"Sickening - How Big Pharma Broke American Health Care"

[fwafwow]

I just finished this book and feel the need to share it. The title may sound too conspiratorial for some, but the author is a member of the faculty at Harvard Medical School, and the points made in the book seem to be backed up. Note - not all blame is placed on pharmaceutical companies - it is shared with medical journals, government agencies and politicians.

Here are a few quotes that (IMHO) are surprising, but overshadowed by the gory details about Vioxx, Neurontin, insulin analogs, sales of medical journal reprints, the proportion of money spent on drug and device studies vs. what might actually improve health, etc.

• "The case against [biomedical] science is straightforward: much of the scientific literature, perhaps half, may simply be untrue.... Science has taken a turn toward darkness." Richard Horton, editor in chief of The Lancet
• "Don't believe anything, not one thing, put out by a pharmaceutical company. Just don't believe it. You start from there." Catherine Deangelis, [former] editor in chief, Journal of the American Medical Association
• "The statins saga forces us to confront the deep flaws in our current system for evaluating medicines and guiding clinical decisions. In particular, how can it be right to recommend mass treatment of healthy people without independent review of the patient level data, especially the data on adverse effects?" Emma Parish, Theodora Bloom and Fiona Godlee, British Medical Journal

 

[4rcgoat]

Gonna have to read it.....the current system is absolutely sickening.

 

[roadrunner]

This has happened because people in general have chosen to no longer be accountable...

 

[*zap*]

just say no

 

[Buzby]

I agree, the system is flawed. However, people are living much longer, and the majority of medical research and treatments are from the United States. The system is profit driven, but the greed for those profits pushes a lot of research.

 

[fwafwow]

This has happened because people in general have chosen to no longer be accountable...

Not sure exactly which people or if you mean all, but I tend to agree. It’s hard though to be accountable as a health care consumer (or physician) when the knowledge is so limited and biased. Which was the last new drug study that compared the new drug to those that are already out there (or new device vs existing)? Or to other non-medical alternatives? What studies have provided the underlying data to anyone to independently review?

just say no

I’m fortunate enough to be 52 and not be on any meds, even though I’ve got prostate cancer. But when I had a TBI in 2020, I unwittingly accepted a doctor’s Rx for Neurontin (gabapentin) - as an off-label use for my headaches. For all I know that doctor was still operating under the belief this drug worked for that due to Pfizer’s marketing of the drug for same. Luckily I got off of it as soon as my PCP learned of it, and now I do my best to follow Nancy Reagan’s approach.

 

[Red Letters]

Worth a watch

The Birth Of Big Pharma (The Rockefeller's Cartel) - Short Documentary

It has been said that the Rockefeller family has affected modern society to a degree but what most do not realize is just how much they have made an impact. The family name has now been linked to the

rumble.com

 

[fwafwow]

I agree, the system is flawed. However, people are living much longer, and the majority of medical research and treatments are from the United States. The system is profit driven, but the greed for those profits pushes a lot of research.

But Americans are not living longer, at least compared to other wealthy nations (according to the book). "And since 2000, Americans' healthy life expectancy has plummeted from thirty-eighth in the world to sixty-eighth in 2019 (now behind China, Cuba, and Jamaica).

We may be winning in the number of studies and articles, but part of the point of the book is that medical research, studies and articles do not equate to improvements in health care. The author states that only 1 out of 8 newly approved drugs provides any previously unavailable medical benefits. And of those that do, we in the US end up paying much more for it. Example - Atripla is used to treat HIV for $35k in the US, as compared to $100 in India.

I am not against profits or greed for them, but the incentives are not aligned, IMHO. If a pharma company got paid for results instead of sales (which I admit is difficult to imagine or structure), maybe that would yield a better outcome. At the moment, pharma's R&D budgets are not aimed at healthy outcomes - they are aimed at bringing new drugs to market, even if there are better treatments already available. Here's a quote from an internal Pfizer document about their data and ownership of same:

• "Pfizer-sponsored studies belong to Pfizer, not to any individual
• "Purpose of data is to support, directly or indirectly, marketing of our product
  • Through use in label enhancements, sNDA filings
  • Through publications for field force use
  • Through publications that can be utilized to support off-label data dissemination"

(Emphasis added.)

 

[Rob5589]

This has happened because people in general have chosen to no longer be accountable...

I'm in healthcare and can say that a large majority of people I see choose not to get and/or stay healthy. They use the medical system to keep them "healthy" thinking that there is a pill to fix everything.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

I don't think it can be fixed, it has run wild for too long. The big Pharmacy Co. will not regulate themselves, and if the Govt. tries to step in to control the cost of meds. there is a large sector of the USA population that will say, the govt. needs to stay out of private industry. I would like to know out how many experts have said, I have the answer only to be proven wrong. Maybe they weren't really wrong, but their ideas were meant with to much resistance from those with a vested interest to keep the status quo.

 

[*zap*]

^ people are generally soft today. $, comfort and self indulgence are the top priorities. From what I see many people as they get older just waste away physically (low body weight & no strength) or get obese and they have all kinds of excuses or so I hear when I am at the gym. 'Tennis elbow', arthritis, aches & pains, knees, shoulders and etc.. Basically they do not want anything to do with any discomfort even if it leads to better quality of life and increased fitness.
Take a pill is e-z...

 

[*zap*]

I don't think it can be fixed, it has run wild for too long.

Like most everything that is wrong with society in general.

 

[EastHumboldt]

What no credit for the insurance companies? I’m sure they’ve done their part.

 

[Whiskey_Fish]

I agree, the system is flawed. However, people are living much longer, and the majority of medical research and treatments are from the United States. The system is profit driven, but the greed for those profits pushes a lot of research.

Good thing we produce roughly 4x the amount of published data that GBR does. Especially when you consider we have approx 5x the population.

That’s a garbage graph.

We rank terribly in the US at most healthcare metrics except profitability. It seems unlikely to change at this point.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[muleysnelk]

American's are fat. 40% of adults are obese and 70% are overweight. I'm actually surprised these people live as long as they do.

 

[go_deep]

My son is a T1, with really good insurance it costs an insane amount of money per year.

I personally know to dang many people that won't do crap as far as eating right, exercising, just in general taking care of themselves. Just need the doctor to write a few more prescription for some more magic pills to fix all the problem they have self-inflicted on themselves.

 

[fwafwow]

My son is a T1, with really good insurance it costs an insane amount of money per year.

I personally know to dang many people that won't do crap as far as eating right, exercising, just in general taking care of themselves. Just need the doctor to write a few more prescription for some more magic pills to fix all the problem they have self-inflicted on themselves.

There is an entire chapter on how insulin has been changed over the years, with dramatic increases in costs without much in the way of improved results. I had no idea

 

[bdan68]

Yes, people in general ARE overweight, but this isn't really their fault. We've been lied to for many years, decades actually, about the proper human diet. This is the main problem. The "food pyramid" that our government has pushed on all of us and told us this is the healthy way to eat, is wrong. They tell us to eat lots of grain, and carbs, and sugar. They also tell us to avoid eating fat. So people following the guidelines, and trying to be healthy, still get fat. I'm 54 and only two years ago discovered I've been eating wrong my entire life. The other thing they tell people is that you should eat three meals a day and to eat "snacks" all day long in between your meals. All bad advice. One last thing- diabetes is a huge issue, and the only solution people are given is to take insulin the rest of their life, when all they need to do is change their diet and reverse their diabetes in a very short time. But they want to sell lots of insulin so they continue to lie to the people.

 

[roadrunner]

I'm in healthcare and can say that a large majority of people I see choose not to get and/or stay healthy. They use the medical system to keep them "healthy" thinking that there is a pill to fix everything.

Which is precisely why they choose to not be accountable. They want someone else or something else to tell them what to do. When it goes south, they won't point the finger at themselves.

 

[Fatcamp]

It's a mess for sure.