Direct-to-consumer drug advertising

Email this page to a friend

Want news about Direct-to-consumer drug advertising and more e-mailed to you? Click here for free email alerts

The hoax of modern medicine: Seven facts you need to know Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

No one is talking seriously about banning soda ads and junk food ads to children, and Big Pharma has bought off lawmakers so completely that there's also no serious discussion of ways to end the madness of direct-to-consumer drug advertising (a dubious practice that isn't even allowed in most other countries). Rather than protecting the people, politicians are now in bed with the powerful corporations selling foods, drugs and personal care products that actually harm people. There is no real defender of the people who remains in power in Washington.

Incessant disease mongering turns Americans into profit-generating guinea pigs for Big Pharma (opinion) Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

Secondly, we've got to end the ridiculous practice of direct-to-consumer drug advertising. There is absolutely no justifiable reason why prescription drugs should be marketed directly to patients on television. It is only allowed because it is profitable, not because it serves any scientifically justifiable function in society. And third, it's time to conduct a serious investigation into the crimes against America that have been committed by top FDA officials.

Analysis: Senate committee approves drug safety bill, but FDA still runs on Big Pharma money - UPDATE 1 Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

The top five reforms we really need 1) Ban all direct-to-consumer drug advertising. It never should have been legalized in the first place. There is no logical medical argument that justifies the practice of promoting prescription drugs directly to consumers. 2) Fund the FDA entirely with public money. It's crucial to disconnect the FDA from the purse strings of Big Pharma. FDA funding should come from those it answers to: the taxpayers. 3) Make the reporting of drug side effects mandatory.

The bill has good intentions, but even if it passes, it still leaves the FDA fully in charge of a medical monopoly, paid and influenced by drug companies, and does nothing to outlaw direct-to-consumer drug advertising. Relevant facts about the FDA and Big Pharma:The FDA is funded in part by the drug companies themselves. Employees who work at the FDA know that drug companies ultimately help fund their paychecks. This creates a dangerous level of collusion between a regulator and the industry it claims to regulate, turning it into a business / customer relationship.

NewsTarget readers making waves across the natural health, natural living markets (opinion) Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

You're forwarding articles to friends, posting our CounterThink cartoons on websites, buying our books from Truth Publishing and taking grassroots action on subjects that really matter (like trying to help us ban direct-to-consumer drug advertising, which would save tens of thousands of lives each year in the United States alone). When vendors call me with compliments, they're talking about YOU! "NewsTarget readers are the greatest!" they'll say. Or, "Where did you find such wonderful people?

Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine Is Making Us Sicker and Poorer Shannon Brownlee See book keywords and concepts

Free speech In his book Generation Rx, Greg Critser traces the beginning of direct-to-consumer drug advertising to a couple of young Madison Avenue hotshots named Joe Davis and William Castagnoli. In 198 c, the two were hired by Merrell Dow to advertise its new antihistamine, a drug called Seldane. Mer-rell executives believed that Seldane was a huge advance because it didn't leave hay fever sufferers glazed with drowsiness the way existing drugs did. But Castagnoli and Davis faced three tall barriers to conveying that information to patients.

Many physicians would like to see direct-to-consumer drug advertising banned, or at least more strictly regulated to present more balanced information. In a recent editorial, Dr. David Kessler, former commissioner of the FDA, worried that "consumers who make health decisions based on what they learn from television commercials ultimately take medicines they may not need, spend money on brand medicines that may be no better than alternatives, or avoid healthy behaviors because they falsely believe a medicine is all they need.

Senate, House agree on FDA reform; key provisions remain but FDA remains threat to America Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

There's not even a ban on direct-to-consumer drug advertising -- an unjustifiable practice that's directly responsible for the huge increase in drug side effects (adverse events reporting) and drug deaths over the last few years. As I have stated on this website many times, it is no exaggeration to say that the number of Americans killed by FDA-prescription drugs each year greatly exceeds the number of Americans killed in the entire Vietnam War.

Medicine at gunpoint: Seattle mother arrested for "kidnapping" her own baby to seek alternative treatments Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

Other health freedom efforts now underway include campaigns to ban direct-to-consumer drug advertising and end the monopoly on drug prices. Organizations such as the Life Extension Foundation and Commercial Alert are supporting grassroots efforts to end the FDA's reign of terror, while many of the FDA's own drug safety scientists like Dr. David Graham are working from inside the agency to affect meaningful reform.

Kevin Trudeau's Natural Cures book review Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

Personally, if I were making that much money on a bestselling book, I'd be founding a major non-profit organization and launching a national effort to get direct-to-consumer drug advertising outlawed. I'd use the money to affect lasting social change. What Trudeau does with his money is his own business, but in my view, if he's really passionate about this natural health issue, he would designate at least some portion of his proceeds (15% or so) to fight the drug companies head-on through public service announcements, grassroots campaigns and other similar endeavors.

Natural Health Solutions Mike Adams See book keywords and concepts

When we express our wishes for health freedom, for access to good information, and for reforming the Food and Drug Administration or banning direct-to-consumer drug advertising on television, we create political pressures that can result in significant change. If we can get the Health Freedom Protection Act passed into law, we can unleash a new era of freedom and disease prevention that can have an enormously positive long-term influence on the future of our nation and our children.

Psychiatry and disease mongering: Road Rage Disorder is latest spontaneously "discovered" disease Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

I tell you, there is no greater con in the history of the world than this con being perpetrated by Big Pharma and all the major players in conventional medicine: The FDA, medical journals, psychiatry, med schools and even the mainstream media (which, remember, accepts hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising from drug companies, thanks to the fact that direct-to-consumer drug advertising is still absurdly legal in this country). You want the blunt truth on all this? Here it is: Healthy people take no drugs, period.

Empower yourself in 3 minutes a day: An introduction to indy media, NewsTarget.com and the online information revolution Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

The things most people accept as "normal" today -- direct-to-consumer drug advertising, the drugging of our children with psychiatric drugs, the widespread fluoridation of public water supplies, and so on -- will someday be viewed as nothing less than insane. Future historians will be stunned at the ignorance and arrogance of today's world, much as we find it hard to believe today that the world's brightest scientists once insisted the Earth was flat. NewsTarget brings you tomorrow's stories today "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.

The health care reform legislation that Congress should pass, but won't Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

As a bonus, we'll never have to hear the phrase, "anal discharge" mentioned again during a television ad. #6 Stop junk food and soda advertising to children Here's sort of another obvious one: outlaw the predatory marketing of junk foods, candy and sugary beverages to children, many of whom are already headed for a life of diabetes, heart disease and obesity. But wait: the soda companies say sugary drinks have nothing to do with obesity! And, better yet, the American Diabetes Association claims there's no link between sugar and diabetes!

Psychiatry and disease mongering: Road Rage Disorder is latest spontaneously "discovered" disease Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

Every bodily function and behavior may be declared a disorder How far will the drug companies go before lawmakers, journalists and citizens come to their senses and finally ban direct-to-consumer drug advertising? You can expect them to try anything to sell more drugs. No bodily function, emotion or behavior is safe from Big Pharma's disease mongering racket. It won't be long before we hear about IFD. That's Intermittent Farting Disorder, in case you were wondering. It's the early expression of CFD, Continuous Farting Disorder, which is far more dangerous. Farting, you see, is a disease.

Having a bad day is perfectly normal By the way, if you had a bad day, got angry at a crazy driver on the highway, couldn't fall asleep one night, forgot where you put your keys or felt nervous at a social gathering, there's nothing wrong with you. It's called "life." Sometimes stuff happens. Every day isn't perfect, and if you think that chemicals will make your life better, you're kidding yourself. That old slogan, "Better living through chemistry" was a cruel joke. Don't fall for the con of psychiatric medicine and its incessant disease mongering. There's nothing wrong with your head.

The top ten things we'd see if the FDA were put in charge of the criminal justice system Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

Telephone con artists who scam senior citizens out of their life savings would be put in charge of direct-to-consumer drug advertising. (Explanation: Senior citizens are being financially exploited by drug companies who use direct-to-consumer advertising to con people into asking their doctors for drugs they don't even need.) 2. All murderers would be set free as long as they carried a large warning label that said, "Warning: I may kill you.

Natural Health Solutions Mike Adams See book keywords and concepts

On this topic in particular, you'll have to get your information via grassroots channels, because the mainstream media, which seems addicted to drug company advertising money, refuses to cover the issue with any degree of journalistic integrity. The FDA becomes a rogue agency Originally founded with the mission of protecting public health, the FDA has long since sold its soul to Big Pharma, and it now operates primarily as a marketing branch of the very industry it was supposed to regulate.

FAIR USE NOTICE: The research quoted here is provided under the protection of Fair Use provisions and published by the 501(c)3 non-profit Consumer Wellness Center for the purposes of public comment and education. Authors / publishers may submit books for consideration of inclusion here.

TERMS OF USE: Read full terms of use. Citations of text from NaturalPedia must include: 1) Full credit to the original author and book title. 2) Secondary credit to the Natural News Naturalpedia as a research resource and a link to www.NaturalNews.com/np/index.html

This unique compilation of research is copyright (c) 2008 by the non-profit Consumer Wellness Center.

ABOUT THE CREATOR OF NATURALPEDIA: Mike Adams, the creator of this NaturalNews Naturalpedia, is the editor of NaturalNews.com, the internet's top natural health news site, creator of the Honest Food Guide (www.HonestFoodGuide.org), a free downloadable consumer food guide based on natural health principles, author of Grocery Warning, The 7 Laws of Nutrition, Natural Health Solutions, and many other books available at www.TruthPublishing.com, creator of the earth-friendly EcoLEDs company (www.EcoLEDs.com) that manufactures energy-efficient LED lighting products, founder of Arial Software (www.ArialSoftware.com), a permission e-mail technology company, creator of the CounterThink Cartoon series (www.NaturalNews.com/index-cartoons.html) and author of over 1,500 articles, interviews, special reports and reference guides available at www.NaturalNews.com. Adams' personal philosophy and health statistics are available at www.HealthRanger.org.