BIG PHARMA SCANDALS

Not everything you see in the Pharma industry is bad or evil. It has helped in eliminating in many diseases which were created by us. Long before the Pharma industry existed, although there were bubonic plague, small pox, measles, hepatitis, polio etc, the complex diseases we see today weren't as common back then. The wheat they grew were free from chemical fertilizers that suppress the nutrition like the ones we have today. One of the great examples I can tell you is how the artificial fertilizers kill off the bacteria that prevent the shikimate pathway process.

Anyways, we have to be aware of the scandals that take place in the pharmaceutical industry. Of course we have to look at the good sides but it’s important to know the black eyes that goes for our betterment. Following are the popular scandals that has taken place through the history of pharmaceutical industry. 

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• Probably the greatest embarrassments in the industry concern extreme cost expansions in drugs—of which Shkreli has filled in as the poster boy. The former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, raised the price of an old drug to $750 from $13.50 which is a 5000 % increase. For quite a long time, Daraprim has been the go-to medication for treating toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection particularly perilous for individuals with vulnerable immunity—individuals living with HIV and patients who've gone through organ transplants. And this account isn’t just over here but another drug named “albendazole”, which is an old drug that treats tapeworm infection by taking two pills for a month. Shkrelli has hiked the price per tablet to $300 when the same one can be found at $19 for a packet of 10 pills in Mexico. 

• Big Pharma funds the government millions and millions of dollars. As a matter of fact, in 2008 US elections, Obama was given $1.2 million by the Big Pharma. Consequently, the Big Pharma was given huge limitless tax breaks, small fines for violating the laws of Off-Label promotion etc. Under Trump, the Big Pharma got $28 Billion in breaks. One of the biggest fines in the Big Pharma was when Pfizer got a $2.3 billion for illegally mis-marketing many of their drugs. But that same year the company made $43 billion in gross profit despite such a huge fine. And guess what? That same year, the company was guilty for causing the death of 5 Nigerian Guinea pig children in one of their drug trial run. 

• According to one of the magazines in US, between 2001 and 2010, half of the blood researchers who worked for the FDA quit their job and joined Big Pharma; as FDA doesn’t offer the salary as much as the Big Pharma does. As a result, FDA isn’t able to stop approving specific drugs due to the pressure from the Big Pharma players which gives an ironic statement as “the organization that is supposed to manage the Big Pharma drugs is now being managed by the Big Pharma. 

The formula is simple: Kill people and make money. How come US, who just contributes to just 5% of the world’s population has 80% in Opioid consumption? Although the prescription drugs are very dangerous, people yet still consume it. And why is it? On an average, the pharmaceutical industry spends around $30 billion to $60 billion in advertising. They’re always the bigger fish compared to the organizations that regulate the advertisements with a budget of $9 million. So it’s easy to know that why we have all fell into the trap. 

The first step to come out of the trap is to realize that you’ve been trapped; and then changing your lifestyle according to your choices. I, as a blogger can you tell you only facts and information that may help you in getting your mindset right but the rest of the work is up to you. So, without waiting, it’s our responsibility to choose the right track for our own health. And with that said, I wish you a good health. 

With love 

Fehmi

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