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Healthy Living in a Toxic World

Are Drug Companies Really This Crooked??

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I think we can all agree that Western medicine is built upon a foundation of drugs and surgery. Without either, most doctors would truly be lost as to what to do with a patient.

That’s not to say that we actually help our patients by giving them drugs and putting them through surgical procedures.

But, if medicine is so massively dependent upon drugs, this then means that we are just as heavily dependent upon the pharmaceutical companies that make these same drugs. This has proven to be a very bad relationship that has been shown again and again in the research. Drug companies manipulate doctor’s perceptions from medical school into all aspects of practice life. Drug companies manipulate your perceptions through millions of dollars spent in direct to you advertising.

And this is all the legal stuff.

What you don’t usually hear about Is the illegal stuff. And not just hearsay. We’re talking bona fide criminal justice and case law stuff. This particular article goes into some of the criminal behaviors of the drug companies, including:

1. There have been recent, sharp escalations in the frequency with which many giant multinational drug companies repeatedly engage in illegal criminal and civil activity after previously paying enormous fines and being subject to monitoring.

2. From 1991 through 2012 $30.2 BILLION in criminal and civil penalties were paid by drug companies to federal and state governments.
3. More than half of the penalties were either for illegal promotion or illegally overcharging government programs for drugs.

And this is AFTER some of these companies were forced to sign and adhere to US government mandated corporate integrity agreements (CIA) for five years. In other words, the criminal behavior has become such a culture at these companies that these fines are merely the cost of doing business.

All of this would be bad enough if these companies made toilet paper or cardboard boxes. But they don’t. They develop and manufacture the very drugs that are the foundation upon which medicine is built in this country. The drugs they produce have nothing to do with saving or improving lives. It is all about profit.

It’s time to be scared. Very scared.

Higher Use& Intro of New Drugs Cause Increased Drug Spending – (09-21-00)

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Higher Use& Intro of New Drugs Cause Increased Drug Spending

Remember all those studies saying the the American public is more interested in taking better care of themselves and using natural alternatives?? Well, I for one think those reports are wrong and many people still rely on pharmaceuticals for “answers” to their health problems.

Drug Benefit Trends 12(7):7-8, 2000 Pharmacy benefit costs are rising largely because of higher utilization: more people are taking prescription medicines and taking them for a longer period. Price inflation, by contrast, has had a relatively minor effect on the trend of increasing expenditures for drugs, according to Merck-Medco’s Drug Trend 2000 Report, “Managing Pharmacy Benefit Costs — New Insights for a New Century.” Other reasons for utilization increases include an aging population; new medical guidelines that call for earlier or more aggressive treatment of certain diseases; the enthusiastic reception given by patients and physicians to new drugs that have either modest or significant therapeutic advances; direct-to-consumer advertising; drugs with more convenient dosage forms or fewer side effects; and more health care being delivered on an outpatient basis, which means that drugs are covered under the pharmacy benefit plan, rather than in hospitals or physicians’ offices where drugs are covered under the medical plan.

All but one of the remaining children experienced only minor reactions, including fever, local reactions, and/or lethargy, during the 7 days following immunization.

Court Says Pharmacists Need Not Warn of Side Effects – (09-21-00)

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Court Says Pharmacists Need Not Warn of Side Effects

With this information in mind, remember this…it’s YOUR body and the ultimate responsibility lies with you. Doctors are human, too and can make mistakes or make poor judgement calls. You and your doctor should work as a TEAM, with the ultimate goal of your own ideal health.

Pharmacists do not have a legal duty to warn customers of potentially adverse reactions to prescription drugs, a Texas appeals court ruled last week. The decision overturns a verdict in a case involving the death of a boy who died after taking the antidepressant desipramine. His family sued Wal-Mart Stores Inc., charging their son’s death was caused by an adverse reaction to the drug, which is not recommended for use in children. Based on a jury verdict that Wal-Mart was partially responsible for failing to properly warn of the potential side effects of the drug, a trial court assessed damages of just over $1 million. In overturning the ruling, the state appeals court said that no Texas law imposes an obligation to warn patients of a drug’s potential side effects. Nationally, a majority of courts have held that a pharmacist is under no obligation to warn customers of potentially harmful side effects, the court noted. The exceptions, it said, have been in cases where there are contraindications, suggesting a potential problem with a drug.

Physician Group Accuses EPA of Endangering Children’s Health – (08-07-00)

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Physician Group Accuses EPA of Endangering Children’s Health

It gets a little scary when you really start to evaluate the sheer numbers of toxic chemicals that our children are exposed to with today’s lifestyle. Don’t forget to note the mention of Diaxone in dairy products…

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) says the Environmental Protection Agency is “mounting a massive delay strategy” instead of taking steps to reduce levels of known hazardous chemicals to which children are exposed. “Rather than inform parents about the possible sources of dangerous chemicals or take aggressive steps to get rid of them, the EPA is proposing to conduct an endless series of animal tests to estimate what levels of toxins our kids should be expected to tolerate,” charged PCRM president Dr. Neal D. Barnard at a press conference here Wednesday. Top carcinogens on PCRM’s hit list are high environmental lead concentrations, mercury, and DDT. The physician’s group also says that tetrachloroethylene, a chemical used for dry cleaning; toluene, produced during the process of making gasoline; and tribromomethane, used for mineral ore separation, are all materials that have been established as “probable human carcinogens by the FDA. Dr. Barnard said that the EPA’s role should be to warn parents about the known dangers of chemicals. “EPA’s announcement that Diaxone is present in dairy products was a good start,” Dr. Barnard said, “because it at least lets the consumer know where the chemicals are, so they can decide if it is worth the risk.”

Do I Need Antibiotics When Hacking Up Discolored Sputum?

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You’re hacking up a lung and coworkers won’t come within 5 feet of you without a mask and a pump sprayer of Lysol.

Worse, you’re now coughing up sputum that has become the color of something out of the Exorcist.  It’s no longer time to mess around-you need antibiotics.  Stat.

I can’t tell you how many times I have heard this statement.  Somehow, when your sputum gets some type of yellow or greenish color to it, you think it’s a sign of something sinister that’s going to need antibiotics.  Something you need to understand first–sputum is essentially sterile.  It is the end result of your white blood cells attacking and destroying an invader.  The color is usually a result of dead cells of the airway as well as inflammatory cells.  While bacteria can be present in the sputum, this is not always the case.

All of this brings me to this particular study.  In it, researchers looked at the effect of the use of either anti-inflammatories (600 mg ibuprofen 3x / day), antibiotics (amoxicillin-clavulanic acid 500 mg/125 mg 3x / day) or a placebo had on the time it took to resolve an infection that included discolored sputum.  The results may surprise you.  Here’s what the researchers found:

  1. The number of days with frequent cough was slightly lower among patients assigned to ibuprofen (9 days compared to 11 days with antibiotics and placebo)
  2. Neither antibiotics nor ibuprofen increased cough resolution compared with placebo.
  3. Side effects were most common in the antibiotic group (12%) than ibuprofen (5%) or placebo (3%).

Overall, this should blow the myth that discolored sputum is a sign that it is time to run to the doctor and get on antibiotics.  Regular readers of the Rantings should have a very good idea of how much this single course of, arguably uneeded, antibiotics will destroy the healthy balance of the bacteria in your gut.

Instead, opt for immune boosting activities like light exercise, vitamin D and A (although hopefully, you have already been taking these and did not get sick in the first place), no refined carbs and high doses of vitamin C (8-10 grams per day).  The healthy bacteria in your gut and the balance they confer to your immune system will thank you.

The Bottled Water Story Just Got Scarier

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Ok. By now, unless you’re living in a cave, you know that BPA from plastic water bottles is not good for us.  So industry has been moving towards BPA free bottles.

But what if the story was so much more complex?  It always is.

First, as way of background, Bisphenol A (BPA) is not good for us and is linked to certain cancers, obesity, infertility and diabetes.  This is a good enough reason to avoid drinking out of plastic water bottles.

Next, the quality of the water in bottled water is usually an issue, as seen in Environmental Working Groups’ bottled water study.  Much of it is merely bottled tap water and concerns of chlorine breakdown products is high.

Finally, where on Earth did the idea that we need to lug around 12.5 ounces of water in the first place come from?  I have certainly addressed our society’s blind devotion to the not-backed-by-research intake of bottled water.  We just don’t need it.  Period.

And yet, despite all of this, bottled water is everywhere.  You can’t go 20 feet in a public place without seeing someone lugging one around, taking off the cap, and taking a short swig.  Most often then bottle is half full.  I just don’t get it.

Just in case all that I’ve written in the past is STILL not enough to convince you to abandon bottled water, I present this particular study.  In it, researchers looked hard to additional compounds that would block the action of either estrogen receptors or testosterone receptors.  Here’s the details:

  1. 18 bottled water products were evaluated, and 24,520 compounds were found (YES- that is 24 THOUSAND).  These compounds were further evaluated for their effects on the estrogen and androgen receptors.
  2. In 13 of the 18 products, chemicals were found that blocked estrogen.
  3. In 16 samples there were antiandrogenic substance (blocking the action of testosterone), in some cases strong enough to block 90% of the action of androgens in just 3.75 ml.
  4. In regards to estrogen, one compound rose to the top: (2-ethylhexyl) fumarate (DEHF).
  5. Despite the knowledge that the bottled waters blocked androgen action, the researchers were unable to lock in which compound was the most to blame,

Overall, this means that entire picture of the bottled water product, whether it is something in the water or from the packaging, is toxic to humans.  Period.  Stop buying and using them NOW.  Instead switch to a reverse-osmosis system (these days, you can purchase a 5 stage unit for around $100)  or a stand alone unit such as a Brita water filter.  If you use the larger, 5 gallon jugs in a dispenser, make sure you’re at least using the BPA free ones.

You’re not going to eliminate your exposure to plastics, but at least we can make a conscious effort to reduce the exposure.  Bottled water is out.  Period.

Drugs can contaminate the environment – (06-28-00)

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Drugs can contaminate the environment

Doing your best to avoid taking drugs? Well, recent studies suggest that you need to be drinking filtered water then. Pharmaceutical drugs are leaking out in the water supply, and may approach therapeutic levels in some cases. Imagine having a drug-drug interaction just from drinking water…

Read entire article here