There has come a time in the United States and other well-developed countries that large corporations have much more control than the general public would care to admit. This is particularly true with the greatest industry in the United States, the pharmaceutical industry. Affectionately known as “Big Pharma”, they have their influence in just about every aspect of healthcare; from the conducting of clinical trials, creating new drugs, the publication of medical journals, funding research, paying physicians commissions, and far beyond. Physicians nationwide read prestigious medical journals, such as New England Journal of medicine and believe they are fact. Unfortunately, the monopoly of Big Pharma has far too much control over how physicians
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She quotes Richard Smith “All journals are bought—or at least cleverly used—by the pharmaceutical industry”. Richard Smith was a previous editor for the British Medical Journal. The advertisements in the most prestigious of medical journals account for anywhere from 97 to 99 percent of revenue (Doctored, 2012). Without these advertisements from the pharmaceutical industry, there would be no medical journals published. Considering these journals are what tell doctors about the latest studies on diseases and drugs, how to correctly use these drugs and their efficacy. In Dr. Abramson’s book, he recalls a moment of revelation. One in which he scooped up his most trusted of medical journals while on his lunch, in between patients. The New England Journal of Medicine in one of the most sought-after journals and is trusted to provide accurate information on modern medicine. While Dr. Abramson was skimming the journal, he began to read about a new study that intrigued him. This study was publicizing the ability of Pravachol, a statin drug; that may also be able to reduce the risk of strokes in the drug’s users. He found that not only had the journal had a misleading tone but once he delved deeper into the findings, that the study only pertained to patients who had previous heart attacks or unstable angina. This meant that the …show more content…
The more startling notion is that these patients believe they are being spared from their symptoms, but at the cost of their health and live. Dr. Jim Weber made an alarming statement in the documentary Doctored, “America is 5% of the world’s population yet we manage to consume over 50% of the worlds pharmaceutical drugs.” When the earnings cease then, health will reign.
In order to ensure that doctors are continuing to prescribe the most profitable drugs, pharmaceutical companies give physician’s incentives. These incentives can be something as small as pens and notepads for their offices but more common than not, there are much bigger bonuses for the use of their products (Washington, 2011). In addition to the Affordable Healthcare Act providing health insurance for the uninsured, the amount of monies transferred from big pharma to physicians had to be made
She quotes Richard Smith “All journals are bought—or at least cleverly used—by the pharmaceutical industry”. Richard Smith was a previous editor for the British Medical Journal. The advertisements in the most prestigious of medical journals account for anywhere from 97 to 99 percent of revenue (Doctored, 2012). Without these advertisements from the pharmaceutical industry, there would be no medical journals published. Considering these journals are what tell doctors about the latest studies on diseases and drugs, how to correctly use these drugs and their efficacy. In Dr. Abramson’s book, he recalls a moment of revelation. One in which he scooped up his most trusted of medical journals while on his lunch, in between patients. The New England Journal of Medicine in one of the most sought-after journals and is trusted to provide accurate information on modern medicine. While Dr. Abramson was skimming the journal, he began to read about a new study that intrigued him. This study was publicizing the ability of Pravachol, a statin drug; that may also be able to reduce the risk of strokes in the drug’s users. He found that not only had the journal had a misleading tone but once he delved deeper into the findings, that the study only pertained to patients who had previous heart attacks or unstable angina. This meant that the …show more content…
The more startling notion is that these patients believe they are being spared from their symptoms, but at the cost of their health and live. Dr. Jim Weber made an alarming statement in the documentary Doctored, “America is 5% of the world’s population yet we manage to consume over 50% of the worlds pharmaceutical drugs.” When the earnings cease then, health will reign.
In order to ensure that doctors are continuing to prescribe the most profitable drugs, pharmaceutical companies give physician’s incentives. These incentives can be something as small as pens and notepads for their offices but more common than not, there are much bigger bonuses for the use of their products (Washington, 2011). In addition to the Affordable Healthcare Act providing health insurance for the uninsured, the amount of monies transferred from big pharma to physicians had to be made