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In Medicine he who ‘controls the purse strings controls the agenda’!

“The medical and scientific establishments have (largely through the fact that they have sold out to the enormously wealthy and powerful international pharmaceutical industry) obtained more or less complete control over politicians and the media.” –Vernon Coleman M.D.1

Who does this physician say really controls “the medical and scientific establishment”? The “… powerful international pharmaceutical industry “

How does Big Pharma exert its control over Medicine?

Some interesting headlines and quotes from articles in the Medical Literature that shows how Medicine ADMITS it has “sold out:” to ‘Big Pharma’-

The headline – “Pharmaceutical advertising revenue and physician organizations: how much is too much?”

The quote - “potential financial conflicts of interest arising from pharmaceutical advertisements in medical journals may be substantial.” 2

The headline – “Editor claims drug companies have a “parasitic” relationship with [Medical] journals”3

The headline – “Commercial bias in medical journals, Commercial influence and the content of medical journals.”

The quote – “How confident should we be in the objectivity of medical journals? Do commercial biases play a part in determining what appears in print? …Articles in medical journals that criticise the drug industry can result in substantial loss of advertising revenue.”4

The headline – “The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It”

The quote - “There is no question in my mind that medical researchers, educators, and clinicians have been corrupted by their close and lucrative ties to industry…”5

The headline - “How tainted by commercial conflicts has medicine become?” Lancet

The quote – “Heavily, and damagingly so.”6

The U.S. has the best Scientists and Governmental Authorities that Money Can Buy!

To show that ‘vested interests’ influence is an ongoing problem and not just something recent, in the book ‘Confessions of a Medical Heretic’ by Robert S. Mendelsohn, M.D. reported:

“In 1972, Dr. Samuel S. Epstein, then of Case-Western Reserve University, one of the world’s authorities on chemical causes of cancer and birth defects, told the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs that “the National Academy of Sciences is riddled with conflict of interest.” He reported that panels that decide on crucial issues such as safety of food additives frequently are dominated by friends or direct associates of the interests that are supposed to be regulated. “In this country you can buy the data you require to support your case,” he said.”7

The FDA is a “partner” of the Pharmaceutical Industry –

In an unusually candid comment for a senior government official Dr. Herbert Ley, former FDA commissioner, remarked: “The thing that bugs me is that the people think the FDA is protecting them. It Isn’t. What the FDA is doing and what the public thinks it’s doing are as different as night and day.”8

That’s because –”Dr SidneyWolfe of Public Citizen told the BMJ that the FDA now views industry [Pharmaceutical], instead of just the public, as its client…”9

How does Big Pharma exert its control over the Media?

The Pharmaceutical Industry co-opts the news media as well because by spending billions of dollars on advertising this gets them a lot of free unpaid advertising as well.

The headline –
“Hype in health reporting: “checkbook science” buys distortion of medical news.”

The quote – “…Much of the media coverage of health news stories is based on public relations efforts on behalf of the companies that sell the products, including pharmaceutical companies, diet clinics, or doctors selling new techniques…All involve subtle strategies whereby physicians and other experts paid by corporate interests are influential because they are perceived to be objective medical experts.”10

The headline – “The Commercialisation of Medical and Scientific Reporting”11

Key points –

• Commercial influences creates unrealistic success for medical research
• Commercial interests subtly use the media as their representatives
• “medical news is actually unpaid advertising.”
•Commercial interests use perceived independent university representatives for their authoritative and trusted voice as part of their marketing agenda.

Surely Charities Aren’t Influenced By ‘Dirty Money’ As Well?

“Corporate Money Co-Opts Nonprofit Groups - Critics Silenced & Friends Won Through Corporate Donations” - from Center for Science in the Public Interest.12

Corporate Money Co-Opts Nonprofit Groups “Corporate financial support of many of the country’s most prominent health-related nonprofit organizations threatens the independence and credibility of such groups… More than 170 disease-related charities, health-professional societies, and university-based institutes enjoy the largesse of food, agribusiness, chemical, pharmaceutical, and other corporate interests, but that generosity may exact too high a price on an important sector of American life, charged the report.”

They are in fact another part of the advertising and promotion of ‘Big Pharma’, that’s why they are not interested in cures.

Let’s see Medicine and Scientific Researchers, Governmental Authorities, the Media, Charities and Big Pharma are all really interested in money. Where does that leave poor little sick you, with a chronic illness looking for help. Very low on the ‘Totem Pole’ I’d say.

Summing up is an appropriate quote from former U.S. Senator Everett Dirksen, “A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon it adds up to real money.” “Real money” buys ‘Big Pharma’ what it wants, control and shareholder value and who cares about curing patients.

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About the Author

Dennis Cutforth is a researcher and writer with over 35 years experience in health-care sales, marketing and research in pharmaceuticals and natural health. Dennis will cut through all the propaganda and give you the real facts about what really works to make you healthier and happier. Visit his website Get A Better Life Today.

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1. Dr. Vernon Coleman
2. Glassman PA, Hunter-Hayes J, Nakamura T. West J Med 1999;171: 234-8
3. Eaton L, BMJ 2005;330:9 (1 January),
4. Lexchin J, BMJ 2006;332:1444-1447 (17 June),
5. Marcia Angell M.D. The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It
6. Just How Tainted Has Medicine Become? (Editorial). Lancet, Apr. 6, 2002;359:1167.
7. Confessions of a Medical Heretic by Robert S. Mendelsohn, M.D.
8. Minnesota Wellness Publications, Inc.
9. Jeanne Lenzer, FDA’s counsel accused of being too close to drug industry. BMJ 2004;329;189-doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7459.189
10. International Journal of Health Services Issue: Volume 33, Number 2 / 2003 Pages: 383 - 389
11. Caulfield T (2004) The Commercialisation of Medical and Scientific Reporting. PLoS Med 1(3): e38
12. Center for Science in the Public Interest