A study (as reported on Time.com) done by Medco Health Solutions, Inc. now shows that more than half of all insured Americans are regularly taking prescription medications for chronic health problems. Read the article. It's actually a bit disturbing.Here are a few of the statistics listed in the short article: The most widely used drugs are those for high blood pressure and cholesterol -- problems often linked to heart disease, obesity and diabetes. Medication use for chronic problems was seen in almost 2/3 of women 20 or older; one in four children and teenagers; 52% of adult men; and three out of four people 65 and older.
The president of the American Heart Association said that more people are taking blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering medications because they need them.
Okay....has anyone bothered to ask why they need them? The answer is yes. In short, we eat poorly (read -- unhealthily), don't exercise enough, and our air, water, and food are filled with all manner of things that shouldn't be there.
I'm sure Big Pharma couldn't be happier. Well, they wouldn't be happy with me. I'm not taking anything, nor do I intend to. I'm not one of their customers. And a nation of sickly couch potatoes who are hooked on their drugs to alleviate symptoms (instead of providing a cure) is just the kind of steady income that fattens their coffers year to year.
In a warped way, it reminds me of some inside dirt I've heard about the credit card industry. To them, the deadbeats are the ones who stay within their credit limits, pay on time, and rarely maintain a balance. Why are they the deadbeats? Duh! Because they're not making the credit card companies any money.
The unfortunate folks with financial problems, late fees, and over-limit fees are really the preferred customers -- even though they're treated like criminals. When a $2000 balance can be dragged out for thirty years with only the minimum payments, it's a steady stream of income disguised as legalized extortion. And Dubya is certainly their patron saint since he signed a bill into law last year that makes it even easier for them to screw the rest of us.
But that's a rant for another time. I could go on for a week about the credit industry. The sad fact is that there are grim similarities between Big Pharma and Big Credit -- they both want all of us hooked on what they're selling whether we need it or not.
2 comments:
Merck/Schering Plough has been in the news lately for trying (and succeeding in ways) to delay unfavorable results in a much publicized trial of their blockbuster cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin, which is a combination of simvastatin (Zocor, Merck) and ezetimibe (Zetia, Schering-Plough). Zocor lost its exclusive patent and is now available in generic form. That's why Merck created a new drug, Vytorin, which made $5 billion last year and kept many golf courses in business.
While the combo drug did reduce overall cholesterol better than single pill therapy in the trial, it did not reduce the amount of athersclerosis in the carotids as measured by ultrasound, the study's primary endpoint. That's where the tinkering comes in. For months, Merck had meetings with the investigators, trying to get the docs to change the rules, reevaluate findings differently, anything to change unfavorable results to favorable results. The docs, to their credit, wouldn't budge.
So, finally, the results came out at the end of last year and the high-cholesterol shit hit the cardiovascular fan. Now Congress is grilling Merck officials about the delay, about emails that indicate they wanted to commit fraud, and about other nefarious tactics including decpetive advertising.
Congress also is grilling Pfizer execs, makers of Lipitor, another cholesterol-lowering drug, about their deceptive ads using artificial heart maker Jarvik (and a stunt double to row a boat). Lipitor's exclusive patent will be up in about a year, hence, the advertising blitz by Pfizer before it loses out to generics.
It goes on and on. Executives from Bristol Myers Squibb were recently indicted for negotiating a deal with a generic maker to not copy Plavix, a top selling blood thinner. Executives from the generic company were also indicted.
Here’s something to chew on. The FDA often requires drug companies to conduct follow up studies after the drugs are approved. Well, as of last Sept, 62 % -- or a whopping 1,044 studies – have yet to be started for conventional drugs and biotechnology medications that are approved.
This is the free market at work. Amazing.
--gravity at work
I also want to toss into the ring an eerie consistency to artery cleaning surgeries that lead to death with in three to five months. Many of the patients undergoing these treatments are on blood thinners that exacerbate internal bleeding. So far no reports in the media, but know five people in my small circle who have died.
Schotz
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