Are Drug Companies Destroying The U.S. Health Care System?

The U.S. government's annual bill for healthcare spending ? $3,925 per person ? significantly exceeds that of all other nations. Despite this, our current health care system is increasingly failing both patients and medical practitioners. Of 13 nations, the U.S. is last for neonatal and infant mortality, last for years of potential life lost, 10th for age-adjusted mortality, 11th and 12th for female and male life expectancy respectively. Chronic degenerative diseases ? heart disease, cancer, arthritis, obesity, etc. ? are at epidemic levels and create the ideal long-term customers to grow the medical industry.

Looking for a culprit? Consider that pharmaceutical company profits are so large they outstrip every other American industry by far. Americans spend over $500 billion on drugs. The drug companies claim that they need large earnings ($124,835,595,000 in 1999, for example) to conduct their research, but just one of every five dollars the drug industry collects actually goes to drug research. Some drug companies spend twice as much annually for marketing and advertising. From the years 1996 to 2001, pharmaceutical companies spent $3 billion on consumer advertising. Many of the advertised pharmaceuticals are not (contrary to popular belief) FDA-approved, and the information contained in the advertisements is often misleading and not entirely accurate. Now there is even a new wave of drugs being marketed to alleviate the side effects of other drugs being marketed (e.g. NexiumTM to relieve digestive problems created by pain killers).

Pharmaceutical companies have enormous influence on physicians through the billions of dollars of marketing resources. Drug companies in the U.S. spend, on average, $10,000 each year per physician to influence their behavior through subsidizing studies in major journals, aggressive marketing by drug reps (in some instances trained exactly how long to shake a doctor's hand), advertisements and sponsorship of medical education programs for doctors and medical residents. (Such support of education and science subtly brainwashes physicians into thinking symptom-based medicine is sound knowledge and science as well.) Is it any surprise that two thirds of visits to doctors' offices result in a drug being prescribed? Some patients may be on numerous medications prescribed by various specialists while not one of them knows, or could even predict, the health consequences of the interactions. (I recently discovered that my elderly mother, suffering from a variety of ailments, including dementia, was on 17 different medications. Not only did she not know what she was taking or when she did, neither did any of her physicians.) Little wonder pharmaceutical toxicity is one of the major factors contributing to medical care being the leading cause of death in the U.S. (Why Modern Medicine is the Greatest Threat to Health, http://www.wysong.net/health/post_77_061902.shtml)

Aside from profiteering and marketing, the most fundamental flaw in the system is philosophical. Doctors and pharmaceutical companies think about names of diseases and removal of symptoms, not cure or prevention. They chase, but the race is rigged so they never catch.

Enabling such a system to prosper and flourish is a public that also has a flawed philosophy. They want to live life as they choose, carpe diem, thinking only of momentary relief, pleasure and convenience. When something goes wrong with their health they don't want instruction on how to change lifestyle, but rather want to use the power of money (preferably the government's) to buy their way out with a silver drug bullet that immediately takes the problem away. We spend much for dying, little for living.

American health will continue to slip and our economy will continue to be drained by a failing healthcare system until the underlying flawed philosophies are changed. Medicine must change from naming diseases and treating symptoms to prevention and cure. Yes, that means the medical care system should be trying to put itself out of business, not create a growth industry of illness.

On the other hand, people must change by taking the responsibility for controlling their own health destiny. As it stands, the public has become a pawn of commercial medical interests.

Ultimately health is something we do to ourselves, not something others do to us. When that fact is faced, the medical-pharmaceutical complex will shrivel to a cottage industry and the public will be the better for it.

(Br Med J, 2003; 326:416 http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/326/7386/416/b. N Engl J Med, 2002; 346:498-505, 524-531 http://content.nejm.org/content/vol346/issue7/index.shtml.)

Dr. Wysong is a former veterinary clinician and surgeon, college instructor in human anatomy, physiology and the origin of life, inventor of numerous medical, surgical, nutritional, athletic and fitness products and devices, research director for the present company by his name and founder of the philanthropic Wysong Institute. He is author of The Creation-Evolution Controversy now in its eleventh printing, a new two volume set on philosophy for living entitled Thinking Matters: 1-Living Life... As If Thinking Matters; 2-The Big Questions...As If Thinking Matters, several books on nutrition, prevention and health for people and animals and over 15 years of monthly health newsletters. He may be contacted at Wysong@Wysong.net and a free subscription to his e-Health Letter is available at http://www.wysong.net

---

Google News Updated : Sun, 06 Jul 2008 12:55:34 GMT Jesse Helms dies at 86; NC senator opposed equal rights - Detroit Free Press ABC News Jesse Helms dies at 86; NC senator opposed equal rights Detroit Free Press - 5 hours ago Conservative icon Jesse Helms, the former Republican senator from North Carolina, died Friday. He was 86. Helms, who served 30 years in the Senate, died of natural causes in Raleigh, NC, an aide said. Video: A Look Back At Jesse Helms CBS Helms never changed on civil rights opposition The Associated Press Washington Post - Wall Street Journal - Boston Globe - San Jose Mercury News all 2,343 news articles Publ.Date : Sun, 06 Jul 2008 07:14:24 GMT Obama cites faith as key to change - Boston Globe Obama cites faith as key to change Boston Globe - 5 hours ago Barack Obama called "active faith" an obligation of religious Americans and a chief agent of societal change in a speech yesterday at the national meeting of a black church group. For Republicans, the Senate outlook is bad Los Angeles Times Analysis: McCain struggles to regain footing The Associated Press Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Fort Wayne Journal Gazette - Zanesville Times Recorder - Wall Street Journal all 346 news articles Publ.Date : Sun, 06 Jul 2008 06:58:31 GMT Argentine Lower House Passes Grain Export-Tax Plan (Update3) - Bloomberg Voice of America Argentine Lower House Passes Grain Export-Tax Plan (Update3) Bloomberg - 14 hours ago By Eliana Raszewski July 5 (Bloomberg) -- Argentina's lower house of congress approved the government's plan to increase taxes on exports of grains and oilseeds, risking a resumption of three months of strikes by farmers. Export Tax That Angers Farmers Advances in Argentina New York Times Argentina lawmakers approve farm export tax hike guardian.co.uk The Associated Press - BBC News - Reuters - AFP all 149 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 05 Jul 2008 22:41:30 GMT Google trying to take privacy seriously - ZDNet ABC News Google trying to take privacy seriously ZDNet - 13 hours ago This week was a very interesting week as far as Google and privacy goes. First, a burglary (the same on that affected CNET earlier last month) was confirmed to have affected all Google employees hired before December 31, 2005. Court order on YouTube user data fans privacy fears Reuters • YouTube Ordered To Release User Data Washington Post Slashdot - New York Times - Ars Technica - Wall Street Journal all 921 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 05 Jul 2008 23:49:42 GMT Oil Prices Drive Stocks to Bear Market - Washington Post Calgary Herald Oil Prices Drive Stocks to Bear Market Washington Post - 7 hours ago US stocks fell last week, giving the Dow Jones industrial average a 20 percent bear-market drop from October's all-time high as record oil prices threatened global economic growth. Jobless report, long weekend equal small market gains Denver Post Market down, but not panicky Seattle Times Mail Tribune - The Associated Press - BusinessWeek - Bloomberg all 460 news articles Publ.Date : Sun, 06 Jul 2008 05:50:10 GMT Taiwan tour operators sceptical about China boom - AFP WELT ONLINE Taiwan tour operators sceptical about China boom AFP - 6 hours ago TAIPEI (AFP) - The launch of regular direct flights between China and Taiwan has been hailed as a symbol of progress and a boon to tourism, but industry workers here are not all convinced. Mainland visitors warmly welcomed in Taiwan Xinhua A Side Competition in Beijing: Island vs. Mainland New York Times AllAfrica.com - International Herald Tribune - Wall Street Journal - Reuters all 933 news articles Publ.Date : Sun, 06 Jul 2008 06:15:38 GMT Google's new privacy link - CNET News CNET News Google's new privacy link CNET News - 19 hours ago Google's decision, noted Thursday in a corporate blog and a public policy blog, was an attempt to quell a controversy over the posting of its privacy policy. Google Replaces Google With Privacy On Its Home Page eFluxMedia Google Changes Home Page, Adding Link to Privacy Policy New York Times PC World - Los Angeles Times - TechCrunch - Search Engine Land all 46 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:59:20 GMT RSS Software Website Traffic Promotion

PARLOT::Ebooks, Scripts, Websites, and more...

Adsense websites

Army Report Validates Prediction of Vaccine-Induced Epidemic

"The more we do to you, the less you seem... Read More

Another Cold Sore! Why Me?

An estimated 85 million Americans have acquired the herpes simplex... Read More

Rogue Online Pharmacies: The Internet War Of 2005

Online Pharmacy owners who haven't been working within moral and... Read More

22 Inside Tips on How You Can Make Your Arthritis Medicines Work Twice as Effectively in Half the..

This report will give you 22 important tips to make... Read More

Are You Sometimes Confused by Written Medical Instructions?

Now, imagine what it would be like if you were... Read More

FDA Orders Search Engines to Stop Online Pharmacies

How Does Online Pharmacies Affect Pharmacy Leaders?With cheaper drugs made... Read More

Orthotics: Prefab or Custom-Made?

If you take a simple stroll down the foot product... Read More

High Cholesterol Prescription Medications Can Kill You

The World Health Organization declares that heart disease is the... Read More

Medication Compliance Kit ... A Life Saver

Pill Proof LLC introduces the first, easy to use medication... Read More

Thimerosal: Autism and Mercury Poisoning Side Effects?

Thimerosal is a preservative that is added to vaccines (has... Read More

Rezulin Liver Failure Causes FDA to Recall Drug

Rezulin, a prescription type 2 diabetes drug has been withdrawn... Read More

7 Tips to Immediately Reduce Rotator Cuff Pain

1. Support the affected arm during activities of daily living.... Read More

Aleve, Vioxx, Celebrex, and Bextra: What You Need To Know About Arthritis Pain Medications

Recent controversy about the safety of pain medications for arthritis... Read More

Seroquel Side Effects: Effects of Seroquel Worth the Risk?

Seroquel is an atypical antipsychotic drug that is used to... Read More

Drug Abuse In Teens: Online Drug Abuse Identification Help

Teen drug abuse is at an all time high, but... Read More

4 Reasons to Feel Safe Submitting an Electronic Medical Claim

Electronic Medical ClaimFor years, both practices and patients have had... Read More

Bextra, Some Facts To Consider

For those who take Bextra, there are many warnings out... Read More

Generic Drug: Its Pros and Cons

A generic drug can be defined as an identical, or... Read More

Risperdal Side Effects: Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome NMS

Risperdal is an atypical anti-psychotic drug that balances the levels... Read More

Online Pharmacy Watch: DEA Does Spring Cleaning Of Illegal Internet Pharmacies

Since early 2004, it has become more apparent every day... Read More

Acid Reflux ? Symptoms and Treatment

Acid reflux (also known as GERD or heartburn) is a... Read More

Chronic Head, Facial, Or Neck Pain That Won?t Go Away - Could It Be TMJ?

I stumbled across TMJ when I needed treat a literal... Read More

Spin Control: What to Do When Youre Dizzy

Dizzy Dean, the great baseball pitcher of the 1930s-1940s, once... Read More

Food for Thought

Depression is a disorder marked by sadness, low energy, impaired... Read More

The Unique Benefits of Medical Adjustable Beds

With more medical advantages, an adjustable bed finds more functions... Read More