There are 2 sides to that coin, james_woods. There are necessary and efficacious drugs that won't make it to market due to an overly conservative FDA.
BTS
Some fairly alarming medical news in Discovery magazine - Nov. 2010 issue:
by james_woods 28 Replies latest watchtower bible
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ziddina
"Are you saying that doctors kill more people than guns? ..."
Funny you should ask that, Leaving WT... Were you seriously asking???
Because conservative estimates indicate that there are 76,000 deaths PER YEAR in the American Medical Industry - er, "system" - from errors made by doctors, nurses, pharmacists, anesthesiologists, and so on...
I think that the American Medical Industry came under scrutiny because of an interesting situation that occurred in the '60's - maybe the '70's... I don't think this is an 'urban myth'...
Seems that the doctors in Los Angeles County, California, felt that they were underpaid. So, they decided to go on strike.
The city and county officials panicked. They prepared for an onslaught of premature deaths, increased deaths by accident, and so on.
The strike began. Doctors did not go to work. The officials braced for the worst.
But a funny thing happened...
The death rate actually DROPPED during the strike.
This made some people - like Ralph Nader - go "hmmm....."
Subsequent studies have revealed many problems within the American Medical Industry...
Zid
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WTWizard
I am not surprised that so many die from properly administered drugs per year. And yet they continue pushing these drugs.
Now, how many people die from vitamins and herbs per year? One herb (ephedra) had maybe double digit deaths from people taking it, usually taking 3 or 4 times the recommended amount and with a pre-existing condition. One even took the stuff and then worked in 100 o heat, and died from that. So, they go and ban ephedra with double digit deaths, while permitting prescription drugs with 5- and 6-figure deaths. And that is one of the more dangerous supplements--along with comfrey, iron (more people get sick or die from iron supplements than all other vitamin or mineral supplements put together), and herbs that are inherently dangerous. Most of them carry a small risk of ruining your liver. (Yet, acetominophen is much worse, and they still sell that.)
I wonder how many people would die per year if they would replace all these drugs with quality supplements. Take away the 770,000 from the drugs themselves, and add the number that would die because their condition is "improperly treated", and you would still come up with a negative number. At worst, I doubt that as many as 770,000 would die because of their "improper treatment". At best, well prescribed supplements would improve their condition so fewer would die from the conditions. And, since you would not create new conditions, you would also prevent other "conditions" that come from Round 1 of the drugs.
Now, to compare with the Avandia deaths, I wonder how many people have died from taking alpha lipoic acid. I believe that alpha lipoic acid has the potential to have results comparable to Avandia, but without the risks (and if not, at least the risks of taking the drugs are prevented, which are likely even worse than the "condition" itself). And, since alpha lipoic acid does not ruin your liver, you could be preventing another condition by simply taking it instead of the drug (even if the diabetes itself is "improperly treated"). The general loss of life, including loss of quality of life, is likely to be less on the alpha lipoic acid. And, with more studies that are not tampered with by the drug companies, we could find out with more certainty just how much better alpha lipoic acid (and magnesium, and what other herbs work to enhance these supplements) are than drugs at reducing loss of life and/or life quality.
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JeffT
More than 770,000 Americans die each year from drug complications.
And about 179,000,000 who take a perscription drugs don't. The relevant question is: how many will die if they don't take the drugs.
Patients need to inform themselves about risk vs benefit and decide where their problem/solution lands on the scale. If your doctor won't tell you, you need a new doctor.
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Snoozy
BTS, the real reason many drugs don't make it to market is they don't have enough rich backers..the drug companies pay to get their drugs approved..that's why many get rushed through the system and later we find out the harm they are doing was noted before it was even approved.
Being an AARP member I get lots of updates and have done a lot of research on drugs and insurance etc for seniors. You know the $250. rebate check the seniors are supposed to be getting when they reach the prescription donut hole? It isn't there!. Most are saying it is taking them 6 months to get it when the release says it is only taking 45 days..they try to call and get the runaround. No one is in charge of the checks..big talk..little action.
If the government can't afford to send out a measly $250. check on time they must be in big trouble...
And concerning many of the drugs like lipitor, they have said the drug does lower your cholesterol numbers but it still doesn't prevent you from having a heart attack, what that..isn't that why you take it in the first place?
I have a sister in law (JW) that listened to her loving sisters at the hall when she was having intestinal problems..they gave her all kinds of advice on what herbs she should be taking..well she got worse. Ended up losing all her intestines and have oto have a bag put in.
Why? The Dr told her that the herbs she had been taking had eaten up her intestines..
And people argue with me when I say even herbs can be dangerous..
I had a pharmacist tell me one time that natural vitamins and herbs aren't any different than drugs because they all come from the same place..
Don't even get me started..
Snoozy
PS..James..I didn't understand #2...
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BurnTheShips
BTS, the real reason many drugs don't make it to market is they don't have enough rich backers..the drug companies pay to get their drugs approved..that's why many get rushed through the system and later we find out the harm they are doing was noted before it was even approved.
I agree with you, Snoozy. In some respects, the FDA acts as "gatekeeper" for entrenched interests. Big pharmas have greater access.
BTS
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AuntBee
My husband and i once saw a tv commercial for some drug that treats toe fungus. Then at the end, at a lower volume, a voice said "risks include heart attack ,sudden death, stroke, liver failure, ,etc....." and we looked at each other, laughed out loud, and figured we'd rather cope with the toe fungus!
Even if you don't agree with all of it, Suzanne Sommers' book on cancer called Knock Out, really exposes the insurance/drug co/doctor triumvirate. Even though some within the system are caring, health care has become such a big business, meaning TO MAKE MONEY.
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james_woods
PS..James..I didn't understand #2...
That is probably because I mis-typed it:
2) - care patients don't need of failing to give care that is necessary accounts for an estimated 30% of the annual health care budget - more than 2.4 trillion dollars per year.
It should have said:
2) - care patients don't need OR failing to give care that is necessary accounts for an estimated 30% of the annual health care budget - more than 2.4 trillion dollars per year.
I took it to mean that often unnecessary treatments are given, adding to costs - or that in other cases simple necessary treatments are NOT given, which ends up in increased costs later for more involved corrective care.
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james_woods
I just found this old thread from two years ago - and it looked like it might still have some current value.
So, here it is...back from the dead...
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wasblind
Unlike the WTS the threads on this site still hold value