13 Responses to “Big Pharma Strikes Again!”

1. Kate,

   Your rant against Big Pharma seems to be one-sided and ill-informed.

   by monica murphy on July 6th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
   
   

2. Monica, you don’t say why you believe I’m ill-informed, so I’ll direct you straight to my source of information. The site is: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/06/17/1-5-million-more-people-to-be-prescribed-useless-cholesterol-drugs.aspx?source=nl

   by Kate on July 7th, 2008 at 11:53 am
   
   

3. Dear Kate,

   I have just been told recently that I have high cholesterol - and surprise, surprise, guess what the doctor suggested? You’ve got it - statins!
   I asked if there were any alternatives, as I am not overly keen on taking chemicals when there could be an alternative.
   ‘You could go on a low fat/low cholesterol diet’ I was told.
   Two months on and ten pounds lighter I continue with what can only be described as a distinctly tedious diet. My other reason for avoiding statins is that my father has been on them for a year or more and suffered painful side effects. I inherit a lot of my medical genes/behaviour from him, so you see why I am not so keen on statins either…(I know that they will not necessarily have side effects with me, but I’d rather not risk it.)
   I’ve also been told a few fold remedies which have worked for friends of mine…you can imagine what the doctor thought of that. But once again, natural food is going to be the first line of attack for me…
   Yours, pleased with what you wrote,
   Rudolf

   by Rudolf on July 7th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
   
   

4. Kate, I can top that! Now a story in today’s paper says that children as young as EIGHT years of age will be targeted for cholesterol drugs! This makes me sick. Yes, we have overweight and obese children in this country. We already know it’s fast food and other contributors to the SAD (Standard American Diet), plus lack of physical activity that are to blame. So doctors give lip service to “eat right and exercise” but then put pen to paper and prescribe statins for these kids? Sheesh! Is anyone aware that these drugs have some very serious SIDE EFFECTS??

   I recently saw a story about foster children in Texas who were being given up to 17 psychotropic drugs for ADD and other behavioral issues. Who benefits? Who ALWAYS benefits? The children who have now aged out of foster care in Texas are clearly saying it was NOT them. You’d have to be blind not to see what’s happening.

   Thanks for being a voice in the wilderness.
   Nancy

   by Nancy on July 7th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
   
   

5. Rudolf, I applaud you for seeking alternatives to the statins. According to what I’ve read, only 5 % of people with high cholesterol actually need statins to do the job. The other 95% can do it through diet and exercise. So who stands to gain from all those meds being sold? As we’ve always heard, follow the money.

   If you’re looking for more advice on how to treat your cholesterol, I highly recommend Dr. Mercola’s website. He’s always light-years ahead of the established medical community. http://www.mercola.com He believes, as I do, that we shouldn’t treat a symptom (such as high cholesterol) with a bandage (drug). Find the cause of the symptom and treat that. It’s common sense, isn’t it? Don’t throw pills at the problem.

   Nancy, I saw that story on the Today Show yesterday and was in absolute disbelief. For God’s sake, teach the children how to eat, don’t stuff their developing bodies with risky drugs unless all other remedies fail.

   Our countries are so pill-dependent, it’s frightening.

   See why I like to write funny, light-hearted mysteries? They let me escape from the craziness.

   Kate

   by Kate Collins on July 7th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
   
   

6. Puts me in mind of the (possibly apocryphal) story of the shampoo manufacturer who told his marketing people to find a way to sell more shampoo. The marketing person came back with two words: “Rinse. Repeat.”

   by Sheila Connolly on July 8th, 2008 at 8:54 am
   
   

7. Sheila, thanks for the laugh! That’s too funny. And look how well that campaign worked.

   Nancy, I saw that same story on The Today Show and could not believe it. Doctors are willing to put risky drugs in kids’ developing bodies? Is that because their diet and exercise advice goes ignored or are they not even trying that route? Are parents unwilling to make those changes in their lifestyles and would rather have their children take meds? When did we become a culture of putting a bandage on the symptom instead of taking care of the underlying problem?

   It troubles me. Companies are making money off this lazy attitude and no one seems to mind. Argh!

   Kate

   by Kate Collins on July 8th, 2008 at 10:42 am
   
   

8. I would have to concur with you Kate, but in a general way. I am a person who ’survives’ via my medications. I fought taking them for years, then stopped taking them thinking I had ‘gained enough knowledge about my disorders to not need them’ plus the cost /no insurance. Now I live in fear of not managing to get them, via the Veterans Administration. But I’m well aware of the ‘con’ job visited on the public in regards to what ‘to take’, ‘what works’, and most importantly the cost.

   Just as when it was said the Iraq situation was ‘not about Oil’??? The bottom line is, it is about ‘$$$$’. There is no decision, pharmacueticals a primary example, that doesn’t come down to the bottom line.

   And it’s incumbent upon ‘us’-the consumer to take charge of our issues. Statins are great, I take them-but they would do me no good if I also didn’t watch my diet-exercise-and live a life based upon ‘preventive maintenance’ as opposed to stocking up on duct tape waiting for break needing repair.

   by Susan VH on July 9th, 2008 at 8:38 am
   
   

9. Susan, I agree with you. There are life-saving meds out there that people absolutely need. I have family members with diabetes who would die without their insulin. My beef is the scam that is pulled on people who don’t really need drugs but are told they do rather than being given alternative treatments. For instance, my husband and I were told (by different doctors) that we had to take high blood pressure med, and that as we got older, we’d need a stronger strength med, and then eventually we’d be on two or three or even four different ones because of advancing hardening of the arteries.

   Except that we went an alternate route and now don’t have high blood pressure. So 1) Our conditions were not progressive, the high numbers were caused by poor diet and stress; 2) the doctors didn’t tell us there were other ways to lower the blood pressure. I had to discover them on my own.

   That’s my beef with our western medicine. We’re not given alternatives, as a general rule, to fix things that are within our control. We’re led to believe there is one answer: drugs. And now even with children as young as 8 years old. Only one way to bring down high cholesterol in an eight year old? No way. Bodies are created to protect themselves, to heal themselves, if given the proper tools. Somewhere along the way, western medicine has gone from a preventative mindset to a profitable business.

   Susan, I hope people notice your paragraph about oil. Always follow the money, right?

   by Kate Collins on July 9th, 2008 at 11:20 am
   
   

10. Kate, you are absolutely correct-for a variety of factors it seems many doctors feel their only ‘job’ is to whip out a script pad. Factors-insurance companies dictating patient/hour, insurance companies dictating ‘what’ medicine you ‘will’ be allowed, profit/loss statements for corporations, health care ‘industry’ (and note I call it an industry-follow the money).

    Such a fine line for us all to 1) just plain find the line 2) to stay on line while walking across the crevice 3) make it to safe ground on the other side.

    I think your overall message, reading between all our ‘personal comments’, is we are the first line of defense in this journey. You and your husband taking charge of the issue and not just following a doctors diagnosis is a prime example. Despite my acceptance of my ‘need’ for meds-I still ask for detailed information and question any change or suggestion of meds. And luckily I’ve finally gotten a team of doctors who don’t TELL me what I will do but SUGGEST options, always telling me it’s my decision.

    This new ‘attempt’ by pharmaceutical companies to generate business-doesn’t mean we have to ‘buy’ into it. Great post and great comments by all.

    by Susan VH on July 10th, 2008 at 7:33 am
    
    

11. Maureen, a friend of mine, as she was dying of kidney cancer, gave me this advice: “The only person who will ever really look out for what’s best for you isn’t your doctor. It’s you. You’re the only one who has a pure motive: to heal.”

    I truly believe that.

    by Kate Collins on July 10th, 2008 at 11:34 am
    
    

12. My parents had a doctor who told them if they didn’t take a certain cholesterol drug, he would drop them as patients.

    And then he did.

    I think that was a good day, because he was a JERK. That said, their next doctor did convince them to go on chloesterol drugs–and they’re still on them, as well as a bunch of others. (She’s a real pill pusher, and when I’ve had to take them to their appointments, I’ve seen the drug reps come and go from her office.)

    I still think they would’ve been better to change their diet … but I’m just their kid, what do I know.

    My husband just went on meds for high blood pressure. He wasn’t told to change his diet or lifestyle. He’s not interested in it, and yet he claims he hates the idea of taking drugs.

    Go figure.

    by Lorraine Bartlett on July 14th, 2008 at 8:48 am
    
    

13. Lorraine, I think your husband’s attitude is quite typical and why there isn’t a bigger cry for alternative treatments to common ailments. So many people would rather pop a pill to hide their symptom than to solve the underlying problem and get rid of the symptom all together.

    When my doctor said I had to take a pill for high blood pressure, I questioned him as to why I had it in the first place. I’m not overweight, I exercise, eat healthy foods…. He gave me a speech on the aging process. (I’m not old!) And I know people in their 80s who don’t have high BP or hardening of the arteries. So if it’s just a matter of aging, then ALL older people should have high BP, right? He didn’t have an answer for that. So I did my own research and figured out why mine was high. Then I fixed it myself.

    This same cardiologist (we call him Dr. Doom and Gloom) told my husband if he didn’t take his cholesterol and BP meds, he would have a “rough ten years and then die.” Is that not unbelievable that a doctor would say that to a patient? Needless to say, neither one of us goes to that dr. anymore. And btw, my hubby’s blood tests are in the normal range without meds now, just by eliminating a few things from his diet, like diet sodas, white flour and dairy. And he has more energy than a man half his age.

    So take that, Doctor Doom and Gloom!

    by Kate Collins on July 14th, 2008 at 10:32 am
    
    

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