is big medicine causing death and disease?

[[in...]]

http://www.whale.to/a/last1.html

 

interesting.

 

infoshar

[[pa...]]

Very interesting article, a very good read!  Thank you for posting this.

 

Pattylu

[[sp...]]

This doesn't pass the sniff test, it sets off so many alarm bells instantly that I don't think it's worth trying to debunk line by line:

 

* references cited include a bunch of stuff from Weston Price, a well known quack who did a bunch of mumbo-jumbo experiments in the 1920s which were systematically disproven by the 40s at latest

 

* Completely overlooks that antibiotics enable people to frequently survive illnesses which would otherwise be fatal, and I think that's pretty indisputable as it's been the conclusion of literally thousands of different studies. Antibiotics have serious side effects not the least of which include antibiotic resistant pathogens, but the meat industry is a much bigger offender than hospitals will ever be (80% of antibiotics used in the US are used in livestock).

 

* makes numerous extremely controversial claims which have likewise been disproven, and cites among others Tullio Simoncini who is a dangerous quack who has probably killed a lot of people indirectly (http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/complementaryandalternativemedicine/herbsvitaminsandminerals/sodium-bicarbonate)

 

* completely ignores that the basic driving force behind natural cures is always the same as pharmaceuticals: money. Glosses over this and uses linguistic tricks to dance around it.

 

* hosted on a site (http://www.whale.to/) which hosts numerous other common conspiracy theories which range from 'easily disprovable' to 'lunatic fringe' (HIV does not cause AIDs, vaccination causes autism, 911 was sponsored by the US Gov't, chemtrails, etc)

 

That said, of the 4 conclusions the article reaches, the first two are pretty much no-duh common sense that I agree with:

1.  Phase out public assistance for pharmaceutical companies and their research, and require research to show that a drug is safe with long-term use in combination with other common drugs and chemicals and with old or fragile patients, or alternatively that it is superior in the long-term to available natural treatments

 

2.  Make it illegal for pharmaceutical companies to fund medical education or provide drug information, marketing or incentives directly to the public or to medical practitioners, or to employ former health officials. Information to medical practitioners should be provided by an independent and impartial body

 

But, the enemy of my enemy is not my friend. There are plenty of people who make these same basic points without resorting to tinfoil-hat lunacy.

[Guest [Ob...]]

Big pharma certainly is.  Caught red handed in SO many lies.  So the answer is "Yes".

[[Di...]]

I really get annoyed by these "conspiracy theorists" who try to convince everyone that modern medicine is so evil. These people would not be enjoying the level of health and longevity that they currently enjoy without it.

 

There is this constant argument that they use like “One hundred years ago the rate of cancer was very low” etc. Really? Care to prove it? People generally died much younger back then and from a lot of unknown or misreported causes. How many people actually died from cancer, but the doctors of the day just didn’t recognise it? People commonly died from “Consumption” 100 years ago. How many people die from Tuberculosis now?

 

Do they really want to go back to the time where we died from now easily treated and prevented things like influenza, measles, small pox, or any number of once potentially fatal diseases that could have killed us in our infancy or at any time during our lives?

 

Big Pharma may have its problems, and certainly there is a shake up needed, however where would we be without it? The “alternative therapy” fraternity has no justification to be arrogant about anything, because they are in need of a very big shake up themselves. There are an awful lot of charlatans involved in that industry who are only interested in selling as many supplements as possible, often without any testing and whether you need them or not, and no one seems interested in stopping them. 

 

If people are so against modern medicine then go and live in a cave somewhere and don't bother the rest of us.

 

[[...]]

Walter Last must be an expert on everything. He's curing cancer in this article.

http://www.health-science-spirit.com/cancerdirection.htm

I would consider him joke material.

[[in...]]

Big Pharma certainly is to blame for countless and unnecessary death and suffering due to drug side effects and interactions and "hospital mistakes." They're even proud to put in their god forsaken tv and magazine ads! And we're the experimental rats.

The numbers are frightening.

 

True medicine that has helped some terrible disease like TB is fantastic. But dismissing  the good, true, worthy alternative or natural methods is arrogant. Natural therapies, buyer beware, and supplements don't kill people and often help in a safe manner. "Health" for profit in this country is disgusting to me. It's simply a disease management for profit system.

Natural therapies certainly are looking for a profit too, but one can choose and not be in fear of dyeing or damaging oneself, unless it's something that's really out there. It's amazing to see Dr. Oz, and even The Doctors shows heavily talking about natural remedies.

 

infoshar.

[[in...]]

 

Great news. Big Pharma killing and maiming more people with no culpibility, as usual. Vomit. This affects alllll of us. Generic immunity free for all. "Death Drug Throwaways" for you and me. Lovely. Line up for death. And we just sit back and let it happen. Scotus, what a joke.

 

infoshar.

[[Di...]]

I'm not against natural therapies at all. In fact I am a big fan of certain things. However, it is this blanket "conventional medicine bad/natural good" which these conspirators use that really irritates me.  Just because something is grown/found in nature doesn't mean it is natural for us to ingest. Many poisons come from nature, and there is not nearly enough control over the alternative therapy industry. Then just how “natural” are these supplements anyway after the ingredients have been fiddled with, with added fillers, colours, etc? They are about as “natural” as my hair colour.

 

Do you honestly think that "health for profit" isn't also a problem in the alternative therapy industry? All the same criticisms that get levelled at conventional medicine can quite easily be levelled at that industry too, except it has far less control than conventional medicine.

 

I'm a living example of how bad the naturopathic industry can be. I would never have gotten hooked on valium if it hadn't been because of it. So while it's conventional medicine that supplied me with the drug, I would never have needed it if I had followed conventional medicine to treat my initial problem. 1½ years later and that initial problem has been sorted, but I’m still paying for the stupid mistake I made of going to a naturopath. So there is no way I will ever put any trust in that industry ever again.

 

[[in...]]

I have had nothing but horror from the allopathic industry my whole life. For the misery you suffered from poor naturopathic treatment is

multiplied many times on a daily basis in western medicine.

In every post, I've said natuorpathy is also looking to profit. But generally speaking, it is much much safer. Hormones are a whole seperrate ballgame and are very tricky.

 

peace

infoshar.

[[Di...]]

Ahh, but see they claim they can fix everything. You're saying it's a separate ballgame, so who's right? You have made a statement based on your own personal experiences, just as I have made a statement based on my own personal experiences. Neither of us prove anything either way.

 

However, I guess we'll just have to ignore the millions of people who owe their lives to conventional medicine. I think they would disagree with you. If alternative therapies were so good, and so safe and well proven, more people would be using them.

[[in...]]

I think we're kinda on the same page.. More and more people are using alternative treatments. I see more lyme people getting some control of symptoms and some actually recovering from long term lyme with alternative methods, not western medicine. Just my observation and experience.

 

Again, I consistently agreed with you on almost each post that some conventional medicine has helped some people in certain, often extreme disease states. And that's great. But there's been a lot of damage from drugs also, that I think outweighs those other benefits.

Oh well, to each his(or her) own.

 

infoshar.

[[Di...]]

But there's been a lot of damage from drugs also, that I think outweighs those other benefits.

Oh well, to each his(or her) own.

 

infoshar.

 

Outweighs the "benefit" of millions of saved lives?   I doubt we are on the same page somehow......

[[in...]]

that's probably a good thing.

 

infoshar.

 

[[Di...]]

That's one thing we can agree on......

[[ec...]]

Money is the root of all evil,and the medical community is no exception.