Recently, another family member paid a visit to the doctor’s office for a rash. Blood work revealed slightly high blood pressure and cholesterol.
Now I’m going to ask you a question. What do you think the doctor said? Go ahead. I’ll wait……….
We all know. The doctor said, TAKE THIS PILL. That’s all most of them ever say! The doctor SHOULD BE telling you about the safest treatment options, which rarely include drugs. Research has shown that changes in lifestyle and diet DO work! These changes have proven effective. Food really is the best medicine.
Got a headache? Go ahead, pop a Tylenol or Advil! But what is causing the headache? Are you dehydrated? If that’s the case, a glass of water is a far safer and better treatment. (And, it won’t kill your liver!)
THE RIGHT FOODS, can help repair DNA, activate stem cells, balance hormones, build muscle, reduce inflammation, enhance immune function and so much more. How many pills would you need to pop to get all those benefits? (While again destroying your liver!) There are many other natural, holistic, and alternative treatment options without the side effects of drugs.
So here is the follow up question. Why do you think that so many doctors are quick-draw Mcgraw with the prescription pad?
For one, most of them don’t know what else to say or do. Functional practitioners, yes, but most doctors don’t have a clue! According to my research and conversations with actual doctors I know, they learn very little about nutrition and other means of healing. No, I’m afraid that many doctors are just legal drug dealers. Most would never suggest a diet or lifestyle change FIRST to see if things improve!
Another reason is a little more upsetting. While it is illegal for them to receive a straight up payment for writing prescriptions, the pharmaceutical companies have gotten creative with “incentivizing” doctors to deal their drugs.
It is not too different from the music business back in the day. The “pay to play” BS. Did you ever wonder why you heard a record in heavy rotation on the radio? All this good music and I’ve heard this same song ten times today! Why? Radio stations were “incentivized!” It was called payola! And when they made it illegal, the labels got creative just like the drug companies.
Hey docs! Let’s us send you to this “conference” in Tahiti so we can “educate” you on this new drug! Or let us pay you this humongous speaking engagement fee and cover your travel for you and your entire family! Translation: bribery.
Meanwhile, Americans are sicker and more overmedicated than ever! More than 70% of us take a prescription drug daily. Many of us take several.
To make matters worse, despite a well-established connection between drug toxicity and aging, doctors often fail to connect a patient’s symptoms with a possible reaction to a prescription. Instead, attributing these issues to some new medical condition and guess what they do? I bet you got that one right! Give you a new pill to take.
Doctors seem to prescribe a different medication for every symptom and not all of them, if not any of them, require meds. Some of these drugs combined can be toxic. Hell, alone, many are toxic!
We go to the doctor for whatever reason. They seem to ALWAYS find some reason to prescribe a drug. The issue is that alternatives and safer options are rarely if ever discussed or suggested! Instead, it’s “here, take this statin.” (Never mind that it might destroy your liver, screw up your cognitive function and kill your penis!) But hey, I got a little blue pill for that! No worries! WORRIES.
While the drug might improve the elevated numbers for that one ailment, they more often than not, wreak havoc elsewhere! Basically, rather than figure out what is wrong with the operating system, they just turn off the “check engine” light!
Elevated cholesterol is typically an indicator of another issue. Your body NEEDS cholesterol. Your brain needs it. Your body uses cholesterol to produce hormones. It needs it to build healthy cells. High cholesterol is not really a disease. It is something that puts you at risk for disease! If it is elevated, something is probably out of whack causing it to be elevated. Popping a statin does NOT identify or treat the underlying condition! If it’s clogged arteries that scrip won’t do jack squat to unclog them. The drugs do not treat the disease. They treat or mostly mask the symptoms. So why not suggest eating more fiber, less saturated fat or more plant foods? How about getting your ass up and exercising? Nope. Just pop this pill because I’m trying to get to Tahiti!
“Big pharma doesn’t create cures. They create customers.” It’s true and backed up by statistics!
I’m not going too deep in this post about the corruption and greed! I am telling you; the research is disturbing. I could dedicate a series of posts to the topic of pharmaceuticals and big pharma. I mean one company recently admitted to three felony counts of defrauding the federal government, misleading regulators, and violating anti-kickback laws by paying doctors to write more prescriptions of their drug!
Purdu Pharma is the drugmaker that helped to create the current opioid crisis. They plead guilty to criminal charges as part of their eight-BILLION-dollar settlement.
According to the CDC, about a half-million people died from opioids overdoses including those prescribed, between 1999-2019. Pharmaceutical companies have spent more money on lobbying than any other industry around the world!
These pharmaceutical companies receive substantial U.S. government assistance in the form of research and tax breaks. Pharmaceutical industries also receive a tax deduction for their marketing and advertising expenses. Now you know why you see those drug commercials in heavy rotation! I’m telling you this is some gangster shit going on! Then they charge exorbitant prices for these meds most of us don’t need so that the CEO’s can get rich.
In 2018 alone, the CEOs of major pharmaceutical companies Allergan, Johnson & Johnson, and Pfizer Inc. made a total of $90 million. (And I’m sure that number is staggering with the Covid vaccine! Now they can pay off their settlements!) A CBS News report stated Americans spent $535 billion on prescriptions in 2018 which was a 50% increase from 2010.
Meanwhile, acording to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association, in the period from 1999 to 2017, medical marketing expanded from $17.7 to $29.9 billion. That same report also found that the number of ads went from 79k to 4.6 million! Can you the smell greed and corruption?
While the primary activity of big pharma should be research and development, most of their investment is in advertising and marketing. They aren’t trying to cure a damn thing. Not only are they drug dealers, they are straight-up pimps! Excuse my French, but they are attempting to string us all out and make us “their bitches!” And they have doctors dealing their drugs.
Now, I’m not saying that I’m totally against medication and all doctors are bad. I loved my doctor in Pasadena! (Shout out to Dr. Ettinger who clearly cared for his patients. I’m sad he’s 3000 miles away!) Sometimes, medications are necessary.
What I AM saying is that they are overprescribed and there are reasons why. What I AM saying is that there are options that are never presented or discussed. ONE. Because doctors just don’t know. And TWO. They just don’t care enough to learn.
As Chris Rock put it in his stand up years back, the money is in the medicine, not in the cure. BUT, the cure (as well as the culprit) could be in your refrigerator and pantry. The cure could be hiding in the gym or on the bike path.
Drugs should not be the first resort. They should be the last!
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1122833/
I love this piece and have found recently thru a friend how diet and natural supplements can change so many gut issues you have. I no longer take excedrin daily for headaches. People don’t know what is available to them outside the traditional box and media push. I find it disturbing the lists of side effects on these prime time advertised medications – especially how freely “suicidal thoughts” come up! A friend was on 4 different blood pressure medications 4. Some additional testing would have found the mass on her kidney causing the blood pressure issue. Once removed, zero yes zero blood pressure medications. I hope through exposure, and people willing to see things from a different angle will help promote a more natural attack on issues. Thanks so much for sharing…..
Thank you for reading and for your comments. The prescription drug situation is out of control! Americans are drugged up, yet more unhealthy than ever! Do the math! Food really is the best medicine. Diet combined with lifestyle changes can really cure a lot of what is ailing us all. Sometimes, meds are necessary, but again, should be the last resort, not the first! My personal belief is that stress and other negative emotions, sleep deprivation, processed foods, and sedentary habits are where we start! Not the pharmacy at CVS. Nature’s pharmacy is a much better and safer option.