Is Big Pharma the new version of the military-industrial complex we’ve been warned about since the days of President Eisenhower? Yes, says Max Blunt of Radical Left:
Chalmers Johnson said about the US military-industrial complex: “I guarantee you when war becomes that profitable, you are going to see more of it.” In exactly the same way, as mental illness has become extremely profitable, we are seeing more of it…There are other parallels between the military-industrial complex and the psychopharmaceutical-industrial complex. Vital to the profits of both are supportive U.S. government regulatory, research, and purchasing agencies.
There is nothing more important for a drug manufacturer than FDA approval and so it is common sense that a pharmaceutical company will spend whatever it takes to ensure FDA approval … Joseph Glenmullen, in Prozac Backlash, notes that Paul Leber, director of the FDA’s division of neuropharmacological drug products, left the FDA in the late 1990s to direct a consulting firm that specializes in advising pharmaceutical companies attempting to gain FDA approval for new psychiatric drugs.
Robert Whitaker, in his book Mad in America, summarized the beginnings of Big Pharma’s corruption of America’s psychiatrists and their professional organization, the American Psychiatric Association … By the early 1970s, all of psychiatry was in the process of being transformed by the influence of drug money. Pill-oriented shrinks could earn much more than those who relied primarily on psychotherapy (prescribing a pill takes a lot less time than talk therapy).
Drug-company sales representatives who came to their offices often plied them with little gifts (dinners, tickets to entertainment, and the like); and their trade organization, the APA, had become ever more fiscally dependent on drug companies. 30 percent of the APA’s annual budget came from drug advertisements to its journals…
Drug companies have also been successful hijacking university psychiatry departments … Marcia Angell, physician and former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine and author of The Truth About the Drug Companies, reported that the head of the psychiatry department at Brown University Medical School made over $500,000 in one year consulting for drug companies that make antidepressants.
If that’s not enough to make you depressed, I don’t know what is.
I saw this over at Healthbolt and it was just too funny to pass up. Next up for an energy drink — Chuck Norris.
You know what’s adorable? Steven Seagal hawking his juices. Someone sent this to me a while back and I kinda can’t believe I almost forgot to share Steven’s juicy power with the world! (The shame, the shame. And here we were making so much progress.)
“It’s time for the Steven Seagal Experience! There is no telling what will happen once you get his juices inside you! Massive explosions, intense hand to hand combat, speaking in cryptic monotone dialog, who knows? So quaff your very own Steven Seagal Lightning Bolt Energy Drink today, and get ready for the extreme!â€
According to the official site, Steven Seagal’s energy drink is “as unique as the man who created itâ€. This chia chug contains Tibetan Goji berries, guarana, yerba mate, Asian cordyceps, ginseng, ginkgo biloba, B vitamins, and green tea. It’s actually a healthy formula (yes, I just said that).
Is there anything everyone’s favorite CIA operative cannot do?
Finally, he shares the source of his powers: Lightning Bolt Energy Drink. Get his juices inside you.
Over the last week we’ve been a little slow on posting, but we are busy with with lots of good things here at eDrugSearch.
However, we had to take some time out to mention the launch of the new Health 2.0 Blog by the talented Indu Subaiya and the author of “The Health Care Blog” Matthew Holt.
We are particularly excited about this new blog that builds on the great work of Johannes Ernst with his Health2.0 wiki.
The best part of the blog is that it will be collaborative, which is the name of the game for Health 2.0. We are particularly excited about this since in the near future eDrugSearch plans to add a little to the Health 2.0 movement.
Here is what Indu and Matthew say about the new collaboration:
“So if your mind is still buzzing from the conference, or if you?re working on something you want to share with the rest of the community, or if there is something particularly controversial that you want to weigh in on, send our blog meister John Pluenneke an so he can set you up as a contributor!”
We say, sign us up!
Photo by AmyliaGrace
Sooooo… the FDA says it doesn’t inspect drugs imported from China and India (and sold through U.S. pharmacies) for safety. Did you know that almost 80 percent of the active ingredients in prescription drugs sold in the U.S. come from these countries?
And yet, the FDA still wastes its time with the “issue” of U.S. consumers buying drugs from licensed Canadian pharmacies. Something doesn’t quite add up, does it?
Watch the Lou Dobbs report:
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Cary Byrd, President of eDrugSearch.com
