Read some excerpts about pharmaceutical drug companies from this CNN news article by Carl Elliot, “How to brand a disease – and sell a cure”:
- “Drug makers have mastered the art of branding medical conditions to sell cures.”
- “Once a branded disease has achieved a degree of cultural legitimacy, there is no need to convince anyone that a drug to treat it is necessary. It will come to him as his own idea.”
- “By creating a brand, firms can make consumers feel taking a drug is needed.”
- “Paxil was marketed to treat “social anxiety disorder,” once known as “shyness“.
- “In the two years before Paxil was approved for social anxiety, there were only about 50 references to social anxiety disorder in the press. But in 1999, during the PR campaign, there were over a billion references.”
- “Within two years Paxil had become the seventh most profitable drug in America, and Cohn and Wolfe had picked up an award for the best PR campaign of 1999. Today, social anxiety disorder, far from being rare, is often described as the third most common mental illness in the world.”
The whole article is very interesting but disgusting the way they “play” the public and even more, how many still fall for it. But at the same time it’s fascinating at how susceptible we all are to slick advertising at some point in our lives. When the drug companies can spend millions in ad dollars and turn around and make billions, I’d say they know what they’re doing.
It’s not even rare, they do it all of the time.
High Cholesterol
Another great example is the wool that was pulled over our eyes on the whole cholesterol issue. I can’t believe how often the topic comes up in casual conversation, it has become SO ingrained in us that “high cholesterol is bad”. I don’t know how long it will take ‘til the wheels fall off that junker, but for now, it just keeps chugging along. (Read more about this in the links below.)
Can you think of more ways the drug companies have used their slick advertising to convince us we needed the latest popular drug?
Dr. Carl Elliott, an M.D. and Ph.D., is the author of “White Coat, Black Hat: Adventures on the Dark Side of Medicine“.
Read more:
- Fat Head Movie Review – great YouTube clips here that explain how obesity begins and how the saturated fat myth took hold.
- Read about how I almost got into a “Butter Fight” with someone…
- Cholesterol drugs for kids – do kids need to lower their cholesterol?!
- Read about Mike’s follow-up appointment at the heart doc.
- More pharmaceutical bull crap – read why the pharmacy contacted my sister
Raine Saunders says
Great topic, and so badly needed for discussion! Last year I had a blood test for my thyroid, and it was found to be low, but also I had a fasting glucose test to see about whether I still had insulin-resistance, which I was originally diagnosed with in 2005. At the time I had the first test, I had recently started eating real food after years of SAD abuse. The chiropractor who ordered the wide-panel blood test said my body should start healing quickly if I was to keep eating well. The good news is that last year’s blood test revealed I was no longer insulin-resistant. That’s what real food did for me!
Anyway, I’m getting to the point. My doctor (an M.D. who does a lot of alternative treatment and care) showed me the numbers for my cholesterol and said that most doctors consider mine to be high – it was just over 200. She said she NEVER prescribes statins or anything remotely like it for her patients and that I had nothing to worry about. She did say that if my thyroid was off it could affect my cholesterol though, and thyroid issues are a HUGE issue for people in this country – whether it’s hypo or hyper.
Thyroid problems are caused by eating SAD and other poor lifestyle choices such as drinking tap water (which contains bromine and chlorine – both of which compete for iodine in the body). Since we have so little iodine in our food supply any more, and most people eat so poorly, it’s no wonder so many people have thyroid problems. The other factor can often be consumption of soy. Soy adversely affects the thyroid and then can cause cholesterol levels to be out-of-whack, among many other things. Something to think about!
KitchenKop says
Wendy, I’m not sure why you think I would delete your post, we’re all on a journey and learning together! 🙂
Wendy says
Hi KitchenKop,
Thank you for your response. I am interested in learning more… thank you for the link and anything else you can send my way to educate myself. I recently found your website. If you feel the need, please delete my earlier post. I am obviously ignorant on the subject.
Kindly,
Wendy
KitchenKop says
Hi Wendy,
The thing about cholesterol, though, is that we don’t want to bring it down, contrary to mainstream beliefs, instead we need to let it do its job (heal) and figure out what caused it to go up in the first place.
Read more at this post, scroll down to the cholesterol section:
https://kellythekitchenkop.com/2008/08/healthy-fats-oils.html
Bonnie says
A few years ago I read a book called Shyness (I think) which is about how what was normal when I was a child (oh she’s just shy) has now become a disease commodity called Social Phobia. This was an invented condition and really does any one have a problem being more introverted. I think it’s very interesting.
Keesha says
A while ago I watched a great documentary about the pharmaceutical industry and how their “therapies” cause more harm than good. One of my favorite lines was “Making the 19th version of the same drug that never worked in the first place… and it really isn’t a disease!”. It’s available online and on youtube – https://www.moneytalksthemovie.com/
Wendy says
Hi Pavil the Uber Noob,
I’m not sure what your comment means.
Linda says
Hi Stanley, no I haven’t heard of him. I thought I read somewhere that taking statins can damage your liver. I have never been a pill person and never liked the idea of taking meds for the rest of my life.
Wendy, I’m not familiar with Shaklee’s but that name sounds familiar.
Sally says
This is a topic near and dear to my soul. My cousin’s son was diagnosed schizophrenic. Since drugs treating schizophrenia were created, that diagnosis has gone up 400%. My cousin would not consider not following doctor’s orders, or even supplementing her teen’s diet with Omega 3 oil, taking him off coke and HFCS. I’m sorry, but how can people be so dense?
EVERY SINGLE mass murder in the last couple of decades has been committed by persons taking an SSRI. Including Columbine and every school shooting. Including Fort Hood. Remember the woman who drowned her five children? Prozac derivative, or SSRI. Countless teen suicides, including a friend of mine’s daughter. To get really depressed about SSRIs and the effects, visit Dr. Tracy on SSRIs: http://www.drugawareness.com.
Michael Moore on the real causes of Columbine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04UqzYOdGNs
Also watch Making a Killing: https://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9083404572198377643
Big Pharma is why marijuana is illegal. Marijuana is a miracle drug with no side effects (I don’t smoke it, btw. Would if I were sick, though!) Just like Big Agri/Chem is why industrial hemp is illegal. Won’t get you high but would quickly replace all synthetic fibers. 85% of the hemp grown in Canada is imported to the U.S. Think of the jobs. Anyway… I veered off course, as usual!!!
Sally Ford says
Not true Mariguana does have side effects. For one a close family member developed anxiety and panic attacks triggered from heavy smoking of marijuana and they stopped, when marijuana use ended. There are also other side effects with regular use.
Heather@Food Ponderings says
Like when PMS was transformed into PMDD, and the prescription is pink Prozac in a pretty pink package designed to look like birth control packs and rebranded as SARAFEM. I used to be a Pharmacy Benefits Specialist for a health insurance company back in 2003, and I cannot tell you how many women were confused why we wouldn’t cover the drug because generic Prozac (fluoxetine) was available. THEY HAD NO IDEA THEY WERE PRESCRIBED PROZAC!!!
Pavil the Uber Noob says
@ Wendy
Troll alert
Wendy says
Hi Linda,
I cannot recommend highly enough Shaklee’s Cholesterol Reduction Complex ~ high cholesterol runs in my family. Recently my sis began taking this complex and had her cholesterol retested. She said her cholesterol is the lowest it’s been in the past 15 years. Plus it has a 100% money back guarantee. You can find out more info at http://www.AHealthJourney.net ~ a completely safe and totally effective natural alternative to statins.
Beth says
Gotta love how they make up illnesses and then market a product to people. Depression sufferers yes but the commercials that are trying to sell a fix for “eye lash” diseases….come on. give us your two cents on this at
https://www.beyondmytwocents.com/new-buzzword-of-2010-disease-branding
Carolyn Kennedy says
Now, I do not agree that is necessarily needs a drug every time- I do take issue with the comment ” social anxiety disorder, formerly know as “shyness ” I have always been shy/quiet in public, but I had a period in my life when even I knew something was wrong and saught help- but from a councelor. Many, many are probably dianosed with the drug company/medias new pop syndrom- but lets not forget there are “honest” sufferers in that group.
JenE says
I just saw a new one on TV this morning. It’s called Lysteda for Heavy Monthly Bleeding. Sheesh!! Never mind looking into WHY one has heavy monthly bleeding … just pop a pill!! Ug.
Kate @ Modern Alternative Mama says
Yes! IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) and GERD!! Both of which I was convinced I had and put on Nexium for when I was about 19! The doctor didn’t tell me any more than the commercial did, and actually just handed me a paper and said “Come back in next week and tell me what you think.” So when I came back and said “This sounds so familiar,” she said “Here’s your prescription.”
Meanwhile the “cure” is to NOT eat SAD!! I stopped taking it a few months later, and a couple years after that started real food and now I just laugh! Puh-lease!!
And naturally this was an average doctor. The type who won’t give you a drug if you come in with a cold or anything, because they “don’t want to over-prescribe antibiotics.” (And there were a few times that I came with concerns and was told I did not need drugs.) But still, was willing to hand out other drugs “when needed,” with absolutely no information on how nutrition can help. I just find it sad.
Direct-to-consumer drug advertising should be ILLEGAL, as that is how they get away with creating a market for these unnecessary and dangerous drugs. When patients come in having seen commercials and say “I think I need X,” because they have half the symptoms and have convinced themselves they have the other half, too, doctors, who have been courted by pharmaceutical companies and given many samples, think it might just be the new wonder drug and say, “Okay, let’s try it out!” And the deal is done. ARGH!!!!!!!
Stanley Fishman says
Linda, are you familiar with Dr. Duane Gravelines? He is an MD and former astronaut who wrote a book about how he lost his short term memory when he was taking statins. I think anybody even thinking of taking statins should check out his website.
Linda says
I just remembered my DH and his blood sugar levels. Last year he had a physical and they did bloodwork. The dr said his blood sugar was too high. He also needed to lose weight. He told him to go on a low carb diet or he would become diabetic. That’s when I got serious about eating a real food – whole food diet. I did watch the carbs. The dr had him on a statin. I wanted him off it.
He went back 6 months later. Lost a lot of weight, blood sugar good. Off the statins. DH recently went back for another 6 month check. Over the phone they said everything was good. He is still losing some weight. Dr put him back on statin just to see if it makes a difference. I was really angry about this. My DH supports me with this real food diet but he still listens to the dr. ARGHH!
My dr wants me on a statin for high cholesterol. I haven’t had it checked in a while because I don’t want to go back there. I want to find a holistic dr first.
Linda says
I hate the commercials they put out about taking a drug for whatever ails you. While you listen to soothing music they are listing all the possible side affects, including death.
Stanley Fishman says
What is amazing is how they can take normal human functioning, and turn it into a disease they can make money from. “High blood pressure” is a prime example, where they keep lowering what is “normal” so more people can be classified as “abnormal”, so they can be put on dangerous drugs that disrupt the normal functioning of their bodies. The blood pressure for most people fluctuates widely during the day, and a reading that is “too high” may be “normal” if taken five minutes later. But the drug companies use the fear of heart attacks and strokes to scare people into taking these drugs, when there is nothing wrong with them.
What is especially telling is that no drugs seem to cure anything, they only “manage the disease”. Cures are not wanted by Big Pharma, only drugs that the patient will need for the rest of their lives. All drugs interfere with and disrupt the natural functioning of the body. This often cause more illness, which requires more drugs, which disrupt the body further, which requires more drugs, and on and on until the “patient” has their natural functions so disrupted that they die. I call this the “death spiral’, and it can take many years of suffering until death ends it. I was on that spiral, and it nearly killed me.
It has been more than seven years since I have taken any drug, not even an aspirin, and I have never been so healthy, not since I was a child.
While drugs may be necessary at times, they should be avoided whenever possible.
Erin says
Let’s see…the latest that has me floored is the anti-depressant for when all the other anti-depressants don’t work. (I say this from the perspective of a spouse of someone successfully treated for depression, so I am not saying it doesn’t exist.) When you listen to the list of possible side effects, you are absolutely stunned: As long as the third-eye in your forehead and the inability to use your limbs don’t bother you, you might like this drug.