. 16
Morning talk show host has been on hiatus since his wife passed away
