Shocking Report From Medical Insiders

[Lilja]

"Corruption of the medical industry worldwide is a huge issue, perhaps more dangerous than the threat of all wars combined".


http://nsnbc.me/2015/06/19/shocking-rep ... -insiders/

This is so depressing!

Lilia

[tex]

Hi Lilia,

Yes, it's a sad state of affairs, but unfortunately it has been going on for so long that it would be a Herculean task to throw out all of the invalid medical research that has been published, so I'm not sure that it will ever happen. However, I have to agree that until the medical community gets their research ducks in a row, I certainly can't put any faith in most of the research that's been published in the last decade or 2, because most of it isn't worth the paper it was printed on. It just shows what happens when the fox is in charge of the henhouse. When pharmaceutical companies are paying the bills for virtually all of the medical research being conducted (even when universities are used as a "middleman") nothing good can come of it, because the published research will always show that the drugs manufactured by the sponsor of the research are the solution to the problem.

If you do a search of the archives you will find that I have been posting about invalid/corrupt research publications for almost 8 years now, and other members have also posted about the growing problem. Here are a couple of those old threads:

"Why Most Published Research Findings Are False"

Medical journal retractions on the rise

And Blueberry has also recently posted about this problem, citing the very editors-in-chief mentioned in the article you cited. See post number 9 in the thread at this link:

Family has had enough of my Magnesium talk

Thanks for the link,
Tex

[Blueberry]

It really is disappointing that there is so much fraud in the medical health care field. As a patient and wanting to trust health care professionals it's obviously troubling to read about these problems. I can imagine additionally some doctors and medical staff are similarly concerned.

I saw on the Diet Doctor sight a link to a Guardian news paper article published yesterday about the issue of fraud seen within the medical field. Swedish Dr. Eenfeldt suggests in his article legislation and even criminalizing some of the activity. I personally think that would be nice in some respects, but in reality is likely wishful thinking here in America, with the large of amounts of money involved and with the revolving door between politicians, journalists, Universities, regulators and the medical industry. Along those lines, little mentioned in the media, but career politician, lawyer, and the former head of the new health care system in America, Kathleen Sebelius recently found a job on the board of the Pharmaceutical company Dermira.

Until or if the situation improves, it's best to do ones best to stay informed, be a little skeptical I suppose about claims, in my opinion.

"How Too Much Medicine Can Kill You – and How to Stop It"

http://www.dietdoctor.com/how-too-much- ... n-kill-you

Side effects of prescription drugs is the third leading cause of death, after heart disease and cancer.

Obviously many drugs, like antibiotics, are also saving tons of lives every day. But the pharmaceutical industry is not just interested in saving lives, they are primarily concerned with increasing shareholder value. And that is done by selling as much as possible, using any means available.

This new article from Dr. Aseem Malhotra is well worth reading:

The Guardian: How too much medicine can kill you

The problem can only be solved through legislation. As long as massive fines for research fraud and marketing useless drugs are seen as the cost of doing business, nothing will change. Not when it’s this profitable. Not when it helps the responsible people get their bonuses.

They don’t even pay the fines – their company does – so it’s all profit for them. The system is only encouraging them to keep cheating.

How about putting the responsible people behind research fraud (that kills innocent people) in prison instead? On a murder charge?

That could discourage a few CEOs out there.

[tex]

How about putting the responsible people behind research fraud (that kills innocent people) in prison instead? On a murder charge?

I agree that this has to be incredibly frustrating and embarrassing for "real doctors" and other medical professionals, including legitimate researchers. Our so-called "justice system" sent the farmers who grew and sold the contaminated cantaloupes a couple years ago to prison, but like you, I have trouble visualizing them sending the big shots in the pharmaceutical industry to prison for doing much worse. But as a result of this, you can be absolutely sure that I won't be growing and selling any cantaloupes.

And all the insider connections (such as Kathleen Sebelius' move into the pharmaceutical industry) are exactly why they will continue to get away with murder. And as mentioned in that quote, fines mean nothing in the pharmaceutical industry as long as profits are up in the stratosphere.

The sad truth is that the way things are going these days, if you assume that the conclusions claimed in every research article you read are false, you will be correct most of the time. Is that pathetic, or what?

Tex

[DJ]

A friend of mine who is a PhD chemist resigned from her position as a researcher with a pharma company because she could not cope with the corruption and falsified studies. She got another degree and entirely changed her career.
Having all of us chasing the next snake oil is lucrative for a snake oil company and having "big findings" to report is fantastic advertising. On the other hand, there are remedies right before our eyes that gain no attention because there is no money to be made!
I've heard that prescription medication for toenail fungus can have serious side effects and takes a long time to work. I've also heard that applying Listerine to the toenail will cure the problem in time and, of course, has no side effects.
Have you seen those granny spots that are large, brown, and scaly? If you pick at them they bleed. I applied pure shea better to the one I had twice daily, making sure to rub it in well. The granny spot disappeared in a month or two and never came back.
Do you have a skin tag? Have someone tie a string around it and tie it tightly. It will pinch a little. Cut the string short and leave it there. Soon the skin tag will be gone.
How long did it take for kids with life-threatening seizure disorders to get Charlotte's Web? It remains illegal to mail the medication even though it has no addictive properties or "street" value.

Now I've made myself cranky.

[Blueberry]

Tex - I have a cousin that was recently married over the summer to a newly graduated doctor. I wondered what was going through his mind - about work! He probably went into the medical field with a feeling that he would be saving lives, and maybe make some money too. I wondered what he will be like 10 years from now. Oh, that reminds me, you might get a kick from this. I was reading a diet health book recently, it had little to do with IBD conditions, but it did have a brief mention about Crohn's and Colitis. As he wrote, the author was invited to speak at a Texas hospital about diet for those with IBD conditions. So he showed up at the hospital, and to his surprise was handed a pamphlet used at the facility. In the pamphlet it said diet had nothing, nada, zero to do with IBD conditions. As he jokingly noted was mention that the pamphlet had been printed by a pharmaceutical company.

DJ, I agree and it's nice have this forum to visit, in particular in light of the troubles seen with research fraud. We can share with each other ideas that have helped each other for an assortment of health problems.

[HappyBird]

Before everyone gets swept up on this wave........

May I remind you that there are still doctors and reserchers who are not crooked, cheating, writing anything for money, fooling the public etc. Many very ethical practitioners find the dealings outlined in these articles as abhorrent as we do and some have gone to great lenghs to try to clean up the profession by qualifying in both medicine and law. For many years the medical profession closed ranks and doctors wouldn't testify against doctor - that is no longer as prevalent. It takes time for attitudes to change.

Every profession has its baddies, medicine is no different. The betrayl if confidence by a doctor, whom we all have learned to trust, is a far more emotive an issue than betrayal by a plumber or bank manager because we trust them with our lives.

Most young people go into medicine for the right reason and find the profession is totally different in practice. Some leave and some stay to fight for what's right and to help their patients.

Medicine changed with the advent of large drug companies, this is where the problem begins, imo, campanies with money willing to buy research that suits their profit line. Big money, and greedy companies and are behind some of the issues in medicine today. ;-)

As an unrelated topic but related, because it shows how medicine in the UK is not totally in the hands of the doctors anymore. My GP surgery has a big sign that lists what patients are supposed to see the GP for : Travel injections, STD's, minor lacerations, rashes, and two other items. Patients are expected to see the pharmacist for advice on : diarrhoea, flu, colds, minor cuts & bruises, headaches, and many more items than the GP is expected to see. Patients are warned not to attend A&E unless they have had an accident or in an emergency.

No wonder my GP is not that interested in D, its the pharmacists job!
Jen

[Blueberry]

HappyBird,

Oh I'm not making a blanket statement about the whole industry and those that work in it. It simply has a good amount of problems that have come about for a variety of reasons. It's best to be aware of some of the ugly side, and do what one can to avoid them. With my cousin, I hope she is treated well, and does well. With medicine one problem in America some will say is due to medical school debt. Newly minted doctors could be in debt up to a quarter of a million, creating a situation where funds need to be raised. I've seen a number of doctors talk about that debt creating handcuffs on what they are willing to do. Somewhat along those lines recall this article:

Why America's Healthcare (Sickcare) System Is Broken and Unfixable

http://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com/20 ... ystem.html

snippet:

...Here's a two-word summary of why the American healthcare system is fundamentally broken and cannot be fixed with policy tweaks: perverse incentives.Physician Ishabaka provides a telling example of how perverse incentives operate beneath the surface of what patients (and clueless politicos) see:

Today I saw a 16 year old boy who weighed 310 pounds - the wave of the future - will have type II diabetes by his 20's, probably have at least one leg amputated by his 40's.

I got home - and there was a fax in my fax machine. It was from a medical device company, promoting their new machine which is used to test for peripheral autonomic neuropathy (a disease of the nerves). There was NO MENTION of how this device would help patients.

What WAS mentioned was that insurance and Medicare pay for this test, and that no pre-authorization is required. It was stated the average Medicare reimbursement is $200. The "C.P.T. code" - the code doctors use for billing insurance - for the test was included, and a statement that the device would return its initial cost within 3 months was included - also a statement that the test takes THREE MINUTES.

Now, $200 for three minutes work is pretty sweet. In all of medicine "doing things" pays more than "thinking". That's why surgeons on average earn twice or more the income of primary care doctors. Surgery isn't hard - if you can do carpentry, you can do surgery. The thinking is the hard part - but it doesn't pay.

Now - here's the crux of the matter - peripheral autonomic neuropathy is very common in diabetic patients - and we are having an explosion in the population of people with diabetes. Therefore there are a LOT of patients with peripheral autonomic neuropathy, and a lot more coming down the pipe. Seeing an established diabetic patient, going over their blood sugar results, other tests, diabetes medications, diet, and exercise takes 15 - 20 minutes and pays FAR LESS than $200 - but actually HELPS patients. This benefit has been scientifically proven.

As a general rule, medical tests should only be done if they are likely to HELP a patient - either due to the fact that they may guide treatment, or give the patient useful information - an example might be a test that shows a patient has incurable cancer with a life expectancy of three months (I have had to tell a guy this at least once, based on the results of my physical examination, which suggested cancer, and a CT scan, which revealed that the cancer originated in the pancreas, and had spread to the liver) the information doesn't affect the patient's treatment, but does help him arrange his life - i.e. that he should make sure his will is up to date, say goodbye to family and friends, etc.

Here is the deal - for 99.9% of diabetics there is NO TREATMENT for peripheral autonomic neuropathy, and NO BENEFIT for the patient to know if they have it or not. In other words, almost all the time - this test is completely and utterly useless. There are a small amount of diabetic patients with serious, treatable peripheral autonomic neuropathy - but in them, the diagnosis is best made by physical examination and symptoms - not by this test.

So there you have it - a worthless test that apparently Medicare and other health insurances WILL pay for, that I could use on a whole bunch of patients to make a LOT of money, in very little time.

In fact, Medicare pays about $50 - $60 for the established diabetic patient visit I referenced earlier - or about one quarter what I'd make from doing this worthless test. Not only could I test all my diabetic patients - if they tested negative, I could re-test them at yearly intervals, keep making my $200 a pop, all for no benefit whatever to my patients.

I thought this was the most crystal clear example of mal-investment in the health care field I've come across in some time. The fax is in my re-cycling bin, waiting to be picked up by the city today. I'm not buying one of the testing machines. Oh well - I'll never own an Porsche Turbo - and I love fast cars!

In conclusion - there are plenty of doctors who jump at this kind of profit-making opportunity - I know several. One in particular does an echocardiogram on EVERY SINGLE patient he admits to the hospital - he gets paid to read the results of the echocardiogram - which takes little time, and is very lucrative. An echocardiogram CAN be a very useful test in patients with certain heart conditions, or in who certain heart conditions are suspected (can confirm or refute the clinical suspicion - which can dramatically change the patient's treatment) - but an echocardiogram on EVERY patient is a rip-off, plain and simple.

I don't know how he gets away with it, but he does - he's a multimillionaire. I'm not. Sometimes I wonder who is the smarter doctor....

I saw this the other day posted on a Scottish doctors web sight. Statins are historically the number one prescribed medication in the west I believe.

"How much longer will you live if you take a statin?"

http://drmalcolmkendrick.org/2015/10/27 ... -a-statin/

& from London based, I believe, Dr. Briffa

"Why do doctors sometimes ignore medical evidence?"

http://www.drbriffa.com/2011/07/12/why- ... -evidence/

[HappyBird]

Hello Blueberry,

Our world has become a very ugly corrupt place. There isn't a single area of life where we don't bump up against someone taking advantage of us. Supermarkets, banks, insurers, manufacturers especially of food and medicines, religious priests, nuns, teachers, doctors, politicians, the small neighborhood crook - are all out to make a fast buck out of the naive and the unsuspecting. We have to keep our eyes and ears open and challenge all unethical practices including in medicine like unnecessary testing, count our change at the shops and double check the sell by dates on food the supermarkets put on special offer. People in business are there to make money, and a certain percentage are not satisfied anymore with an honest living they now don't mind being dishonest as well.

I'm not saying the practices of unscrupulous people are fine, what I am saying is we all have a duty to look after our own interests by finding out as much as we can about everything from our motor cars to what each cut of meat looks like in the butchers shop. If you ask for a filet steak and the butcher gives you a rump steak or a piece of chuck and you can't tell the difference you set yourself up to be robbed. It's not right, it's dishonest but people will do it if they find us out to be ignorant.

Having said all that, there still are good upstanding people in all walks of life who do not take advantage of us and who do very good work despite the nasty corrupt world around them. We need to be able to recognise these good people and build up a network of service providers, doctors, etc. to help us when we need something.

[Lilja]

Not only diseases kill us:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dozpAshvtsA&app=desktop

Lilia

[Blueberry]

Nice video, and enjoyed watching. I'll likely be buying the book in the future.

I can remember reading nearly 20 years ago a book by a former JAMA editor George D. Lundberg called, Severed Trust. He sighted a number of problems he saw in the medical industry during his days working for the medical magazine. One item I remember that stuck out concerned autopsies. Dr. Lundberg said autopsies used to be commonly done, but that changed at one pooint, such that I think it was only 5% of deaths were later looked into with an autopsy. The author said the change came about once hospitals and medical officials discovered that frequently the wrong disease and with that wrong medication was being prescribed for treatment.

http://www.amazon.com/Severed-Trust-Geo ... ered+trust

[HappyBird]

Blueberry........

We have known for a great number of years that the pharma companies have brutally and criminally distorted research and sometimes the reaserschers have had gagging clauses preventing them from talking out about the hidden dark secrets within this industry.

I read a book many years ago, a novel based of fact, about this behaviour. These people are so powerful that they get away with their ugly deeds.

What I am trying to say is not all the medical professions are corrupt there are a number who are very professional and behave ethically and are not driven by greed and bad practice. I fear the number in this group are dwindling though.

[Blueberry]

Thanks Happybird,

You'll have to forgive me but I've been feeling well of late and that tends to make me feel more giddy and humorous. I jokingly call it a birth defect and if inherited it likely came from English ancestors. if that is offensive, which I hope not, I'm part Irish, Swedish and French too so I can blame it on them.

The short interview Lilja posted remind me of my brother-in-law jokingly. He was recently hired to help create a new medical school at a major University here in America. I was joking to myself about it though in that I can remember in his younger days him mentioning that he planned to join the mafia. I never would have guessed that what my brother-in-law meant was joining the medical industry!

[HappyBird]

I jokingly call it a birth defect and if inherited it likely came from English ancestors.

They call Englishmen the the mongrels of Europe, this beautiful and pleasant land has been invaded and conquered by every other major nation in Europe. Englishmen are the only true multi-ethnic hybrid of Europe.