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The Medical World

First; a little comic relief, from the one and only.  RIP

And another... 





"Drug are not meant to cure, but to control"

America IS the sickest developed-nation on the planet.  period.
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/01/new-health-rankings-of-17-nations-us-is-dead-last/267045/

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp0910064
---From the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle (C.J.L.M.); and the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston (J.F.).
http://time.com/2888403/u-s-health-care-ranked-worst-in-the-developed-world/

Medical error—the third leading cause of death in the US

BMJ 2016; 353 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i2139 (Published 03 May 2016)Cite this as: BMJ 2016;353:i2139
http://www.bmj.com/content/353/bmj.i2139http://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/medical-errors-now-3rd-leading-cause-of-death-in-u-s-study-suggests/

A New, Evidence-based Estimate of Patient Harms Associated with Hospital Care

Using a weighted average of the 4 studies, a lower limit of 210,000 deaths per year was associated with preventable harm in hospitals. Given limitations in the search capability of the Global Trigger Tool and the incompleteness of medical records on which the Tool depends, the true number of premature deaths associated with preventable harm to patients was estimated at more than 400,000 per year. Serious harm seems to be 10- to 20-fold more common than lethal harm.
http://journals.lww.com/journalpatientsafety/Fulltext/2013/09000/A_New,_Evidence_based_Estimate_of_Patient_Harms.2.aspx


U.S. Healthcare is a Global Outlier, and Not in a Good Way






America's health is declining -- and corporations are stoking this crisis

http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/27/opinions/life-expectancy-corporations-opinion-sachs/index.html

  • "And make no mistake -- America's health crisis is the result of greedy corporations and their reckless practices."
  • "Two corporate-caused US epidemics -- obesity and opioid addictions -- add to the misery."


Our sad, sad reality



This could be an incredibly numbingly long list of the atrocities that go down, particularly in this country.  But, here we go...


  • Well over $2.7 trillion spent on health care every year. Far more than is spent on national security. Putting us way in the lead as it would take the next 4 countries to compile their expenditures to equal the US.  ~~18% of GDP    
  • 2/3 Americans are overweight, ~35% are obese  (>200%  inc since 1970) 
  • Every 7 seconds someone dies from complications associated with diabetes
  • In 1971 Richard Nixon declared a war against cancer.  At that time, 1 in 1,000 people developed cancer. Today, 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women.  
  • We spend 130 billion on cancer treatments
  • Milken Institute report, January 2014, demonstrates that the combined cost of the top 7 chronic disease exceeds $270 billion dollars per year.
  • Spent 2 trillion on cancer research thus far.
  • Cancer survival rates haven't increased to a statistically significant level since research and treatments have commenced.  
  • 5 in 6 people will develop cancer or heart disease in their lifetime 
  • 25% of American's suffering from MULTIPLE chronic diseases 
  • 1/4 children on chronic medication 
  • Estimated costs linked to diabetes: $116 billion.   To obesity: $147 (2008) 
  • Medical mistakes is recognized as the 6th leading cause of death, 1st when taking other things into considerations. 
  • 50% of older Americans use benzodiazopenes for anxiety related disorders, even though the American Geriatrics Society deems them as inappropriate for seniors. And after only 6 months of use, the chance of Alzheimers increases by 50%.
  • 2.4 billion prescriptions written annually. 
    • 118 million are antidepressants---only 50% have any type of response 
  • 280 million opiod prescriptions... over 80% of our population! 
    • 259 Million pain killer prescriptions written in 2012 (CDC) 
    • 46 people die-- PER DAY of prescribed pain killers  (whats the # like of getting the drugs illegally?>)
    • n 2012, health care providers in the highest-prescribing state wrote almost 3 times as many opioid painkiller prescriptions per person as those in the lowest prescribing state in the US. Or why there are twice as many painkiller prescriptions per person in the US as in Canada.
  • Silent killer: NSAIDs would be the 7th leading killer of American's if stats were combined correctly.  Leading cause of calls to poison control center.  56k E room visits every year.  Just taking for 4 days (as prescribed) can easily lead to liver damage/failure.  Yet, 28,000,000,000 pills and 130,000,000 prescriptions are handed out every year
  • Over 70% of American's consider medical doctors as ethical and taking the individual's best interest in the hands. 
  • US makes up only 5% of the world's population, yet consumes 70% of the world's medications.  consumes 80% of world's methamphetamines, 50% of which are consumed by the non-prescribed, mostly by youth under 25. Then, consider 25% of the world's jailed population is in the United States, mostly because of the consumption and personal distribution of drugs.
    • And the Avg 18 year old has been exposed to over 100,000 hours of pharm ads... The US being one of 2 countries in the world to allow for propaganda of drugs.
  • Of the 287 chemicals we detected in umbilical cord blood, we know that 180 cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animal tests.
  • We replace 370 million RBCs every flippin day, yet our science community has yet to create a single life sustaining cell. 
  • $700 billion on unnecessary procedures every year--includes 2.5 million unnecessary procedures every year.
  • JAMA:  230-284k itrogenic deaths every year (2006) 


Bet ya Didn't Know... 

  • Fritz ter Meer, found guilty of slavery and mass murder at Auschwitz, served only seven years in prison and became Chairman of the Board at Bayer in 1956.
  • Carl Krauch, Executive Member of IG Farben and Head of Military Economics for Hitler, found guilty of slavery and mass murder, served just 6 years in prison, then became Chairman of the Board for BASF in 1952.  
  • A recent study found that medical bills are the root cause behind more than 60 percent of all personal bankruptcies in the United States each year.  -CNN


Insurance companies often get hospitals to knock their bills down by up to 95 percent, but if you are uninsured you pay the whole amount.
One study found that approximately 41 percent of working age Americans either have problems paying off accrued medical debt.
Even as the rest of the country struggled with a deep recession, U.S. health insurance companies increased their profits by 56 percent during 2009 alone.
Between 2000 and 2006, wages in the United States increased by 3.8%, but health care premiums increased by 87%.
America's five biggest for-profit health insurance companies ended 2009 with a combined profit of $12.2 billion.
The top executives at the five largest for-profit health insurance companies in the United States received nearly $200 million in total compensation during 2009 alone
More than two dozen pharmaceutical companies made over a billion dollars in profits in 2008.
According to one recent study, the medical liability system in the United States added approximately $55.6 billion to the cost of health care in 2008.
America spent $2.4 trillion on health care in 2008. That's nearly as much as food, clothing, and national defense combined.
Only 28% of U.S. doctors use electronic medical records. 90% do in the U.K.
Inefficient claims processing costs over $200 billion per year.
If our health care system were its own country, it would be the seventh largest economy in the world.
  • The same study found that three-fourths of people that go bankrupt because of unpaid bills actually have insurance
  • It is estimated that hospitals overcharge Americans by about 10 billion dollars every single year.
  • One trained medical billing advocate says that over 90 percent of the medical bills that she has audited contain "gross overcharges".

  • Doctors spend $210 billion per year on procedures based on fear of liability, not patient need.
  • Automation, elimination of pre-approval requirements, and other innovations could increase billing efficiency by 50% and save insurers $27.2 billion, hospitals $17 billion, and physicians $6.9 billion.
  • 195,000 people per year die in America's hospitals because of medical errors.The uninsured represent 15% of population, but 20% of emergency room visits.11 percent of American women are taking drugs to combat depression (the world's highest rate).America's infant mortality rate is 87% higher than France's.The United States ranks 43rd in lowest infant mortality rate, down from 12th in 1960.

It's said that traffic jams cost americans $124 billion annually... 

  • I wonder what it costs American's to be sick and suffering? 

18 Ridiculous Facts about the Medicine


THE INDUSTRY

First. A little History 

American Medical Revolutions: How the AMA Took Over America



The Brutal Truth behind the history of the Medical Industry
http://www.naturalnews.com/019189_human_medical_experimentation_ethics.html

How Rockefeller Found Big Pharma AND Waged War On Natural Cures




Death by Medicine

Did you know that before 1973 it was illegal in the US to profit off of health care. The Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 passed by Nixon changed everything.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/02/04/death-by-medicine-an-update.aspx

 http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/11/26/death-by-medicine-part-one.aspx

Chronic pain costs U.S. up to $635 billion, study shows


Record 4.02 billion prescriptions in United States in 2011

  • "XanaxTM, CelexaTM and ZoloftTM were the most-prescribed psychiatric medicines, with other depression and anxiety medications rounding out the top 10"

US burden of neurological disease is nearly $800 billion/year

  • https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170330165002.htm
  • "Alzheimer's disease and other dementias; low back pain; stroke; traumatic brain injury; migraine; epilepsy; multiple sclerosis; spinal cord injury; and Parkinson's disease. Neurological diseases impact an estimated 100 million Americans every year'

U.S. Health Care Ranked Worst in the Developed World



Lobbyists 

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/12/04/lobbyists-stealing-government.aspx

  • $244 MILLION spent on big pharma lobbying-- 2010
  • $15 milllion: money received by federal candidates in 2010
  • At $1.1 trillion :    "if Big Pharma's global market was compared to the GDP—the market value of all the output produced in a nation in one year—then Big Pharma would rank # 15 on a list of 183 nations." 
  • "the BEST way to get a Congressman or Senator to do his bidding was to extend a lucrative job offer. For example, promising a staffer a job once they were done serving the Hill—which could triple their salary—would always seal the deal. "
Lobbying Database



When doctors go on strike..
Patients stop dying 

Why Do Patients Stop Dying When Doctors Go on Strike?

Can psychology explain our surprise at mortality decreases when doctors strike?




Silencing Scientists


http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/08/20/medical-errors-public-disclosure.aspx?e_cid=20140820Z1_DNL_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20/999999999999999999999995m140820Z1&et_cid=DM54103&et_rid=628835159

http://eatingacademy.com/dr-peter-attia

Even members of the senate see the problem..
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/medical-mistakes-are-3rd-leading-cause-of-death-in-us

New numbers back old meme: Pharma does spend more on marketing than R&D

Merck

Merck Created Hit List to "Destroy," "Neutralize" or "Discredit" Dissenting Doctors

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/merck-created-hit-list-to-destroy-neutralize-or-discredit-dissenting-doctors/

Merck Corp Rap Sheet

  • http://www.corp-research.org/merck
  • Marketing and advertising controversies 
  • Pricing and false claims
  • Anti-competative practices 
  • +T22
  • Assoc with the Vioxx debacle. 
  • Merck fabricated their own journal

Where's the wisdom?

British Medical Journal. A must see! 
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1671173/pdf/bmj00147-0006.pdf




Big Pharma, Bad Medicine

--From the editor in chief of the NEJM
http://bostonreview.net/angell-big-pharma-bad-medicine

  • Info on: Research process, within academic institutions, 

Disease, deception, DOLLARS
https://journal.crossfit.com/article/cfj-disease-deception-and-dollars-2

Reducing Waste in Health Care. A third or more of what the US spends annually may be wasteful. How much could be pared back—and how—is a key question.



. 2013 Sep 17; 185(13): 1121–1122.

Pharma influence widespread at medical schools: study

The Pharmaceutical Industry’s Role in U.S. Medical Education

Financial Deception

. 2017 Feb; 16(1): 14–15.
PMCID: PMC5312738

Health as an Economic Strategy

Mimi Guarneri, MD, FACC, ABOIM

  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5312738/
  • "In conventional medicine, each condition is seen as a distinct entity with a name and pharmaceutical or surgical solution. The human body is not visualized as a dynamic system, affected by lifestyle choices, genetics, and the mind-body connection. "
  • "The United States is ranked first in health care spending, yet it ranks 37th in health status among industrialized nations. Our ranking is number one in obesity and diabetes, and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) now estimates that 1 in 3 children born in 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetimes."
  • " At the current rate of health care spending, by 2025, health care costs will account for 25% of the gross national product and will conservatively reach 49% by 2082. Key reports highlight the urgent need for change:"
  • "We know that the key components of health promotion include mind-body practices, sleep and physical activity, nutrition, achievement of ideal body weight, reduced exposure to toxins and substance abuse, and social connection. "
  • "“We know what to do, and we need to act now.” "
  • " president of the American Hospital Association, Jonathan Perlin, md, phd, speaks to this need to move from “sick care to health care.”"
Can the research be trusted? 
"Physician and longtime Editor in Chief of the New England Medical Journal, Dr Marcia Angell, told the world that “it’s simply no longer possible to believe much of the clinical research that is published, or to rely on the judgement of trusted physicians or authoritative medical guidelines.”
More than 80% of the patient groups accept Drug Industry Funds

Who pays for the pizza? Redefining the relationships between doctors and drug companies. 1: Entanglement

“The medical profession is being bought by the pharmaceutical industry, not only in terms of the practice of medicine, but also in terms of teaching and research. The academic institutions of this country are allowing themselves to be the paid agents of the pharmaceutical industry. I think it’s disgraceful.”  – (source)(source) Arnold Seymour Relman (1923-2014), Harvard Professor of Medicine and Former Editor-in-Chief of the New England Medical Journal

Conflict of interest in Nutrition 

Sugar Industry and Coronary Heart Disease ResearchA Historical Analysis of Internal Industry Documents

Cristin E. Kearns, DDS, MBA1,2; Laura A. Schmidt, PhD, MSW, MPH1,3,4; Stanton A. Glantz, PhD1,5,6,7,8
Author Affiliations
JAMA Intern Med. 2016;176(11):1680-1685. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.5394

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2548255



Before the 1980s, regulations did not require researchers and physicians to declare conflicts of interest before publishing a paper. By not announcing affiliation, research had the potential to be swayed by money and funding. That’s why it had to change.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/theres-no-sugar-coating-it-all-calories-are-not-created-equal-2016110410602



 2003 Jan 22-29;289(4):454-65.

Scope and impact of financial conflicts of interest in biomedical research: a systematic review.

 2005 Jun;52(6):967-71.

Extent and impact of industry sponsorship conflicts of interest in dermatology research.


 2008 Winter;19(4):418-26.

[Financial conflict of interest in clinical psychiatry studies: a review]


It is estimated that 89%-98% of comparative drug treatment studies are funded by pharmaceutical companies. It was reported that favorable outcomes for the firms conducting these studies were significantly more common in industry-funded studies than in non-industry funded ones. These biased outcomes were due to conscious or unconscious decisions about the design, data analysis, and publishing of the studies. Biased outcomes of industry-funded studies have diminished the integrity of academic institutions, pharmaceutical companies, researchers, and scientific journals; therefore, various precautions have been taken in order to reduce the effect of conflict of interest on study outcomes. The aim of this review was to evaluate the effect of conflict of interest on outcomes in clinical psychiatry studies.


Meta-analyses with industry involvement are massively published and report no caveats for antidepressants


--> figure out what your docs are getting paid for over the table AND under the table. How their prescribing habits change/dont change, etc. 


Medical Journals Are an Extension of the Marketing Arm of Pharmaceutical Companies


Examples of Methods for Pharmaceutical Companies to Get the Results They Want from Clinical Trials



  1. Conduct a trial of your drug against a treatment known to be inferior.
  2. Trial your drugs against too low a dose of a competitor drug.
  3. Conduct a trial of your drug against too high a dose of a competitor drug (making your drug seem less toxic).
  4. Conduct trials that are too small to show differences from competitor drugs.
  5. Use multiple endpoints in the trial and select for publication those that give favourable results.
  6. Do multicentre trials and select for publication results from centres that are favourable.
  7. Conduct subgroup analyses and select for publication those that are favourable.
  8. Present results that are most likely to impress—for example, reduction in relative rather than absolute risk.

From Men's Health!! haaaaa

Here’s Why So Many Medical Treatments Don’t Bring the Benefits You Think

http://www.menshealth.com/health/uncertain-benefits-of-medical-care


Initial Coronary Stent Implantation With Medical Therapy vs Medical Therapy Alone for Stable Coronary Artery DiseaseMeta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Kathleen Stergiopoulos, MD, PhD; David L. Brown, MD
"Conclusion Initial stent implantation for stable CAD shows no evidence of benefit compared with initial medical therapy for prevention of death, nonfatal MI, unplanned revascularization, or angina."
http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/1108733

Meet the ‘rented white coats’ who defend toxic chemicals

http://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/02/08/19223/meet-rented-white-coats-who-defend-toxic-chemicals
Ghost Management: How Much of theMedical Literature Is Shaped Behind theScenes by the Pharmaceutical Industry?

Undue industry influences that distort healthcare research, strategy, expenditure and practice: a review.

J Psychiatry Neurosci. 2009 Nov; 34(6): 412–417.
PMCID: PMC2783432

Leading Journals Agree That Big Pharma Manipulates Medical Research

http://www.wakingtimes.com/2015/06/24/leading-journals-agree-that-big-pharma-manipulates-medical-research/
Thank goodness... AMA calling to ban drug advertising

Bias in the research literature and conflict of interest: an issue for publishers, editors, reviewers and authors, and it is not just about the money

Simon N. Young, PhD

Are Over-The-Counter Medicines Making You Sick?

The junk that is in your meds... it'll make you sick. Literally 

  • GMOs
  • Colorings
  • Toxic synthetic chemicals 
  • etc



Are NSAIDs REALLY that safe??

Common Pain Meds Are Linked to a Higher Risk of Heart Problems


Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug use is associated with increased risk of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a nationwide case–time–control study

https://academic.oup.com/ehjcvp/article/3/2/100/2739709/Non-steroidal-anti-inflammatory-drug-use-is


Calls for ibuprofen sale restrictions after study finds cardiac arrest risk

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/mar/15/ibuprofen-sale-restrictions-study-increased-cardiac-arrest-risk

‘HARMLESS’ PAINKILLERS ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED RISK OF CARDIAC ARREST

https://www.escardio.org/The-ESC/Press-Office/Press-releases/harmless-painkillers-associated-with-increased-risk-of-cardiac-arrest?hit=twitter


 2000 Feb 12;29(5):267-73.

[Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs with selectivity for cyclooxygenase-2 in Alzheimer's disease. Rationale and perspectives].


A Medical Madoff: Anesthesiologist Faked Data in 21 Studies




A Decade of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs


Direct-to-Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising

Therapeutic or Toxic?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3278148/



Conflicts of interest at medical journals: the influence of industry-supported randomised trials on journal impact factors and revenue - cohort study.

Lundh A1, Barbateskovic M, Hróbjartsson A, Gøtzsche PC.
From the Editor-in-Chief of The Lancet

Research Misconduct Identified by the US Food and Drug AdministrationOut of Sight, Out of Mind, Out of the Peer-Reviewed Literature

Nicely done Sayer Ji @ GreenMedInfo
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/good-medicine-do-much-nothing-possible

BMJ Publishes Study Revealing How Flawed Drug Research Fails a Trusting Public

  • http://study329.org/bmj-publishes-study-revealing-how-flawed-drug-research-fails-a-trusting-public-2/
  • Restoring Study 329 is a reanalysis and rebuttal of the original Study 329, a randomized, controlled trial published in 2001 of the efficacy and harms of paroxetine (known as Paxil in the US) and imipramine in the treatment of adolescent major depression, which concluded that “paroxetine is generally well tolerated and effective for major depression in adolescents.”
    Using the same data 14 years later, Restoring Study 329 comes to exactly the opposite conclusion, namely that “Neither paroxetine nor high-dose imipramine demonstrated efficacy for major depression in adolescents, and there was an increase in harms with both drugs.”

Is Academic Medicine for Sale? 
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM200005183422009
http://www.smokescam.com/marciaeditorial.htm--should researchers, profs, and those making recommendations and policies have financial ties with drug companies?

“The 21st Century Cures Act” Is On Its Way – Here’s Why You Haven’t Heard About It




Choosing Wisely

http://www.choosingwisely.org/



War on Health



Research Misconduct Identified by the US Food and Drug Administration

http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2109855

Letter to Trump:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5312748/

  • "

President Trump:
  • One of the biggest and most important challenges you face is our failing health care system. Although the United States spends far more per capita on health care than the next closest country spends, our outcomes are dismal. Virtually every measure shows that Americans suffer poorer health and more chronic disease than those in most other advanced countries.
    An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc. Object name is 8-11f1.jpg
    Unfortunately, almost all the health care reform initiatives being discussed are merely rearranging the chairs on the Titanic: arguing about who pays, who has control, and how to subtly ration. The problem is not how we make health care available. Rather, the problem is the health care being provided.
    The key reasons for this growing crisis are as follows:
    1. We have a disease management and symptom relief system, not a health care system.
    2. We treat end-stage disease rather than the health of each unique individual.
    3. Virtually all the passive determinants of health—nutrition, toxicity, and social—now promote disease.
    4. Government, at all levels, has supported competition-preventing regulations and crony capitalism."

Over Testing/ Over Prescribing

PSA Testing atrociousness

http://www.newsweek.com/some-medical-tests-procedures-do-more-harm-good-67291

http://www.naturalnews.com/046997_cancer_Mammograms_mammography_risks.html?utm_content=buffercfb90&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

unbelievable.. 
https://www.minds.com/blog/view/401784984240656384/more-doctors-confessing-to-intentionally-diagnosing-healthy-people-with-cancer-to-make-money
http://6abc.com/health/listen-patient-records-doctors-mocking-him-during-surgery/802568/

 OxyContin approved for 11 year olds
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-approves-oxycontin-children-young-11-n409621
http://www.newsweek.com/fda-approves-oxycontin-use-children-young-11-363606

6 Medical Myths Even Your Doctor May Still Believe



5 Facts about the Medical System that is dragging us down... and keeping us in last
http://nypost.com/2017/05/06/5-scary-facts-about-americas-broken-health-care-system/



  1. Medical errors are the third-leading killer in the US, accounting for almost 10 percent of all American deaths.
  2. Today’s opiate addiction crisis is a result of deliberate moves by pharmaceutical companies.
  3. A stronger focus on disease prevention could save 200,000 American lives per year.
  4. Medical providers do better financially when they make mistakes in patient care — because they get paid again to fix the problem.
  5. Fifty percent of US doctors use paper, rather than electronic, records, costing money and lives.


A Drug Recall That Should Frighten Us All About The FDA

"The FDA announced last week that the 300mg generic version of Wellbutrin XL manufactured by Impax Laboratories IPXL +% and marketed by Teva Pharmaceuticals was being recalled because it did not work. And this wasn’t just a problem with one batch – this is a problem that has been going on with this particular drug for four or five years, and the FDA did everything it could to ignore it."

Antibiotics

Overuse linked to doubling risk of fatal breast cancer
CDC: Too many antibiotics Still being Prescribed in US
  • http://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/cdc-too-many-antibiotics-still-being-prescribed-in-us/ar-BBwmcYB?li=BBmkt5R
  • Study included over 34 million people... 

Opposing effects of antibiotics and germ-free status on neuropeptide systems involved in social behaviour and pain regulation




Meds that kill

Just EFFING up. 


Prescription painkiller tramadol ‘claiming more lives than any other drug’

http://www.itv.com/news/utv/update/2016-10-06/prescription-painkiller-claiming-more-lives-than-any-other-drug/

Janssen Accused of Withholding Data on Risperdal Side Effect in Autism



  • Levequin
    • Powerful antibiotic that has been even tested for defense against anthrax
      • Serious side effects that range widely in manifestation 
      • From the FDA
        • At least 3,000 have reportedly died
        • At least 200,000 complaints related to this drug and other fluoroquinolones
          • "FDA gets about 1% of all reported deaths.".. 300,000 deaths?? WOW
          • I've heard other numbers from 5-10% of other types of deaths due to medicine getting reported. Not sure if they were just referring to this drug or not. 
        • One side effect is tendon rupturing, serious nerve damage, mitochondrial toxicity.  Amongst others..
        • Many have pushed for these warnings to be issued on the package insert, but the FDA has claimed that a decision cannot be agreed upon... well yea, no kidding, bc if they do, countless money will be lost due to less prescriptions and lawsuits.. 


Metformin Use Linked to Increased Dementia, Parkinson's Risk in Patients With Diabetes


"In a cohort study that followed about 9300 patients with T2DM in Taiwan for up to 12 years, the risk for Parkinson's disease (PD) or Alzheimer's dementia was more than double during a 12-year period for those who took metformin vs those who did not — even after adjusting for multiple confounders.In addition, outcome risks increased progressively with higher dosage and longer duration of treatment."

Data manipulation 

BIG PHARMA PLAYS HIDE-THE-BALL WITH DATA


Only 6% of drug advertising material is supported by evidence

BMJ 2004; 328 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.328.7438.485-a (Published 27 February 2004)Cite this as: BMJ 2004;328:485

Spending

  • ~$3 Trillion on National Health Expenditures (NHE) in 2013
    • 17.4% of GDP
    • 33% of NHE from private spending
    • Hospital expenditures are 1/3 of NHE
    • Almost $300 Billion on prescription drugs
    • Per person personal health care spending for the 65 and older population was $18,424in 2010, 5 times higher than spending per child ($3,628) and 3 times spending per working-age person ($6,125).
  • Estimated costs linked to diabetes: $116 billion.   To obesity: $147 (2008) 
  • $700 billion on unnecessary procedures every year--includes 2.5 million unnecessary procedures every year.j

http://www.rd.com/slideshows/wildly-overinflated-hospital-costs/

Yes, I'm sure our top officials have our best interests in mind...
http://vaccineimpact.com/2015/former-cdc-director-julie-gerberding-sells-38368-shares-of-merck-stock-for-2-3-million/
http://www.dakotafinancialnews.com/merck-co-evp-julie-l-gerberding-sells-38368-shares-mrk/159207/


Pharma Stats
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/Subject_Guides/healthstatistics/pharmaceuticalstatistics/


Curbing Drug-Company Abuses: Are Fines Enough?

  • "But going to trial carries high risk for both companies and the government, so both have incentives to settle. "The government jumps through hoops to avoid [having to enforce] the law, which would require the company to be actually be excluded from any federal health care programs [if there is a conviction]," explains Michael Mustokoff, an attorney who represented the salesman turned whistleblower who first brought AstraZeneca's abuses to the government's attention."
    "Such exclusion is a virtual death sentence for drug firms, which derive an estimated 30% to 40% of their sales from the government. "As much as the government wants the [settlement] money from these companies, it does not want to put them out of business," says Mustokoff."

Overprescribing

Opiod epidemic

  • There are 260 million opiod and other narcotics, in the US alone... That could cover over 80% of the population!!! They have never been proven to be successful in treating chronic pain, which has been a debate since the 1950s.  

  • Almost 15% of primary care visits involved the writing of a painkiller or sedative, which combined accounts for up to the largest % of deaths. The combo of benzodiazepines and opiods have even been used for executions.



http://www.wesupportorganic.com/2014/11/6-dangerous-prescription-drugs-you-should-think-twice-before-taking.html

https://www.cbsnews.com/opioid-epidemic/

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/overdoses-are-leading-cause-of-death-americans-under-50/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-larry-dossey/the-mythology-of-science_b_412475.html

A bill to fast-track the drug induction process 
http://www.collective-evolution.com/2015/07/07/the-21st-century-cures-act-is-on-its-way-heres-why-you-havent-heard-about-it/

Doctors track "an explosion" of newborns addicted to opioids

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/opioid-epidemic-newborn-babies-mothers-addicted-to-painkillers/

​Narcotic painkillers, common in pregnancy, can harm baby

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/narcotic-painkillers-commonly-used-in-pregnancy-harmful-to-baby-study/

The Family That Built an Empire of Pain

The Sackler dynasty’s ruthless marketing of painkillers has generated billions of dollars—and millions of addicts.

Anti-depressants

The Marketing of Madness: The Truth About Psychotropic Drugs 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgCpa1RlSdQ

  • There is a mental illness for everything, literally impossible to see a psychiatrist and not get Dx
  • Rakes in $330,000,000,000/year    YES, a third of a TRILLION



Psychiatry An Industry Of Death Full Length


Pain KILLERS

  • Opioids might worsen chronic pain, study finds'

  • http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/310645.php
    "Opioids are among the most commonly used painkillers in the United States; almost 250 million opioid prescriptions were written in 2013 - the equivalent to one bottle of pills for every American adult." 
  • "..become a major public health concern in the U.S.; opioid overdoses are responsible for 78 deaths in the country every day."
  • "They found that this cascade activated signaling from a protein called interleukin-1beta (IL-1b), which led to overactivity of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that respond to pain. This process can increase and prolong pain."



Prescriber Checkup

The Doctors and Drugs in Medicare
http://projects.propublica.org/checkup/
--->way interesting! yet sad... and disgusting..


How Big Pharma gets Drs to Kill patients
http://edgytruth.com/2015/07/10/this-video-shows-how-big-pharma-gets-drs-to-kill-patients/#
http://edgytruth.com/2015/07/10/this-video-shows-how-big-pharma-gets-drs-to-kill-patients/#

Money$$

Dollars for Docs


Former editor in chief of the NEJM







Absolute vs Relative Risk 

From my mentor, Dr. Kevin Schultz


Kevin Schultz
23 hrs ·
r your risk of heart disease death by 50%.
If the study was done with 50 people in the placebo group and 50 people in the non-placebo group and 2 people died in the placebo group and 1 person died in the non-placebo group the absolute risk is 1% because 1 more person out of 100 died but the relative risk (the one used to scare you) is 50%.
Now let's make the number of people studied 500 in the placebo and 500 in the non-placebo. We still have 2 people who died in the placebo group and 1 person who died in the non-placebo group. The absolute risk is now .1% and the relative risk is still 50%.
Now let's get crazy and take that number up to 50,000 people in the placebo group and 50,000 people in the non-placebo group. 2 people died in the placebo and 1 person died in the non-placebo. The absolute risk for death is .0001% and the relative risk is... you guessed it, still 50%.
If I told you a study was done on 100,000 people and the study showed your risk of death from heart disease was .0001% greater for those people not taking blood pressure medication you likely wouldn't be to inclined to run out to your doctor to ask for blood pressure medication.
Well what if I told you a study was done on 100,000 people and the study showed your risk of dying from heart disease is 50% higher if you are not taking blood pressure medication!!
Now that gets your attention.
This is the # you see in the headlines from the media and the # you hear your medical doctor quote.
Are you sick of being lied to?


Statins

http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/cracking-cholesterol-myth-how-statins-harm-body-and-mind
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/toxic-ingredient/statin-drugs?ed=35335

Actually CAUSING atherosclerosis
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25655639/
In contrast to the current belief that cholesterol reduction with statins decreases atherosclerosis, we present a perspective that statins may be causative in coronary artery calcification and can function as mitochondrial toxins that impair muscle function in the heart and blood vessels through the depletion of coenzyme Q10 and 'heme A', and thereby ATP generation. Statins inhibit the synthesis of vitamin K2, the cofactor for matrix Gla-protein activation, which in turn protects arteries from calcification. Statins inhibit the biosynthesis of selenium containing proteins, one of which is glutathione peroxidase serving to suppress peroxidative stress. An impairment of selenoprotein biosynthesis may be a factor in congestive heart failure, reminiscent of the dilated cardiomyopathies seen with selenium deficiency. Thus, the epidemic of heart failure and atherosclerosis that plagues the modern world may paradoxically be aggravated by the pervasive use of statin drugs. We propose that current statin treatment guidelines be critically reevaluated.

necessary? I think NOT!
http://drsircus.com/medicine/confessions-of-a-cardiologist-treat-the-inflammation-not-the-cholesterol

"High cholesterol does not cause heart disease, new study finds. Treating with statins a waste of time"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/06/12/high-cholesterol-does-not-cause-heart-disease-new-research-finds/


  • "A review of research involving nearly 70,000 people found there was no link between what has traditionally been considered “bad” cholesterol and the premature deaths of over 60-year-olds from cardiovascular disease."
  • "Published in the BMJ Open journal, the new study found that 92 percent of people with a high cholesterol level lived longer."
kids
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/12/20/medicated-kids.aspx?x_cid=20141220_lead_medicated-kids_facebookdoc

Breast Cancer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/05/05/stop-routine-screening-for-breast-cancer-for-women-under-50-science-has-shown-it-doesnt-save-lives/
Largest mammography screening to date (25 years of 90k women!!)
http://www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g366


Acetaminophen

Mechanisms of Acetaminophen-Induced Liver Necrosis


"
"What is paracetamol ?
Paracetamol (acetaminophen) is a pain reliever and a fever reducer. The exact mechanism of action of is not known."



Osteoporosis drugs may make bones weaker
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-39122541

FRAUD

Big Pharma Plays Hide-the-Ball With Data

http://www.newsweek.com/2014/11/21/medical-science-has-data-problem-284066.html



Research Misconduct Identified by the US Food and Drug AdministrationOut of Sight, Out of Mind, Out of the Peer-Reviewed Literature



http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/19/us/scam-charity-investigation/index.html


Pharma CEO: We’re in Business of Shareholder Profit, Not Helping the Sick

http://usuncut.com/class-war/valeant-ceo-shareholder-profit/
http://www.cnbc.com/2014/05/28/cnbc-exclusive-cnbc-transcript-valeant-ceo-j-michael-pearson-speaks-one-on-one-with-meg-tirrell-today-on-cnbc.html

It's always interesting to look in the buiness world to see how Phrama companies are viewed.
http://www.forbes.com/profile/j-michael-pearson/

Obamacare architect leaves White House for pharmaceutical industry job


http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/dec/05/obamacare-fowler-lobbyist-industry1?CMP=share_btn_fb





2014_11_14_Cover_600 x 800

Root canals.  Everyone recommends them, but are they worth it? What about alternatives?


Gov't Involvement, or lack thereof


How the Gov't Killed the Medical Profession


http://www.naturalcuresnotmedicine.com/97-terminal-cancer-patients-previously-dental-procedure/



What Your Doc Won't Disclose

Way too Good... Enjoy
and another::
http://crooksandliars.com:8080/cltv/2015/02/last-week-tonight-ask-your-doctor-ad

Medication Side effects


Why Do We Doctors So Often Fail To See Symptoms Are Drug Side Effects?


  • "Federal money for drug research and safety has declined to the point that pharmaceutical companies now fund over 85 percent of all research, medical journal publications and medical conferences, where physicians receive much of their educational information '
  • "3/5 of Americans taking a prescription med. 15% taking 5 or more. Children are the fasting growing market for drug companies"

 2007;30(8):669-75.

Physician response to patient reports of adverse drug effects: implications for patient-targeted adverse effect surveillance.


Is Your Doctor in Denial?

Alzheimers


Benzodiasopenes linked to alzheimers
http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2014/09/10/common-anxiety-medications-may-increase-risk-of-alzheimers-disease/?utm_content=bufferc0a24&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

http://healthimpactnews.com/2014/over-medication-of-elderly-becoming-epidemic-new-study-links-prescription-drugs-to-alzheimers/

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/10/02/narcotic-overdose-deaths.aspx?x_cid=20141002_nonlead_narcoticoverdose_facebookdoc

http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g5205

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/09/10/alzhemers-medication-anxiety-sleep/15383315/

Asprin 
http://www.healthy-holistic-living.com/fda-reverses-position-daily-aspirin.html

Becoming more and more common... do you know what it's even like?
http://www.nbcnews.com/watch/nbc-news-channel/fda-antibiotic-linked-to-nerve-damage-407306307675

A look at all recent mass shootings
http://www.wnd.com/2015/06/big-list-of-drug-induced-killers/

Autoimmunity Epidemic
http://drjockers.com/2014/11/auto-immune-epidemic/



http://www.collective-evolution.com/2014/12/15/disturbing-but-amazing-pictures-expose-the-absurdities-of-modern-culture-warning-graphic-images/


Where's the Evidence? 

Why Most Published Research Findings Are False




    DR. PETER ROST: INFLUENCING THE MEDICAL ESTABLISHMENT
    (Past Pfizer Vice President: Whistleblower)




    http://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/04/10/banned-ted-talk-rupert-sheldrake-the-science-delusion/

    How did we get so Sick?? 

    The question we first need to ask to understand how we got here. 

    Change of Tide


    Drug Company Influence
    http://www.cbsnews.com/news/merck-created-hit-list-to-destroy-neutralize-or-discredit-dissenting-doctors/


    Things that have been swept under the rug

    The good

    America's Medicated Kiddos




    "Astroturfers"

    and manipulation of media messages








    Absolutely Grotesque 
    US applogizing for using Guatemalan's as human rats


    And those weren't the only... 




    House of Numbers

    .









    From the CDC
    Unintentional Deaths due to Prescription Drug Overdoses





    Forbes.com



    LEARNING WHAT WORKS Infrastructure Required for Comparative Effectiveness Research
    "under half of medicine given is substantiated by adequate medical research"
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK64787/pdf/Bookshelf_NBK64787.pdf

    https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/12/28/16823266/medical-treatments-evidence-based-expensive-cost-stents


    A Controlled Trial of Arthroscopic Surgery for Osteoarthritis of the Knee

    http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa013259#t=article

    routine knee surgery procedures shown to be no better than a sham

    "

    CONCLUSIONS

    In this controlled trial involving patients with osteoarthritis of the knee, the outcomes after arthroscopic lavage or arthroscopic débridement were no better than those after a placebo procedure."

    "of the knee, arthroscopic lavage or débridement is often recommended. More than 650,000 such procedures are performed each year1 at a cost of roughly $5,000 each. "

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/26/health/common-knee-surgery-does-very-little-for-some-study-suggests.html?pagewanted=all

    Dr. Charles Majors

    Every Cancer at every stage is Curable, but not every patient with Cancer is Curable! 
    First question I always ask the patient, "will you do everything and anything it takes to live and go anywhere and everywhere it takes to live?"
    Since all cancers are caused by a multi-factorial, multi-system failure it will take a lot of action over a long period of time!



    Noteworthy

    8 Drugs docs won't take... yet still prescribe..
    --don't forget to add vaccines.. 

    Deaths in Mexico from Vaccines that were banned in the US years ago...
    http://www.naturalnews.com/049669_vaccine_injury_depopulation_agenda_deadly_side_effects.html

    Goodness..
    http://medicalkidnap.com/2015/07/30/four-boys-in-south-carolina-medically-kidnapped-when-parents-ask-for-second-opinion/#sthash.Mb0odwAZ.dpuf


    Academic-Oligarchy
    eafdd70dd8d93450435099536bc84acd111ea73b1ef1ceb42435ec49bc1ab260


    More Comic Relief... 
    Knoxville as a Third World Country
    http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/cbbn22/third-world-health-care---knoxville--tennessee-edition










    Orrrr we could just use dogs to cure everything!!!   kidding.. kinda.. sorta
    http://caleb.littlethings.com/caleb-meets-therapy-dog/?utm_source=LTas&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_campaign=animals






    Aetna CEO: Here are 2 reasons why health care in the U.S. is so expensive



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