Doctors and patients lose trust as drug companies are fined over $11 billion for criminal wrongdoing

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Doctors and patients lose trust as drug companies are fined over $11 billion for criminal wrongdoing
Oct 14, 2013 | Natural News | Sue Woledge

Pharmaceutical companies have racked up over $11 billion in fines over the last three years for many cases of criminal misconduct. Twenty-six pharmaceutical companies around the world, including eight of the ten largest companies, have been charged and fined for various criminal behaviors, including withholding safety data for new drug approval applications and promoting drug uses beyond the conditions they have been approved to treat.

According to two papers published in the New England Journal of Medicine, public and professional trust is being eroded by the regular criminal wrongdoings of the pharmaceutical industry, and lawyers have warned that the fines are not sufficient to change the criminal behavior of the industry.

The largest fine of $3 billion was paid by Glaxosmithkline (GSK) in 2012 after they were found guilty of withholding safety data, marketing drugs for unauthorized uses and cheating the US government's Medicaid system in the largest case of healthcare fraud ever. GSK marketed their antidepressant drug Paxil as being suitable for children under the age of 18 when it was approved for adult use only, distributed a fraudulent medical journal article and convinced doctors to prescribe more of their drugs by lavishing them with gifts such as meals and spa treatments.

Other companies have received fines ranging from $420 million to a massive $2.3 billion, but a lawyer at Boston University has pointed out that, although the fines are huge, when compared to the massive profits that these companies are making, they amount to only a small percentage of total revenue. The fact is that the drug companies consider the fines to be a cost of doing business, and when the fines are paid, the government that allows this criminal behavior to continue benefits by recouping a portion of industry profits.

Meanwhile, pharmaceutical associations are trying to work out how to resolve the problems. With so much criminal wrongdoing, the doctors whose role it is to prescribe these companies' products are now finding that their trust has been broken. Many physicians report that they are now dismissing industry-funded clinical trials and research. Due to the regular scandals, patients are also realizing that the industry can't be trusted, contributing, no doubt, to the rise in interest in natural medicines.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.independent.co.uk

http://www.wanttoknow.info

http://www.abc.net.au

http://www.mja.com.au

About the author:

Sue Woledge is a natural therapist, writer and owner of Creating A Toxin Free Future Sue is an advocate for natural health and responsible living and is passionate about life-long learning, natural health, nutrition, healthy living, the environment and natural medicines. Sue believes that living as naturally as possible and eating a diet consisting of natural, unprocessed foods is key to good health, as is reducing exposures to synthetic and toxic chemicals.

GMO pushers in desperation, trying to claim consumers no longer care about GM foods

© Natural News

GMO pushers in desperation, trying to claim consumers no longer care about GM foods
Oct 2, 2013 | Natural News | Sue Woledge

While an Australian scientist from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has been quoted saying that the heat has gone out of the genetically modified food debate and that people are now willing to eat GM food, particularly if they understand why the crop has been modified, statistics from public surveys around the world say otherwise.

It would appear that, although pro-GM scientists, reporters and politicians continue to manipulate figures and create excuses for consumers being uneasy about genetically modified foods, polls continue to indicate that public opinion still leans very heavily toward a "No GMO" stance.

According to ABC News, in the USA, only slightly over one third of the population believes that genetically modified foods are safe to eat, with fifty two percent believing that they are unsafe and thirteen percent remaining unsure. Surveys in Australia and Europe have resulted in similar figures, with seventy five percent of Australian consumers having said that they would have concerns about eating GM foods, and seventy percent of those surveyed in European countries agreeing that GM food is fundamentally unnatural; only twenty one percent of Europeans believe that genetically modified foods are safe to eat.

Statistics also reveal that attitudes toward genetically modified foods varies with age, sex and education level. Those who are more likely to believe that GM foods are unsafe include women, older people, those who are more educated and those from a scientific background.

The pro-GM lobby has stated that the fact that many people still buy foods even when GM ingredients are listed on labels indicates that consumers aren't really that concerned, assuming that people are in fact more accepting of GM foods than they might imply when asked outright; however, studies have also revealed that most people don't actually read ingredient labels on the products they buy even when they say they do.

It would appear that human beings instinctively understand that the genetic modification of food is unnatural. Almost twenty years after the first GM crop was approved for sale, consumers continue to feel that this technology is potentially dangerous. Many view it as an experiment that is not needed: it is dangerous and is purely about profits for biotech companies that seem hell bent on forcing it down the throats of a population that does not want it. But as much as these companies and their supporters try to change public opinion, it is obvious that most people still don't want GM foods, and public attitude remains unchanged.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.innovation.gov.au

http://abcnews.go.com

http://www.abc.net.au

http://www.huffingtonpost.com

http://ec.europa.eu

http://healthland.time.com

http://science.naturalnews.com

About the author:

Sue Woledge is a natural therapist, writer and owner of Creating A Toxin Free Future Sue is an advocate for natural health and responsible living and is passionate about life-long learning, natural health, nutrition, healthy living, the environment and natural medicines. Sue believes that living as naturally as possible and eating a diet consisting of natural, unprocessed foods is key to good health, as is reducing exposures to synthetic and toxic chemicals.