| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| shawnsmith |
Posted - 04/05/2013 : 13:52:03
http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=224&template=PDGCommTemplates/HTN/Item_Preview.html
Big Bucks, Big Pharma
Marketing Disease & Pushing Drugs
Big Bucks, Big Pharma pulls back the curtain on the multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical industry to expose the insidious ways that illness is used, manipulated, and in some instances created, for capital gain. Focusing on the industry's marketing practices, media scholars and health professionals help viewers understand the ways in which direct-to-consumer (DTC) pharmaceutical advertising glamorizes and normalizes the use of prescription medication, and works in tandem with promotion to doctors. Combined, these industry practices shape how both patients and doctors understand and relate to disease and treatment. Ultimately, Big Bucks, Big Pharma challenges us to ask important questions about the consequences of relying on a for-profit industry for our health and well-being.
Featuring interviews with Dr. Marcia Angell (Dept. of Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Former Editor New England Journal of Medicine), Dr. Bob Goodman (Columbia University Medical Center; Founder, No Free Lunch), Gene Carbona (Former Pharmaceutical Industry Insider and Current Executive Director of Sales, The Medical Letter), Katharine Greider (Journalist; Author,The Big Fix: How the Pharmaceutical Industry Rips Off American Consumers), Dr. Elizabeth Preston (Dept. of Communication, Westfield State College), and Dr. Larry Sasich (Public Citizen Health Research Group).
Sections: Introduction | Branding Drugs | Swimming in Pills | Disease Mongering | No Free Lunch | A Healthier Prescription
Filmmaker Info
Producer: Ronit Ridberg
Editor: Ronit Ridberg
Writers: Ronit Ridberg, Loretta Alper, Jeremy Earp, Sut Jhally
Executive Producer: Sut Jhally
Associate Producers: Loretta Alper, Jeremy Earp
Narrator: Amy Goodman
Camera: David Rabinovitz
Motion Graphics: David Eells
Audio Engineer: Zeke Fiddler
Original Music: Andrew Killoy, Peter Brandoli
Media Research Coordinator: Andrew Killoy
Additional Footage Graciously Provided by: Monica Mehta, Sarah Daggett, Cindy Scheibe/CRETV
Location Audio: Jeremy Smith, David Rabinovitz
Graphic Design (Print): Shannon McKenna
DVD Author: Ronit Ridberg
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“Living up to an image that you have of yourself or that
other people have of you is inauthentic living – another unconscious role the ego plays.” -- Ekhart Tolle |
| 12 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| chickenbone |
Posted - 04/06/2013 : 20:00:50
I agree pspa123. When I asked my husband about statins, he said, "There are major risks and side effects and the benefits are unclear". |
| pspa123 |
Posted - 04/06/2013 : 07:07:14
I recently confronted my friend who is a world recognized cardiologist and statin proponent and asked him if I were only going to do one of exercise or take a statin which would he recommend. After much fighting the question he admitted he would choose exercise. At the same occasion another doctor friend was there and my question provoked a vigorous debate between them about whether statins lead to diabetes. My bottom line is that if you mess with a fundamental metabolic pathway you could be asking for trouble. Maybe I am out of my depth here but there are many doctors who dont like statins. |
| Peregrinus |
Posted - 04/06/2013 : 05:49:59
PSPA123:
You convinced me!
There seems to be a realization here that inflamation precedes coronary heart disease. As far as I know consumption of fats does not increase inflamation and in fact decreases it due to the reduction of carbohydrate consumption.
I will also point out the all this nonsense about omega fatty acids started after a Danish study showed that its citizens in Greenland have a diet consisting of about 90% fat and have zero heart disease. The evidence of the benefits of omega fatty acids is speculative and does not account for dietary substitution. People who eat a lot of fish don't consume large quantities of carbohydrates. |
| chickenbone |
Posted - 04/05/2013 : 21:50:08
You people are right to avoid statins. As I understand, we now know that both inflammation and calcium ending up in the wrong places in the body are more causal in CVD than cholesterol.
One time a doctor wanted to put me on beta blockers for my problems with tachycardia. It turned out that it was caused by my parathyroid tumor which I had removed. I couldn't help but noticing that his drug rep was in his right before me, so the rep was probably pushing beta blockers. It is really sad when the doctors are being trained by their drug reps.
My husband is a (was, retired) doctor and doesn't think much of the medical profession or big pharma. He used to regularly throw out the drug reps.
The new fad in this profession is making up diseases so they can treat them and sell more drugs. Three that are totally made up are Fibromyalgia, Osteoporosis and Osteopenia. You can't believe what the osteo drugs are doing to people and they don't even help much. People today need to check everything their doctor tells them because you simply can't trust their information.
I know a woman whose bones were on the thin side, but not too bad. Her doctor talked her into getting an infusion of a drug called "Reclast". She is still alive, but just barely, her life has been ruined. Her doctor never told her any of the risks and side effects because his drug rep didn't bother to tell him. She has had something like 50 surgeries to try to undo some of the damage done to her body, like bone spurs in her lungs.
I know so many real horror stories. |
| pspa123 |
Posted - 04/05/2013 : 19:05:51
PS While stress reduction and exercise and avoiding bad fats and sugar are undoubtedly the best ways to minimize cardiovascular risk, I take a few supplements which based on my reading seem like a good idea -- Vitamins C and D, curcumin, and omega 3s. |
| pspa123 |
Posted - 04/05/2013 : 19:01:57
I had a lot of time on my hands that week, given that I took some time off from work, and spent much of it studying as I was already quite skeptical of drugs from my experiences with psych drugs. I concluded (1) that inflammation not cholesterol was likely the culprit in cardiovascular disease, (2) that there were lots of natural, low side effect ways to combat inflammation, (3) that statins work by disrupting a fundamental metabolic pathway in the liver where not only cholesterol is synthesized but also coenzyme Q10 and a variety of other compounds, (4) that it seemed a bad idea and (sorry to get religious) maybe even contrary to God's design to disrupt a fundamental metabolic pathway, (5) that there was a really substantial body of people including mainstream doctors who questioned the party line on statins, and disputed the methodology and conclusions of the big studies (all pharma sponsored of course) and (6) given that I knew I had to exercise I had no interest in taking something with pretty likely muscle side effects. I also was fortunate enough to speak with a really knowledgeable doctor/researcher who questioned the party line, Dr. Beatrice Golumb, and to interface with some very smart folks on one of the internet forums. I already had the party line from a close friend who is a major pro-statin figure, and while I respect him a great deal, I can see his bias. Taking everything into account, notwithstanding my fear of my situation, I decided to just say no. There may have been other factors as well but that's what I remember of the process I went through. |
| Peregrinus |
Posted - 04/05/2013 : 18:37:23
PSPA123:
I've been struggling with my cardiologist’s insistence that I take a statin for the last eight years. So far I've used five of them and switched because of side effects (pain in joints). Currently I’m taking one every other day (it’s the deal I negotiated with the doctor). My cholesterol numbers are OK but they do improve while I’m taking those pills. My triglycerides and HDL are very low all the time (they went down after going on a low carbohydrate diet) and anyway from what I understand cholesterol levels are about as good an indication of cardiac risk as is the day of the week on which you were born. Given you are one of the best informed participants on this forum, my question for you is why did you stop taking statins? |
| pspa123 |
Posted - 04/05/2013 : 17:29:03
Four plus years ago I had a rather serious cardiac event and was told I needed to take a statin for the rest of my life. After going home and reading about them, I quit after one week. My cholesterol is normal, my BP is normal, the damage that showed up on my echocardiogram has reversed itself. Why? Exercise. I would bet my last nickel that in a controlled trial of exercise versus statins, exercise would win big. And exercise and diet would win twice as big. |
| gigalos |
Posted - 04/05/2013 : 17:17:05
I totally agree. It is a sick system. In my country the influence of the pharma-giants is somewhat limited by government intervention because of some recent scandals, but I have no doubts about how big pharma is still having a firm and unhealthy grasp on healthcare.
I have more than enough examples like the one by Eric, it makes me very very wary.
The upside is that it gives me even more satisfaction when I spread the word about TMS.
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| shawnsmith |
Posted - 04/05/2013 : 14:14:06
See also this discussion of the impact of wireless technology on human health: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8jjTAgUP7Q
You don't have to agree with everything he says to benefit from his words.
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“Living up to an image that you have of yourself or that
other people have of you is inauthentic living – another unconscious role the ego plays.” -- Ekhart Tolle |
| eric watson |
Posted - 04/05/2013 : 14:13:34
Shawn im glad you brought this up, its true...
I have aunts and uncles taking a pill to keep em
from getting sick to the pill they were prescribed.
im not saying diabetic patients or heart patients
don't need medicine and even though im not saying
that I had a friend that took Plavix
and I think Plavix is ok - ok -not sure if
its been pulled yet and come to find out
he didn't need any of the 14 medications
they had him on.
he was about dead when I saw him three years ago
and on oxygen.
now he got into some trouble somehow
and had to go to the big house and
I guess you know in there they will
give you only what they think you need to live.
to make a long story short when he arrived
home a year later he looked 15 yrs. younger
and wasn't taking 1 pill at all.
it took some trouble and being locked up
but now he has his health back without drugs
and what's more precious than our health- wow |
| pspa123 |
Posted - 04/05/2013 : 14:02:19
Marcia Angell's articles on antidepressants in the New York Review of Books should be mandatory reading. She is wonderful. |
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