| Some people take doctor recommendations with high regard; however,
when the drugs being suggested are potentially life threatening, such
advice is anything but professional.
Big Pharma, as pharmaceutical corporations are known, has been
dubbed "the latest corporate villain" for its questionable -- some
even say criminal -- practices in search of higher revenues. In fact,
the United States is responsible for half of Big Pharma's global
profits.
This is because doctors are being paid to promote an awareness of
health conditions that need to be (ironically) treated with drugs made
by Big Pharma. Critics claim that panels of psychiatrists are being
paid large sums of money to invent mental illnesses, solely for the
purpose of selling drugs. Such deception could be destroying the
integrity of the medical profession.
Fortunately, the public is beginning to see the light, thanks to
the recent scandals surfacing regarding drug companies. A prime
example is how arthritis-drug Vioxx was pulled off the market after
the company belatedly admitted the drug induced cardiovascular
conditions. Such instances have stuck a thorn in the public's trust
for drug companies.
After years of never questioning what the
drug industry "claimed," the public is beginning to see that the
industry is:
 | Hugely profitable and driven |
| Obsessed with making profits |
| Willing to stretch the law in order to make a buck |
And Big Pharma is being called out, as a mass of new books by
high-profile authors and court cases have revealed the ways these
companies have managed to produce profits and cover up its secrets.
Though as long as politicians and doctors keep getting money, it is
hard to tell if Big Pharma will ever be defeated.
New York Times December 6, 2004 |
