Tag: big pharma

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WARNING! BIG PHARMA MAY DISABLE YOU

Antibiotics save lives.  That’s why so many  octogenarians are still around. The year I got blood poisoning was the same year that penicillin became available for physicians.  Otherwise, I would have been a goner. So I’m not knocking antibiotics.  However, physicians really need to be careful when prescribing them, because many have serious side effects.   Warning! Big Pharma may disable you.  

Our travail began last week when my husband went for a routine doctor’s appointment with a cough.  It wasn’t a serious cough, but  he’d had it for quite awhile. Therefore, his doctor prescribed a certain antibiotic which has also been a target of many lawsuits, if you look it up on the internet.  In other words, it’s one of those risky ones.  Not like taking the more widely used like amoxicillin.   Most people don’t have to wonder if they’re allergic to something like penicillin.  They know within minutes after they take it, get help, and never take it again.  However, the side effects of some drugs aren’t so readily apparent.

On day two of taking this prescribed medicine, my husbands lips began to swell.  However, he believed that his doctor knew best.  So, on day three, he took another pill, and that’s when the dam broke.  His lips and  eyes were swollen, sore and bleeding. That was on a Saturday morning and we all know you are wasting time calling a physicians office on a weekend.  We hoped that by Monday, after discontinuing the antibiotic, the swelling would go down.  But it didn’t.  It got worse.

Warning! Big Pharma May Disable You
WARNING! BIG PHARMA MAY DISABLE YOU. Side effects  like a torn tendon may appear weeks after you take this antibiotic.

Thus began a  round of steroids which cause a diabetic’s blood sugar to skyrocket.  Which meant he had to have insulin shots, administered by me.   The swelling and soreness is improving, so we have hopes that we’ll be back to normal in a few days.

Since then, I’ve researched the side effects of this particular antibiotic and found them overwhelming.  It has caused permanent disabilities in patients, ranging from torn tendons to heart damage. .  You have to wonder why it’s even on the market.

Warning  !Big  Pharma may disable you.  But they’re willing to take risks with your health because they are reaping huge financial  benefits.

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TV ADS HELP SPREAD VIRUSES

Stay home if you’re contagious. That’s the current advice from doctors. Decades ago, when  most working people lived paycheck to paycheck, people went to work sick.  Even bragged about it. You were tough and maybe even heroic to ignore your misery and punch the time clock.  Employers made things worse, docking people for too many sick days.  Perfect attendance translated to the perfect employee.  TV advertisements for various cold medicines bolstered this mentality. First, you saw a man coughing and sneezing before taking the advertised pill. Hours later, he would be pictured at work.  Even today, pharmaceutical commercials promote the idea of masking your symptoms and soldiering on.  That’s how TV ads help spread viruses.

Last week, I sat in a car dealership for two hours while my car was being repaired.  It was a lovely waiting room, with comfortable lounges, computers, WiFi,  free coffee and snacks. Luckily, I’d brought my kindle, while others were stuck with cell phone trivia.  The man across from me had a cough, and I prayed my immune system was up to speed.

Big Pharma makes big bucks during flu outbreaks
BIG PHARMA MAKES BIG BUCKS DURING FLU OUTBREAKS.

By the next afternoon, I felt lethargic and thought maybe the cold weather had worn me out.  But  the next day, I knew what had happened.  I’d caught a cold.  And I knew exactly how.  Just as it happens so often, when you go to a movie, and someone behind you is coughing or sneezing.  Why do people do this?  Why is it socially acceptable to go out in public when you ought to stay at home?

I’m thinking of the latest pharmaceutical ad for a cold remedy.  It’s a commercial I actually enjoy. First, the man is seen sneezing and looking miserable.   Suddenly, he takes the advertised capsule.  Fast forward to a treadmill, where he’s doing a little dance routine.  He’s smiling happily.  But what about the other people in the workout room who’s breathing in his contaminated air?

Outwardly,  he appears to be perfectly healthy.  He’s not sneezing or spreading his cold virus through coughing.  Nevertheless, he has a cold or the flu.  And he’s filling the air around him with the virus he’s carrying.  Recent studies have shown that we can get infected by the flu virus simply by breathing the same air as a carrier.

Who benefits when the cold and flu season is at its peak?  You guessed it, Big Pharma.  This year, their profits must be soaring.  Why should they want sick people to stay home?   More cold and flu in the population means more sales.  This is why you see aisles full of cold and flu remedies in pharmacies.  It’s probably the most profitable game in town during the flu season.

Television ads encouraging sick people to mask their symptoms and leave their house  should be banned. TV ads help spread cold and flu viruses

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IS IT ETHICAL FOR DRUG COMPANIES TO ADVERTISE?

Did you know that pharmaceutical advertising is illegal in every  country except the United States and New Zealand? Is it ethical for drug companies to advertise?

We watch both local news and national  news each evening. Last night we counted at least 10 ads for prescription and over the counter drugs.  According to Advertising Age, the average national TV commercial costs around $225,000.  So, in a period of one hour, we are viewing over two million dollars worth of ads for drugs that we probably don’t need.   Is this unethical, or not?

A study at Harvard revealed that for every dollar spent on advertising, the pharmaceutical  companies are rewarded with 4 times that amount in sales.   This means that in one hour, the drug companies are making about eight million dollars.

The ads usually show someone enjoying life as a result of taking an expensive  drug.  Who doesn’t want to be happy, healthy,  beautiful, successful, and loved?  These direct- to- consumer ads offer hope that  a particular drug can help fulfill all of your dreams.  No wonder we are an over medicated society!

advertising by drug companies adds to the high cost of drugs
THE ONLY COUNTRIES THAT HAVEN’T OUTLAWED DRUG ADVERTISING ARE THE USA AND NEW ZEALAND

They run the same ads week after week.  How many times have we seen that poor man losing his cell phone because he sneezed?  And what about the pretty redhead with her handsome boyfriend, trying on some turquoise jewelry that match her gorgeous eyes? They really milk those ads for all they are worth.  Thank heaven for the mute button on our remote.  We never, never, listen to their redundant messages.

Studies have shown that 30% of doctors feel compelled to prescribe the drugs that their patients have seen—and asked for– advertised on television.  Drug companies have other ways of influencing doctors.   It’s still common practice for them to provide gourmet lunches to the doctor’s office staff. (which may be why you  smell garlic on the breath of the nurse taking your blood pressure.)

The price of prescription drugs keep rising in the United States, where the law allows them to advertise.   Is that why drugs in other countries cost so much less? We used to winter in South Texas, and many winter Texans claimed  their entire winter vacation was paid for by the savings they got in Mexico on their prescription drugs.

Big pharma is making big bucks from TV ads.   But is it ethical to advertise new and expensive prescription drugs?