Prescription Thugs Page #8

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cooperative, collusive effort

that there is between allopathic

healers and psychiatry.

We've been sold the idea

that these things work,

that if you put your kids

on Ritalin, they'll do better

at school.

If you're at work,

and you're taking

an antidepressant,

you'll do better at work.

It seems rational to take them.

It's not that we're irrational;

we're trying to be rational,

and we've been sold

a bag of goods.

People think that because

it's prescribed by a doctor,

it's safe, and it's approved

by the FDA, so it's safe.

I mean, these are

illusory impressions

that the public has,

and it's not true.

To get a drug approved,

a company only has to submit

two positive studies to the FDA

showing that the drugs

worked better than a placebo...

Not better than another drug

already on the market,

just better than a fake pill.

Then to make things easier

on Pharma, they get to pick

and choose

which studies they submit,

meaning they could have

48 studies that say

a drug is terrible

and causes half the people

who take it to grow tails...

Well, you did it again.

Gee, what a mess.

But as long as they produce

two positive studies,

the FDA approves the drugs,

and we get another bottle

on our shelves.

Very frequently,

companies would come,

and they'd throw down millions

of dollars and say,

"Run it until you get

this result."

- And what happens to the other

- 48 bad studies?

They get filed away

with the Ark of the Covenant

in that warehouse

from "Indiana Jones."

The value in drugs these days

depends on companies

being able to hide the data

and conjure up the idea

that these drugs are worth more

than they actually are.

The research I do,

which is the comparative

effectiveness in drugs,

has always been left to

the pharma companies to do.

The federal government

doesn't fund that.

Now there are a lot

of consulting firms

that will come in and do

the same kind of research.

I call them "Results 'R Us."

You tell me what you want

to know,

and I'll manipulate

the data to find it.

When it comes to publication,

a lot of times, you know,

a negative result

or an indifferent result

isn't published.

I guess you could call it

publication bias.

Even the journals,

"New England Journal

of Medicine"

or "JAMA," etc. they know.

You're basically saying,

Oh, we didn't like the big

study, and this new drug,

everything's wonderful

and had no effect.

But isn't that dangerous

to people taking it

if they don't know

the information?

Under the influence

of control trials,

believing that's the best

kind of evidence,

doctors stopped

listening to patients

and looking at patients

and going by what they saw

right in front of their eyes.

They looked away

from the patient and looked

at the scientific evidence

instead.

What they they thought

they were seeing were articles

by reputable academics

in the best journals

in the field,

but what they were

actually looking at

was ghost-written articles

and that no one had any access

to the underlying clinical

trials behind these articles.

So, the companies could say

whatever they want.

I started to recognize

that I wasn't getting

the full picture.

The information was

being presented to me

through rose-colored glasses,

so that I would present it

to physicians

through rose-colored glasses.

I was being encouraged

to misinform people,

and if I was misinforming

doctors,

that meant doctors were

misinforming their patients.

So, there was

no informed consent taking

place in the medical arena.

A new report raises serious

questions about the safety

of prescription drugs

in this country.

More than ever, medications

that are supposed

to help people are instead

making them sick, and in

some cases even killing them.

Anybody who has a guaranteed

insurance reimbursement

will be a victim

of these things.

Three out of ten older people

are taking at least

five prescription drugs

multiple times a day.

Now, I asked our expert

why this is happening.

Tonight I'm told they just

don't know any better.

I don't care

if you're a foster child,

if you are an elderly person

that has Medicare,

if you are an indigent person

that has Medicaid.

All the people who take

a group of drugs

used to treat conditions

including asthma,

depression, and epilepsy

may have an increased risk

of dementia and even death.

If you are someone

that they can be guaranteed,

has a government job that you're

going to get reimbursement,

you're going to get put

on one of these drugs

because that means

a refill every month,

and that is a compliant patient,

and they're going to get more

money in the till down the road.

Those are the patients

Pharma loves,

and if they can get

your kids, wow.

Then they've got

a lifelong customer.

Mom, I want an allergy medicine

that won't make me drowsy.

Children's Claritin Chewables!

Your child may be taking

what is called

the most abused drug in America,

and you may be

completely unaware

of how dangerous it can be.

It's true... Adderall

has been named

as the most abused

and overused legal drug.

Adderall has become

the new gateway drug for kids.

According to the DEA,

6,000 kids a day

use prescription drugs

to get high

for the very first time,

and it's killing them, too.

The Attorney's Office has opened

a child death investigation

after a child overdosed

on prescription drugs

early this morning.

Tomorrow a summit will be held

to talk about

the growing problem

of babies born to addictive

prescription drugs.

Many of those who are affected

aren't taking pills to get high

but to get better,

following a doctor's orders

and accidentally developing

an unshakeable addiction.

It's the worst epidemic

we face in America today.

Addiction?

Prescription drug addiction.

Okay?

I mean, we have...

Is it bigger than alcohol?

Way bigger.

Every 19 minutes,

someone dies in this country

of an accidental overdose.

Every 19 minutes.

That means that you take

a couple of pills

before you go to bed,

thinking you're going to get

your daughter to school

in the morning,

and you just don't wake up.

The deeper you dig,

the worse these guys look.

Recent publications

have revealed safety problems

with the drug Vioxx.

With billions being made

and not much to lose,

critics say even in the case

of crime, for this industry,

nothing is likely to change.

Unless people go to jail,

unless the fines are much larger

than they have been,

the companies will find

that it's cheaper to cheat.

In a combination civil

and criminal settlement,

Pfizer has agreed

to pay $2.3 billion,

the largest health care fraud

settlement

in the history

of the Department of Justice.

But at the same time,

the company made, I believe,

$8 billion in profit last year.

What some industry folks

are skeptical about

is that this isn't anything more

than just the cost

of doing business for a lot

of these drug companies.

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