Creating Disease: Big Pharma and Disease Mongering

by Dr. Larry Dossey

'You may think there is enough disease in the world already, and that no one would want to add to the diseases that we humans must deal with. But there is a powerful industry in our society that is working overtime to invent illnesses and to convince us we are suffering from them.

This effort is known as "disease mongering," a term introduced by health-science writer Lynn Payer in her 1992 book Disease-Mongers: How Doctors, Drug Companies, and Insurers Are Making You Feel Sick. Payer defined disease mongering as "trying to convince essentially well people that they are sick, or slightly sick people that they are very ill."'





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Eight Invented Diseases Big Pharma Is Banking On

'Since direct-to-consumer drug advertising debuted in 1997, pharma's credo has been When The Medication Is Ready, The Disease (and Patients) Will Appear. Who knew so many people suffered from restless legs?

But pharma's recent plan to move from mass-market molecules into more lucrative vaccines and biologics did not see the anti-vaxer movement coming: millions of Americans saying You Want to Vaccinate Me -- and My Child -- with WHAT?? and condemning vials of H1N1, rotavirus and MMR vaccines to sit, well, way past their expiration dates. Nor were fears of an international vaccine conspiracy helped by former CDC Director Julie Gerberding resurfacing as President of Merck Vaccines in December. (Nice revolving door if you can catch it.)

Now pharma is back to creating new diseases, patients, risks and "awareness campaigns" faster than you can say thimerosal (the vaccine preservative that started the backlash.)'

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Disease Mongering for Restless Leg Syndrome

'A textbook example of disease mongering by the pharmaceutical industry is the case of Requip for Restless Leg Syndrome.'



What is Requip and Mirapex?



'Requip is a powerful drug for Parkinson’s Disease. Requip is also used to treat movement disorders caused by anti-psychotic drugs for mental patients (such as Prolixin and Haldol). Mirapex is similar to Requip.



Adverse side effects of Requip includes compulsive gambling and hypersexual behavior.(1)



Magnesiun Deficiency Causes Restless Legs



Magnesiun deficiency causes muscle cramps at night and is the most common cause of Restless Leg Syndrome. (2) Sixty Eight Per Cent (68%) of Americans are Magnesium deficient, according to the USDA Agricultural Research Service.(3) Restless Leg Syndrome, or leg muscle cramping during sleep is not a reason for powerful Parkinson's drugs. Inexpensive magnesium supplementation usually resolves the problem. Using a drug like Requip instead of supplementing for magnesium deficiency is the height of lunacy, and would be comical if it wasn't tragic. This is typical drug mongering indicative of a broken medical system.'



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The Pharmaceutical "Business with Disease"

'There is an entire industry with an innate economic interest to obstruct, suppress and discredit any information about the eradication of diseases. The pharmaceutical industry makes over one trillion dollars from selling drugs for ongoing diseases. These drugs may relieve symptoms, but they do not cure. We have to realize that the mission of this industry is to make money from ongoing diseases. The cure or eradication of a disease leads to the collapse of a multi-billion dollar market of pharmaceuticals.

I encourage you to read the key points about the nature of the pharmaceutical business and to think about each of them. Now you will understand why we are bombarded with advertising campaigns by pharmaceutical companies wanting to make us believe that they are “Searching for Cures” “Striving for the Eradication of Diseases” or “Increasing Life Expectancy” and other false promises. With these deceptive statements, the pharmaceutical industry has for decades been able to disguise the true nature of its business – maximum profit from ongoing diseases.'

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Peddling Paranoia

Image Courtesy: www.adbusters.org




Selling cures for imaginary diseases is where the drug industry really rakes in the cash, argues Alan Cassels. Real need barely enters the picture.

'To create ‘new’ diseases Berman says drug companies hire public relations agencies and work with academics. ‘You find a professor working in a university and fund that professor to write a book, or to do a media tour around the country. Or you find a public figure, a sports figure or an actor, to go around and meet and work with journalists, and to do work with public forums, so you literally create this need.’ '


'Many people still believe that medicine is a noble pursuit, dedicated to curing humankind’s ills. But the reality is that ‘cure’ is passé. According to Alex Hittle, a biotech analyst at AG Edwards in St Louis: ‘We sometimes joke that when you’re doing a clinical trial, there are two possible disasters. The first disaster is if you kill people. The second disaster is if you cure them. The truly good drugs are the ones you can use chronically for a long, long time.’ '

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