Medicine, Man, and Big Pharma
Honestly, I’m not a fan of conspiracy theories, but, I am very suspicious of drug-makers, big businesses, and there ties to doctors, hospitals, and various health organizations—and reports like this make my blood boil! A new study claims medical schools and drug makers share strong ties. Amanda Gardner of HealthDay News reports:
I while ago I asked Dr. Fuhrman for his thoughts on all this, and, he gave up a great quote. It really brings it home. Take a look:
More than half of department chairs at U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals have financial ties with the drug industry, a new study finds.I put pharmaceutical companies and diet corporations—like Atkins and South Beach—in the same dubious category; using misinformation and fear to make money at the expense of people’s health. Now, for more on the connections between big pharma and modern medicine, check out these previous posts:
These institutional relationships seemed to be just as widespread as those of individual physicians or scientists with industry.
"There is not a single aspect of medicine in which the drug companies do not have substantial and deep relationships, affecting not only doctors-in-training, resident physicians, researchers, physicians-in-practice, the people who review drugs for the federal government and the people who review studies," said lead researcher Eric Campbell, associate professor at the Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.
"Drug companies have relationships with everyone," he continued. "They're involved in every aspect of medicine. Someone has to decide which of these is OK."
The study, the first to examine the extent of these institutional relationships, is published in the Oct. 17 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Although Campbell himself reported no financial conflicts, one co-author did report having served as a consultant for drug makers Genentech and GlaxoSmithKline.
I while ago I asked Dr. Fuhrman for his thoughts on all this, and, he gave up a great quote. It really brings it home. Take a look:
Some day the public will wake up to the medicalization of America and the collusion between the drug companies, the medical profession and the government. They pay doctors millions because it is money well spent. These influential doctors then market the drug to other doctors. It is a form of multi-level marketing.Heck, Dr. Fuhrman isn’t the only one suspicious of drug companies. Even some pharmaceutical reps are getting wise. Read this post: Pharmaceutical Rep Urges Healthy Diet Over Drugs.
