Jan
21
In 1997, the drug manufacturing industry bought their way into your home. They lobbied, paid (and who knows what else) the government to change the laws regarding prescription advertising directly to consumers. With the rule changed, the onslaught of drug ads on TV began. It has become an unbelievably expensive venture for the drug companies and for the health of Americans. Drug manufacturers spend an estimated $15 million dollars per day on direct to consumer advertising.
This type of advertising has lead to people deciding that they need a drug based on the commercial and going into their doctor demanding a certain type of pill. Unfortunately, it is estimated that about 50% of the time a patient demands a pill they will get it – even if the doctor would not have taken the same action on their own (scary!). This has obvious negative effects on the lives of millions. Prescription drug side effects are now the third leading cause of preventable death in this country, now add in the growing trend of Joe Average at home deciding what pill should he should have actually getting it.
Medical doctors are fed up with the situation because they get blamed for much of the problem when they are really in a no win situation. The American Medical Association recently held hearings with the Food and Drug Administration to try and stop the problem. Dr. Angelo Agro, of the American Medical Association, has proposed a ban on direct to consumer ads (like the ones you see on TV) and summed up his case in a hearing with the FDA with this quote, “The public is not being given the whole truth. By its very nature, advertising is biased. We are not against information being brought to the patient, but we have a problem when it’s biased, limited and brought about by multi-million dollar organizations that have a profit motive only.” Well said!
Adolf Hitler once said, “If you lie long enough, loud enough, and with conviction, people will call it truth.” I think$2.5 Billion dollars annually in television advertising gives the drug companies the ability to lie very loudly, and they have been doing it for a long time. People are taking the drug companies’ message as truth. And the result has caused more injury and death than even Hitler could have imagined.
Please don’t let these giants of legal drug pushing win. The entire health field is against direct to consumer advertising, and you should be too. Don’t read the ads, don’t watch them on TV and don’t believe a word that you hear from an advertising campaign that is only designed to make money, not help your health. All drugs are risky and dangerous, if you must take drugs let your medical doctor decide what to do, not an advertising executive!
The best approach, of course, is to stay away from prescription medication at all cost. You can do that by working on your health over your lifetime, by promoting normal body function and keeping your nerve system free of interference. Lifetime chiropractic care works to maximize normal body function and keep the nerve system functioning 100%.
source: By Dr. Chris Thornell
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Thanks for sharing this Doc! If the vast majority of healthcare providers say stop doing it it probably should be stopped. I couldn’t agree more with this post. Keep up the blogging!