Exclusive to the Manifest Online: Bad Drug Dealers

By Robert Gates
Mainfest Staff Writer

Adverse drug reactions are the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. Reactions to prescription and over the counter drugs kill far more people annually than all illegal drug use combined.

So why are we allowing this to take place? Why aren’t government officials fighting to protect public safety?

They’ve been bought out or are too afraid to go up against billion dollar pharmaceutical companies. Every year drug companies donate, or should I say invest, millions of dollars into political campaigns in hopes of getting a candidate elected that will go along with their agenda. Drug companies even find ways to get false information into medical journals.

Pharmaceutical companies are far more concerned with getting a new drug out on the market and making money than they are about testing that drug for safety. Within the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the FDA, 80% of the resources are geared towards approval of drugs, and 20% for everything else. Drug safety gets 5% of the resources. Often times drugs are allowed on the market even though their benefits are insignificant. All a new drug needs for approval is to prove superior to a comparison treatment (usually placebos). Many drugs that have been released on the market have proven to be detrimental to the user’s health.

According to Dr. David Graham, who worked for the FDA for 20 years, “The FDA in incapable of protecting America. The FDA is responsible for protecting the interest of the pharmaceutical companies and not the American people.” So I’m sure it was of no surprise to Doctor Graham when he heard recently about FDA Administration Chief Lester Crawford being fined for false reporting about stocks that he and his wife owned. And I’m sure it was of no surprise to Doctor Graham when he heard that some of those stocks held were in medicinal companies.

So if any of this information seems shocking to you, or even if it sounds like a bunch of bull I ask you to educate yourself on the issues. Find out the truth for yourself, because not too many people are handing it out. And if you happen to find something that you feel to be unjust, stand up and be heard. We need a lot more on our side.