Disease Mongering by Drug Companies

Having spent a considerable chunk of my working life with a multinational drug company, I'm not one to usually bag them, but the following item on the ABC's "World Today" programme caught my attention.

A Professor of Medicine was commenting on the insidious practice of drug companies surreptitiously planting material on "new diseases" in the general news media. These are ordinary human characteristics which they characterise as disorders which can be treated with a drug.

It appears a medical team, somewhat peeved by this practice, enlisted the co-operation of the prestigious British Medical Journal to plant a story which actually went to print on April Fool's Day.

They listed their research credentials etc and described a new disorder called "Motivational Deficiency Disorder" and said the symptoms were "an overwhelming and disabling deficiency of motivation" and happily reported that they had a new drug to counteract this dreaded scourge.

What they were describing was simply apathy.

The quoted a website where details of the new treatment could be found and by the next day it had received 15,000 hits!!!

This is even more worrying if you consider that the readers of the BMJ would usually be considered to be a little more discerning than the readers of New Idea or the Women's Weekly. It didn't appear to occur to anyone that it had anything to do with it being 1st April.

Whilst this is an amusing story, it nonetheless illustrates our increasing tendency to "pathologise" every human frailty. We shouldn't expect to tolerate or work through anxiety - much better to take a pill to just mask it:
likewise depression - there are of course cases of severe clinical depression which do need pharmacological treatment, but often it is a perfectly normal response to a sad or difficult situation. I am increasingly disturbed at the number of really young children taking antidepressants, sometimes in conjunction with medication for ADHD .

Also the whole phenomenon of depression can become a self fulfilling prophecy - we are constantly being told how stressed we are, how happiness is beyond our reach, and if we so much as trip over a rough piece of footpath we are offered counselling.

Imo there was quite a deal to be said for the old fashioned notion that :swear: happens: accept it and get over it.

Julia

Julia said:

Also the whole phenomenon of depression can become a self fulfilling prophecy - we are constantly being told how stressed we are, how happiness is beyond our reach, and if we so much as trip over a rough piece of footpath we are offered counselling.

Imo there was quite a deal to be said for the old fashioned notion that :swear: happens: accept it and get over it.

Julia

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Hi Julia
Weird that you should raise this now because just 30 minutes ago I heard on the radio that a medical specialist was querying the role of drug companies in increasing the 'fear' of depression, leading to people asking their doctors for drug treatment.....$$$$$$

I agree, we try to have a magic bullet for everything that bothers or pains us! And yes, :swear: happens: and that is life, really!

Julia said:

we are constantly being told how stressed we are, how happiness is beyond our reach
Julia

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Gunna be harsh here but I don't care- 95% of the population are lazy @^%$'s who don't want to take responsibility for their own lives. They believe what they are told by the media because it's an excuse to be lazy.

Nothing is anyone's fault now- stressed? overweight? it's not because your lazy, it's because you work too hard and are too stressed out by this crazy 'go go go' modern world. take this pill.
kids a nightmare? it's not because your a bad parent, it's because the kid has ADHD. take this pill.
Want to quit smoking? Don't just give up, take this pill.
Getting sick from taking too many pills? It's not your fault. take another pill and it will all be better.
The drug companies couldn't take advantage of the situation if people took full responsibility for their own lives. Granted there are some examples of people who have problems, but they'd be the minority. The majority of people targeted by drug companies in this way are the lazy, highly suggestable type

..... good post, Frinkle .....

have a great day

yogi

professor_frink said:

Gunna be harsh here but I don't care- 95% of the population are lazy @^%$'s who don't want to take responsibility for their own lives. They believe what they are told by the media because it's an excuse to be lazy.

Nothing is anyone's fault now- stressed? overweight? it's not because your lazy, it's because you work too hard and are too stressed out by this crazy 'go go go' modern world. take this pill.
kids a nightmare? it's not because your a bad parent, it's because the kid has ADHD. take this pill.
Want to quit smoking? Don't just give up, take this pill.
Getting sick from taking too many pills? It's not your fault. take another pill and it will all be better.
The drug companies couldn't take advantage of the situation if people took full responsibility for their own lives. Granted there are some examples of people who have problems, but they'd be the minority. The majority of people targeted by drug companies in this way are the lazy, highly suggestable type

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Frinky

That is so well put.
And when the pill has failed to persuade you to give up smoking, then just sue the cigarette companies because, hell, it just couldn't be your fault that you are dying, could it.

Julia

Julia good post,
apparently thats how menopause syndrome found its cure,apparently the pill was for something else it didnt work,so than they had to find a problem that suited the pill,and they did,

Apparently women who are not exposed to the same overwhelming information about menopause actually treat it as part of life ,and carry on.

i've thought long and hard about the evils of the media...
shows like today tonight, ACA, etc, drive me nuts...

one of my mates is studying his MBA in Havard at the moment.... guess what they spend most of their time discussing (besides networking)... its how to get on TV so you can make your first million!!!

what a joke...i have often thought of inventing absolutely nothing and then getting it on TV, i am sure i will make millions...

whose fault is it... i don't know...

but in it end, we can't blame TV...each one should take responsibility for themselves....!!!

Julia said:

Frinky

That is so well put.
And when the pill has failed to persuade you to give up smoking, then just sue the cigarette companies because, hell, it just couldn't be your fault that you are dying, could it.

Julia

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hell no! it's never my fault.
I'd like to apologise to anyone who has a child with adhd on this forum- some are legitimate cases. Was a bit angry this arvo- I've had my happy pills and have calmed down :nuts:
completely off topic- forgot to get my girlfriend from work this arvo- I'm in trouble!! left her waiting with no change for a payphone and her mobile is outta batteries. she was waiting for 3/4 hour.
stupid forgetfulness
when are they going to make a pill to fix that problem????
she's gunna whip me senseless tonight
:whip

but then again, maybe we can...

there are alot of clever marketting people out there, and a lot of dumb humans out there just waiting to be fleeced, and via the medium of TV, they are put in contact with each other....

Rafa said:

but then again, maybe we can...

there are alot of clever marketting people out there, and a lot of dumb humans out there just waiting to be fleeced, and via the medium of TV, they are put in contact with each other....

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ha! love it!

visual said:

Julia good post,
apparently thats how menopause syndrome found its cure,apparently the pill was for something else it didnt work,so than they had to find a problem that suited the pill,and they did,

Apparently women who are not exposed to the same overwhelming information about menopause actually treat it as part of life ,and carry on.

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groan.....you wait, just you wait and you will be glad they discovered HRT, particularly if surgically induced....... :evilburn:

professor_frink said:

completely off topic- forgot to get my girlfriend from work this arvo- I'm in trouble!! left her waiting with no change for a payphone and her mobile is outta batteries. she was waiting for 3/4 hour.
stupid forgetfulness
when are they going to make a pill to fix that problem????

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I could argue that mobile phones themselves are a brilliant exercise in mass marketing. Somehow we all survived perfectly well without them not that long ago but now we're at the ridiculous stage of many people carrying not one but two during the day - company phone and personal phone. That said, a couple of people where I work have found that carrying two is a bit much, so now I just call them on the private phone and they make outgoing calls only on the company phone. Makes for a nice long list of numbers on the wall... :

On a serious note, I'm anything but convinced about the health safety of mobiles. It's pretty well established that one thing you NEVER do with any kind of transmission antenna is be next to it when it's operating. It's no secret in the electronics business about what happens to those exposed to high doeses of RF radiation (cancer). Whilst the power output of a mobile phone isn't that high, the antenna is literally a few milimetres from the body, right next to the brain which seems to be the worst possible place for it to be in terms of potential consequences. The effects of constantly carrying the thing against the same part of the body is also questionable. That doesn't mean I refuse to use a mobile phone but I don't make silly "I'm on the train... the train is moving... we're at station x now... we'll move again in a minute... I'll be home in 20 minutes..." type calls. Can't see the point of making a phone call to state the obvious anyway. As for the health risk, SOMETHING must be responsible for the rise in brain tumors in recent times. According to the media reports (ABC) the rate of such tumors is up rather sharply.

As for medical drugs, I always work on the principle of wanting to know WHY I am not feeling well rather than simply getting rid of the symptoms. I haven't taken anything stronger than supermarket pain killers for at least the past decade and not many of them either. Personally, I've found that drinking about a litre of water (4 full glasses) in one hit makes most headaches etc go away. I think the body is sending a message there, and it's not about needing more pills. And best of all, in most parts of Australia it's perfectly safe to drink straight from the tap (bottled water is reported to absorbe chemicals from the plastic so is an inferior, and far more expensive, choice. Another successful exercise in marketing).

On drugs in general, a work colleague has repeatedly pointed out that the last thing a drug manufacturer wants is a "cure" for a disease. That means only a one-off sale of the relevant drug. Far better to come up with a "treatment" which requires ongoing use of the drug - far more profitable. I can't fault the argument unfortunately and, judging by the way all sorts of cancer "cures" magically disappear, I'm inclined to believe that's the case in reality. And of course ONE death from alternative medicine is national news but little is said about the effects of conventional drugs.

As for smoking, missus Smurf quit a while ago after several attempts and is rather proud of it. Been there myself quite some time ago too but she definately found it a lot harder to quit than I did. It's a VERY addictive drug so I do have plenty of sympathy for those who don't succeed in quitting. That said, the answer is to have a LOT of support from those around you rather than take drugs etc IMO. If you want to help someone quit then just be prepared for a friend / partner who is a bit like a ticking time bomb that explodes for no apparent reason every now and then and put up with it - it will pass in a few weeks. You just have to make a personal decison that you WANT to quit smoking and decide to actually do it. Forget the drugs etc IMO. Likewise scare tactics, lectures etc don't help a great deal either (missus Smurf - "now I just feel guilty every time I have a cigarette but I light up as often as I did before"). As I said, it's VERY addictive so support and encouragement (definately no negative comments about weight gain etc) is the way to go rather than lecturing if you want to help someone quit. Much the same with people trying to get fit etc. SUPPORT and ENCOURAGE rather than harass them (and no lectures if they fail in their attempt - focus on how to succeed next time) if you want to help and never point out that you found it easy or were always fit, didn't smoke etc. Friends are far more helpful than any drug IMO.

Rafa said:

but then again, maybe we can...

there are alot of clever marketting people out there, and a lot of dumb humans out there just waiting to be fleeced, and via the medium of TV, they are put in contact with each other....

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And that Rafa, is one of my pet peeves! A few years ago ACA and TT produced a segment on this wonder drug called Cellascene, which was supposed to eliminate cellulite (of course I dont have it but this was for a 'friend'. ) The media paraded this drug for a few nights, totally hammered how the research was irrefutable, scientific etc and people were queuing up at health stores and chemists as a result, even though it cost $50 for 1 course. Talk about road rage - we had cellescene rage with people trying to get their hands on it. One health food shop showed me their list of 200+ people waiting for stock!

Course, you know the outcome - a total dud! Then the same TV programs had the damn cheek to say how naive women were :swear: Maybe they were but at the same time they totally manipulated the market - maybe they had shares in the company :dunno:

what a good thread. great to see other people share similar views as mine. well i just thought i might add something:

Where does the nicotine in the patches and gum come from? I' pretty sure the only natural source of nicotine is tobacco so i wonder how much the tobacco companies are involved with nicorette, nicabate and other such companies.

Prospector,
I`m waiting lol
This was a few years ago ,a Professor of something wanted to find out how women without access to medication handled menopause or the effects of that.

She did this research in a south american group of women who live in some isolated village,before too long she had to give up because she kept on asking about the symptons that women who have access to medication suffer and they started to feel that maybe there was something wrong with them because they were not having the same symptons.

In fact these women regarded menopause as the end of one road and the start of another where they could concentrate on being elders of the village with all the honours that go with it.

And thats when she explained that until this pill failed for the disease that it had been made for,eventually it was used to cure menopause symptoms.

Prospector I havent experienced menopause yet,but I really look forward to see if knowing all that actually makes a difference .

visual said:

In fact these women regarded menopause as the end of one road and the start of another where they could concentrate on being elders of the village with all the honours that go with it.

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Ha! Imagine if I told that to some menopausal women here- I'd get my doodie chopped off

Professor Fink,

but the way women feel is directly correlated to how man view them

these women because of lack of artificial beliefs knew that they were useful not only as women but as members of their community,their value wasnt tied to the size if their bra,or their lack of weight but with big boobs anyway!

So menopause for them meant moving on to the next phase of life,in our world it means that we get thrown on the scrap heap,no wonder we get hot flushes.(sorry ladies,sometimes you gotta laugh)

visual said:

Professor Fink,

but the way women feel is directly correlated to how man view them

these women because of lack of artificial beliefs knew that they were useful not only as women but as members of their community,their value wasnt tied to the size if their bra,or their lack of weight but with big boobs anyway!

So menopause for them meant moving on to the next phase of life,in our world it means that we get thrown on the scrap heap,no wonder we get hot flushes.(sorry ladies,sometimes you gotta laugh)

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well said visual

did anyone see last nights 'Insight' show on SBS... It was about happiness...

pretty much, the discussion said that there are many ways one can attain happiness in the short term, but in the long term it comes down to having a sense of belonging in a community (i.e. being loved and respected) and having a sense of purpose.

in the past this was achieved thru the community group, church group, etc, where one felt the love and respect of ones community, God, etc.

Nowadays, up step the marketing execs, via the media, telling us we are good for nothing and the only way to feel loved and respected is to buy their products, take their drugs, etc, etc…

Whats worse, their propaganda has become self fulfilling…!!!