Money over Health

I couldn't help but comment on an article in today's USA Today "Next frontier in heart disease: Undoing it." In the article, USA Today accurately portrays the perspective of the major pharmaceutical companies' spin doctors (aka public relations people). Having been one myself, it's fairly easy to spot. But what makes this article outrageous is that there is already scientific proof on reversing heart disease. It's been done, it's been repeated and there are people out there who can testify to it. Just read Dr. Dean Ornish's book, the McDougall plan, and T. Collin Campbell's latest The China Study. We have found a way to reverse heart disease people, it's not a new frontier.

Of course the USA TODAY article doesn't mention any of these discoveries. And why is that? That's right, they are achieved through diet. After all, how much money are you going to make off of people by telling them to do things like eat whole grains, don't eat fat and don't eat processed foods. And *gasp* go vegan or at least vegetarian. Not nearly as much as Pfizer, Bruin Pharmaceuticals, or any drug company stands to make off a magic pill that would allow you to continue all of your bad health habits without having to worry. Much like the recent proliferation of hang-over cures like Chaser that supposedly will let you drink all you want and not get a hang-over. Of course they don't work. If you drink too much bad stuff you will get sick, if you eat too much bad stuff you will get sick. Simple rules that we're spending millions of dollars to find "cures" for that will allow us to continue our bad habits without suffering the consequences. But why isn't that message being reinforced by our society and our government health organizations? Simple - Money. Yes, that's right, money.

"The next frontier" also is probably the richest potential market in medicine. Seventy million people in the USA alone have heart disease. Heart disease is the nation's leading killer; it accounts for 900,000 heart attacks and strokes each year, the American Heart Association says.

Drugs that lower cholesterol and other blood fats are the world's biggest sellers, with nearly $27 billion in sales in 2004, up 12% from the year before, according to the firm IMS Health, which tracks the drug industry. Lipitor leads the pack; it had sales of more than $10 billion and growth of 14% in 2004.

That would be a lot of money for the pharmaceutical industry to lose if people started getting better, wouldn't it?

Also of interest is that the reporter from the USA TODAY piece, Steven Sternberg, also wrote a scathing piece about Doctors getting kick-backs from pharmaceutical companies for giving out prescriptions. Check out the 1993 story at Mother Jones. For further info on this subject, I highly recommend Toxic Sludge is Good for You and Trust Us, We're Experts.

posted by Sarai @ 4:57 PM