The potential influence of marketing strategies used by drug production companies on the prescribing habits of doctors has been the subject of recent intense debate. Currently, doctors’ groups and the manufacturers themselves espouse professional and industry self-regulation in the marketing of drugs or medical equipment to doctors. The argument is that these voluntary measures, teamed with personal integrity, clinical objectivity and being …
Infectious Myth – Alan Cassels on Selling Sickness and Disease Mongering – 03.01.16
In episode 91 David Crowe interviews Alan Cassels, a Canadian drug policy researcher at the University of Victoria, who has authored several books, and many papers and also television documentaries. He is very interested in the promotion of drugs, particularly what he calls Selling Sickness or Disease Mongering, which happens when a drug companies, and people influenced by them, create a new illness, or promote greater ‘awareness’ of a minor condition, by exaggerating its impact, and the effectiveness of the drugs that you’re likely to be prescribed if you “see your doctor” as illness advertisements always tell you to do.
Alan believes in the power of Evidence Based Medicine, and therefore supports the Cochrane Institute, which is where one of my previous guests, Peter Gotzsche works. While not perfect, it is not so influenced by the pharmaceutical industry, and therefore produces relatively unbiased recommendations.
You can learn more about this week’s guests’s work at http://AlanCassels.com
Female Veterans Face Pitiful Health Care
It’s been a big few months for women in the armed forces. In December, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced that for the first time, all military jobs would be open to women—including elite combat positions. On February 4, following the advice of top officials in the Army and Marine Corps, House Republicans introducedlegislation that would require women to register for the draft. So, how …
The Gary Null Show – 02.09.16
Dr. Uwe Blesching is a medical journalist and the chief editor of CHI Magazine. He specializes in mind-body medicine, natural evidence-based illness prevention and protocols and the benefits of cannabis and marijuana’s phytopharmacological properties. For twenty years, Uwe was a paramedic and emergency medical expert for the city of San Francisco. He hold degrees in the Humanities and Psychology and a doctorate in Higher Education and Social Change from the Western Institute for Social Research. In addition to publishing a global guide on the use of spices and herbs for food and medicine, he is the author of the recent “Cannabis Health Index” which presents the science from over 1000 research studies on marijuana’s medical and health benefits for over 100 chronic symptoms and diseases. His website is CannabisHealthIndex.com
Martha Rosenberg – A Decade of Questions over a Paxil Study Leads to a Victory
Do you remember Vioxx, Bextra, Baycol, Trovan, Meridia, Seldane, Hismanal, Darvon, Mylotarg, Lotronex, Propulsid, Raxar or Redux? They were all highly promoted drugs that were withdrawn for safety risks after millions used them. Sorry about that. Big Pharma always insists it only knows about such safety risks after a wide swath of the population uses the drugs and “safety signals” …