patients

Patients should demand full lifetime refunds on Vioxx, COX-2 inhibitors and other drugs

Sunday, January 16, 2005
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...)

eTrust Pro Certified

Pin It
Let's take a closer look at honesty in medicine. Over the last few months, the FDA and state legal authorities have been going after a company selling various supplements and herbal formulas that promised to enhance breast size. According to the news reports, these products were unproven and entirely worthless in enhancing breast size, and the company was ordered to not only stop selling the products, but to also repay customers who had purchased them.

I applaud this kind of action if indeed these products were ineffective at doing what they promised to do. Companies should not be allowed to sell supplements or herbal remedies that simply don't work. But I also believe that the same logic should be applied to all of medicine. If prescription drugs don't work, shouldn't the consumers get their money back as well? And what about surgical procedures? If a surgeon offers you some procedure to eliminate back pain by fusing your vertebra, and afterwards your back pain is still present, why is it that you don't get your money back from that surgeon?

By the same rules of ethics and honesty, shouldn't patients who do not get the desired benefits from the procedure get a complete and full refund? Sure they should! But in practice this never happens. In fact, surgical procedures and prescription drugs are essentially sold to patients on a "use at your own risk" basis.

The reason why modern medicine isn't guaranteed, by the way, is because if it were, the claims of non-performance would bankrupt pharmaceutical companies and surgical centers. That's because the vast majority of western medicine simply does not work as promised. Prescription drugs, for example, are often sold with the promise that they will make you healthier. Chemotherapy is sold to patients with the implied promise that it will increase their quality of life, which it absolutely does not. All sorts of chemical compounds and pharmaceuticals are pushed onto doctors and patients with a long list of promises that are simply unfulfilled by those drugs in actual use.

Antidepressants, for example, promise to make people feel less depressed, but in reality, they can lead patients to commit violent acts including suicide. Statin drugs block cholesterol production, impairing your sex hormones, causing muscle wasting disorders and producing severe nervous system problems. COX-2 inhibitors cause heart attacks that can kill you. NSAIDs (over-the-counter painkillers) kill 16,500 Americans every year due to intestinal bleeding. In all, prescription drugs kill 100,000+ Americans each year and injure another 2 million. You don't see any of these people getting their money back, do you?

The point I'm trying to make here is that in the fields of health and medicine, promises to customers are only selectively enforced. There seems to be an implied arrangement in the minds of regulators (like the FDA) that only alternative therapies have to be proven, only herbs have to actually work in order to be sold. But everything else -- prescription drugs, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgical procedures -- doesn't have to work at all. Even if they do not work, the patients must still pay for them and when those procedures fail to produce the promised result, the patients are never owed refunds. When was the last time a drug company pulled a prescription drug off the market and the FDA forced them to refund all the customers who bought it? Do you see people getting their money back for all the Vioxx they purchased over the last few years? Of course not.

I find this to be a curious double standard. If we are going to pursue honesty in wellness and health, shouldn't honesty apply to everyone offering health-related products and services? Shouldn't surgeons have to abide by the same rules of honesty? Shouldn't pharmaceutical companies have to pay money back to patients who don't benefit from those pharmaceuticals? And even more, shouldn't they reimburse patients for damage caused by those pharmaceuticals? What about surgical procedures that go wrong? Shouldn't the patients be entitled to not only refunds but financial awards for damage without having to sue surgeons and hospitals through the malformed legal system?

It only makes sense that if we are going to demand that companies offering healing therapies actually make good on their promises, we should demand it from everyone.

If you'd like to run your own personal experiment to see just how bizarre this idea is to the practitioners of conventional medicine, go visit any heart surgeon and start discussing a potential surgical procedure, then ask for a guarantee. Tell that surgeon, "Hey! If this surgical procedure does not work out as you promised or if something goes wrong, if you damage a nerve or I lose range of motion or something else happens that actually impairs my health, I would like a full refund of all fees associated with the surgery."

If you do that you will be greeted with a rather robust round of laughter from your surgeon, who will then go on to explain that "We don't do things that way around here." It's true; they don't do things that way. Surgical procedures are not guaranteed. (In fact, most are not even proven to work, even when they succeed. Surgical procedures don't have to be safe or even effective to be widely practiced in the industry.)

There are a number of popular surgical procedures that are performed on patients to combat obesity or chronic disease that are unproven, unnecessary, and unethically marketed to patients using scare tactics. My point is that if we're going to go after herbal companies selling breast enlargement products, we should also be going after the hospitals and clinics pushing medically unjustified surgical procedures onto patients.

And personally, I think that every person who purchased a COX-2 inhibitor drug over the last ten years should get their money back for ALL the drugs they ever bought. That's the standard action the FDA demands of herbal companies. Why not apply the same standard to Big Pharma as well?

Of course, you already know the answer to that: the Fraud and Drug Administration is determined to pad the profits of drug companies while bankrupting anything related to complementary and alternative medicine. It's the same old tactic used by the AMA for decades to try to shut down chiropractic care.

Get breaking news alerts on GMOs, fluoride, superfoods, natural cures and more...
Join over four million monthly readers. Email privacy 100% protected. Unsubscribe at any time.

Articles Related to This Article:

Unnecessary surgery exposed! Why 60% of all surgeries are medically unjustified and how surgeons exploit patients to generate profits

Surgery can cause fibromyalgia; chiropractic care can effectively treat it, says Dr. Whitcomb

Statin drugs expose patients to dangerous, debilitating side effects

Thousands of U.K. doctors are putting patients on 'death lists' and denying them treatment

Dr. Nick Gonzales and Suzanne Somers get real about nutrition and cancer on the Robert Scott Bell Show

Fibromyalgia: science validates homeopathy (again)

Related video from NaturalNews.TV


Your NaturalNews.TV video could be here.
Upload your own videos at NaturalNews.TV (FREE)



About the author: Mike Adams is an award-winning journalist and holistic nutritionist with a passion for sharing empowering information to help improve personal and planetary health He has authored and published thousands of articles, interviews, consumers guides, and books on topics like health and the environment, and he has published numerous courses on preparedness and survival, including financial preparedness, emergency food supplies, urban survival and tactical self-defense. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In mid 2010, Adams produced TV.NaturalNews.com, a natural health video sharing website offering user-generated videos on nutrition, green living, fitness and more. He's also the founder of a well known HTML email software company whose 'Email Marketing Director' software currently runs the NaturalNews subscription database. Adams is currently the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit, and pursues hobbies such as martial arts, Capoeira, nature macrophotography and organic gardening. Known by his callsign, the 'Health Ranger,' Adams posts his missions statements, health statistics and health photos at www.HealthRanger.org

Have comments on this article? Post them here:

 people have commented on this article.

Related Articles:

Unnecessary surgery exposed! Why 60% of all surgeries are medically unjustified and how surgeons exploit patients to generate profits

Surgery can cause fibromyalgia; chiropractic care can effectively treat it, says Dr. Whitcomb

Statin drugs expose patients to dangerous, debilitating side effects

Thousands of U.K. doctors are putting patients on 'death lists' and denying them treatment

Dr. Nick Gonzales and Suzanne Somers get real about nutrition and cancer on the Robert Scott Bell Show

Fibromyalgia: science validates homeopathy (again)

Take Action: Support NaturalNews.com

Email this article to a friend

Permalink to this article:

Reprinting this article: Non-commercial use OK, cite NaturalNews.com with clickable link.

Embed article link: (copy HTML code below):
Most Popular
Today | Week | Month | Year

See all Top Headlines...



Now Available at ShopNaturalNews.com

O3 Essentials OraJuvenate™
A powerful, cleansing dental cream for maximum oral/dental health.
New Cancer Solutions
Over 3 hours of content covering today’s best cancer tests, how to kill cancer cells and the best diets and exercise routines.
Freeze-Dried 100% Organic Whole Corn
Our freeze-drying method preserves taste, texture and nutrients better than any other food preservation method ever invented.
Fenix TK35 Flashlight
Tough, waterproof, extremely bright and it’s touted to throw an 800+ lumen beam more than 1,000 feet into the night.
Inca Treasure Smoothie Pack
This pack of our four most popular superfoods from South America is the perfect combo pack for smoothie lovers.
Pink Himalayan Salt
This salt delivers significant levels of magnesium, zinc and selenium, with trace levels of dozens of other elements.
Pinhole Glasses - Aviator Style
Pinhole glasses are becoming famous for helping people improve their vision without the risks of laser surgery.
Oxy-Rich Facial Serum
O3 Essentials Jojoba Oxy-Rich Facial Serum is cellular nourishment for your skin. Helps smooth fine lines while enhancing tissue elasticity.
Freeze-Dried 100% Blackberry Halves
Our freeze-dried blackberry halves are grown in Serbia under strict organic standards.

Also on NaturalNews:

Health Ranger Videos
Activist music
CounterThink Cartoons
Food documentaries
FREE Special Reports
Podcasts

Advertise with NaturalNews...

Support NaturalNews Sponsors:

Advertise with NaturalNews...

Most Popular Stories

Dear Donald Trump: Blockade the lying mainstream media and recognize the independent media as America's real free press
Kellogg's found to have financial ties to the money man for cop-killing left-wing HATE groups: George Soros

25 Amazing Facts About Food

This FREE downloadable report unveils a collection of astonishing and little-known facts about the food we eat very day. Click here to read it now...

 

Resveratrol and its Effects on Human Health and Longevity - Myth or Miracle.

Unlock the secrets of cellular health with the "miracle" nutrient Resveratrol Click here to read it now...

 

Nutrition Can Save America

FREE online report shows how we can save America through a nutrition health care revolution. "Eating healthy is patriotic!" Click here to read it now...

The Healing Power of Sunlight and Vitamin D

In this exclusive interview, Dr. Michael Holick reveals fascinating facts on how vitamin D is created and used in the human body to ward off chronic diseases like cancer, osteoporosis, mental disorders and more. Click here to read it now...

Vaccines: Get the Full Story

The International Medical Council on Vaccination has released, exclusively through NaturalNews.com, a groundbreaking document containing the signatures of physicians, brain surgeons and professors, all of which have signed on to a document stating that vaccines pose a significant risk of harm to the health of children. Click here to read it now...

Health Ranger Storable Organics

GMO-free, chemical-free foods and superfoods for long-term storage and preparedness. See selection at www.StorableOrganics.com



Recommended Resources On:

Natural News trends
Health Ranger news
Natural News GMOs
Mike Adams tracker
Natural News photos
Natural News Global
Natural News in focus
Natural News connect
Natural News shocking stories
Natural News radar
GMOs
Quackwatch
Vaccines
Health freedom
Dr. Paul Offit

This site is part of the Natural News Network © 2014 All Rights Reserved. Privacy | Terms All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing International, LTD. is not responsible for content written by contributing authors. The information on this site is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice of any kind. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. Your use of this website indicates your agreement to these terms and those published here. All trademarks, registered trademarks and servicemarks mentioned on this site are the property of their respective owners.

eTrust Pro Certified Android app on Google Play