Chemicals/Pharmaceuticals: The Most Dangerous And Profitable Industry In The World

Recently a Cleveland lawyer Alan Kopit appeared on the Today Show with Katie Couric. He was giving advice about health and part of his thrust was warning people to stay away from 'natural' alternatives and keep to 'prescription' remedies. This unfortunately is indicative of a growing trend as many pharmaceutical companies intensify their very subtle but real campaign against natural products and preventative medicine.

I figured that it was now appropriate to devote a blog in providing an overview of the pharmaceutical/chemical industry and how they impact on your life in a much more invasive way than you could ever imagine. Most people are quite unaware that many of the major chemical and pharmaceutical companies are one and the same and how the pharmaceutical division of these companies profit from their chemical divisions.

These companies in addition to producing drugs and chemicals also hold multiple patents on an enormous range of medical devices, cancer treatments and other medical technologies.

Create The Problem And Then Provide The Solution

As with many political events throughout history this 'strategy' would appear to fit well within the business plans of the pharmaceutical industry. Far fetched? Not at all! Let's consider a few simple truths...

  • Toxic chemicals are found in all manner of everyday household items, clothing, building materials, carpets, furniture, cosmetics, perfumes and even tampons!
  • Toxic chemicals are even put into animal foods! Some of the rationale for this is to reduce flies in the farm yard... by making the fecal matter so toxic that it kills the flies when they come into contact with it. If you doubt this, have a look at the chemicals and pesticides that are put into animal food. For more info click here.
  • The greatest majority of these chemicals undergo little or no testing for low level exposure and possible chronic health effects.

I could fill up an entire newsletter with examples of truths such as this but I am sure that you don't need me to remind you of what is largely public knowledge. Besides that is not the prime thrust of this newsletter. Rather today, I want to demonstrate the incestuous relationship between the major pharmaceutical companies and their chemical divisions.

You will then clearly see how they are contributing to the general overall poor health of the population by exposing us all to toxic substances which have a cumulative impact... particularly on the elderly and the very young and making handsome profits from this strategy by providing prescription drugs to treat the symptoms.

To demonstrate these relationships I will just select six of the top pharmaceutical Companies and follow with a brief overview of each.

  • Aventis
  • Monsanto
  • Merck
  • Dow
  • Bayer
  • Novartis

There are many more... but you will get the picture just from these examples.

The Deadly Connections

Aventis: Resulting from a merger of Hoechst AG of Germany and Rhône-Poulenc SA of France. This is also the Company that developed Star Link, the genetically modified corn which was approved as animal food, but somehow found its way into around 300 food items for human consumption with resultant human health problems ranging from anaphylactic shock to rashes and diarrhea. They are pushing the FDA to permit the unrestricted use of this product in human foodstuffs.

Monsanto: Owns Pharmacia, which was created through the merger of Pharmacia Upjohn with the G.D. Searle unit of Monsanto. Pharmacia employs 59,000 people worldwide and operates in over 60 countries. Monsanto is well known for its dominance of Genetically Modified crops and its production of deadly herbicides particularly Round Up of which they produce 160 millions gallons a year.

Merck: Is another well known pharmaceutical Company producing a range of prescription drugs. What is not so well known is that it has a division that produces chemicals and precursors for pesticides and other neurotoxins.

Dow: They produce both toxic chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Here's an example of the callousness of the management of some of these companies in their pursuit of profits. Dow produce a pesticide Dursban, more commonly known as RAID. It was to be phased out and banned because of the damage it does to the developing brain. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) was going to allow Dow "to continue to sell this substance until current stocks ran out". It an effort to delay this further Dow advertised for healthy teenagers to participate in a 'clinical trial' by swallowing the pesticide to try and prove that it was not harmful to humans. Of course they paid them $460 for providing their bodies for this 'trial'...(http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101020422/poisons.html)

Bayer: Maybe you take aspirin produced by this giant pharmaceutical company. Did you also realize that they are also a major manufacturer of pesticides. Bayers are an 'offshoot' of the notorious I.G Farben Company who produced Zyklon-B gas which was used in the Nazi death camps.

Novartis: This is an enormous Company which is into pesticides, herbicides, genetic engineering, pharmaceuticals and much, much more...

And There's More...

There are numerous instances of these companies producing a drug, not only prescription drugs but also OTC's (Over the counter drugs) which can be deadly even though they have been approved by the FDA. I am sure you have heard of some of the more common drugs which have been withdrawn from the market due to many deaths... such as the cholesterol lowering drug Baycol produced by Bayer's.

However, there are dozens more products which cause death that you are unlikely to have even heard of. Take for example 'Prepulsid' a product produced by Johnson and Johnson for heartburn and bloating. More than 300 deaths are attributed to this product.

What is particularly disturbing is that in the greatest majority of these cases the drug companies CONTINUE to market the product aggressively even after they become aware of the dangers. Every month that they can stall out negotiations with the authorities means more money in the bank.

AND, if that is not bad enough they will continue to market the product in other countries whose regulatory systems are 'softer' or can be manipulated. A clear case of profit before people.

Amazing Influence

The influence that these Companies also have on mainstream medicine is absolutely enormous and hard for most people to comprehend. Over the last 50 years they have gained a foothold in the medical establishment which will take a long time to break down. This is achieved by all manner of means, ranging from subsidies and grants to institutions, political lobbying, also downright coercion and bullying tactics.

More recently the trend is to influence the consumer direct by spending millions of dollars on warm fuzzy adverts suggesting that the viewer asks their doctor if 'such and such is right for you'. This is extremely effective promotion as reflected by sales. It is now well documented that the pharmaceutical companies spend more every year in advertising and promotion than they do on research. This is rather ironic given that their justification for their outrageous prices particularly in the US has always been based on the need for high profits in order to continue with their research. Rings a bit hollow in the light of these recent facts...

In Summary

I accept that pharmaceutical companies have a role to play in medicine and there is no denying that they have been responsible for some major medical breakthroughs and as a result there are many people walking the planet today that otherwise may be dead if it was not for their technology and inventions.

On the other hand there are many sick people throughout the world that would still be healthy today if it was not for the exposure that they have had to the toxins produced by these very same companies. Add to that the number of infants that are permanently brain damaged as a result of these exposures and it is hard to be compassionate to these major conglomerates.

My own personal objection to these companies is their total disregard to the well being of people in general. I have very strong feelings towards executives and directors of Companies that make business decisions based on financial returns to themselves and shareholders and ignore some of the basic principles of life itself in pursuit of the mighty dollar.

I hope that due to the power of the internet that more and more people will become enlightened to what is happening around them and not fall prey to the 'warm and fuzzy' adverts and begin to appreciate the importance that prevention plays in good health. The decision makers in these business groups are far from 'warm and fuzzy'.

If they could, they would take away your choice of even accessing the most basic dietary supplements. Did you know that these same pharmaceutical groups which are a powerful political influence in Europe are trying to turn ordinary Vitamin C over 60mgs into a prescription drug...and much more?

Whilst this is going on they are able to continue to turn out their chemical toxins with impunity and develop more drugs to help treat the illnesses stemming from them.

Always be aware of the dangers to your health in your environment and in particular if you are on prescription medicines question your physician closely about not only side effects but if there are any deaths recorded against that particular drug. Work with your physician to investigate possible natural alternatives.

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