Standard medicine says prescription drugs are safe, but herbs are not? Let's debate this statement.
Since prescription drugs are the mainstay of most standard medicine protocols, let's discuss their safety and effectiveness in this Substack.
Our discussion today is, Are Prescription Drugs Safe? Are doctors correct in stating that drugs are safer than herbs? We will examine the safety and side effects of prescription drugs, which are the mainstay of most standard medical protocols.
We will discuss the same questions and issues regarding the use of herbs in another Substack. The use of herbs demands the same questions to be discussed and answered.
What will your doctor tell you when you ask him about taking herbs?
Herbs are ineffective and lack reliable research supporting them. (This will be debated in another whole Substack) Herbs, their safety, and reliability will be addressed in the next substacks.
Doctors state:
Drugs are safe, herbs are not.
You can’t predict how herbs will affect you or the possible side effects.
Herb companies may or may not have good manufacturing procedures, which could have a negative impact on your health.
You can’t know the correct dosage to take.
Let us examine prescription drugs, asking the same questions. How do they fare when the microscope is focused on them?
Are drugs safe?
Are drug companies that produce drugs honest? Is their research reliable, honest, and valid?
Is their research to be trusted? How honest are drug companies in their so-called clinical drug studies?
Clinical research fraud is rampant!
“The top health fraud prosecutor recently announced that clinical trial fraud will be a major priority of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Speaking at a Food and Drug Law Institute conference last month, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Arun Rao characterized the DOJ’s enforcement of clinical trial fraud cases as “aggressive”, citing two recent actions we’ll return to in a moment.
In his remarks, Rao noted that
[f]raud in clinical trials poses significant risks to the American public. The FDA relies on the veracity of clinical trial data when making drug approval determinations, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that all FDA-approved drugs are safe and effective for their approved indications. Fabricated clinical trial data can have dangerous consequences if relied upon by the FDA, drug researchers and medical doctors when making material decisions about the safety, efficacy and clinical use of drug products.
Rao supervises the DOJ’s Consumer Protection Branch, which brings criminal and civil actions to enforce health and safety-related laws, including the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
The “Unlimited Medical Research” that wasn’t
According to the DOJ, Unlimited Medical Research, a Miami, Florida, company, was one of several firms hired by a pharmaceutical firm (identified elsewhere as GlaxoSmithKline [GSK]) to conduct a clinical trial designed to investigate the safety and efficacy of an asthma medication in children. From about 2013 to 2016, employees of the company falsified records to make it appear as though pediatric subjects made scheduled visits to Unlimited Medical Research, received physical exams from a clinical investigator, took study drugs as required, and received payments for their participation. Actually, none of this happened: children were not given exams, they did not take the study drugs, and they were not paid. In fact, there were no children at all. Employees, including a medical doctor who served as the primary investigator for the trial, fabricated the entire thing in a scheme to defraud the pharmaceutical company. The doctor used patients’ personal information from her private medical practice to create false information to be entered into case histories for the trial.”
Dark Side of Medical Research: Widespread Bias and Omissions
Are there any safety issues in the manufacture of drugs?
Yes, because most of our drugs are manufactured in China and India where there are serious questions about their quality and safety.
“China is the world’s largest producer of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), which are the key components in medications. Approximately 80% of APIs used in U.S. drugs are sourced from China. This includes ingredients for both generic and brand-name drugs.”
“Since last summer, drug companies have announced a total of 45 recalls of generic lifesaving blood pressure medications. They include certain versions of valsartan and two other blood pressure drugs, losartan and irbesartan, as well as other blood pressure medications that contain the recalled drugs in their formulations. The raw ingredients were all traced to overseas manufacturing sites where drugs can be processed at a lower cost than at U.S. facilities.” https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/tainted-drugs-ex-fda-inspector-warns-dangers-u-s-meds-n1002971
Have they told the truth to the thousands of patients who blindly take their prescriptions?
The truth about prescription drugs your doctors ignore and refuse to acknowledge!
Drug companies have paid out billions for misrepresenting their drugs and their safety! Read below.
Photo by David Trinks on Unsplash The truth about prescription drugs your doctors ignore and refuse to acknowledge!
10 Biggest Pharmaceutical Settlements in History (please read this whole article)
Drug companies over the past, starting from Bayre in Germany, manufactured the gas for the gas chambers that killed the Jews. There are some real nasty blotches on their company history, although they have tried to bury it.
They told us cigarettes do not cause lung cancer! Let us not forget that drug research on the effects of cigarette smoke, paid for by the companies that manufactured the cigarettes, told people for years that cigarettes did not cause lung cancer. How many people died believing that fraudulent research?
Pfizer was involved in a scandal involving Celebrex, an anti-inflammatory drug. The company misrepresented its safety data. They paid out over 164 million for their cover-up.
GlaxoSmithKline paid $3 billion for, among other violations, failing to disclose safety data and for other fraud. They are a shining example of how drug companies couldn't care less about your health and are only in it for drug profits.
“The penalties are related to deceptive marketing, including off-label promotion and kickbacks, and failure to report safety data.
GSK agreed to pay based on:
Promoting Paxil, Wellbutrin, Advair, Lamictal, and Zofran for off-label and non-covered uses, in addition to paying kickbacks to physicians for prescribing those drugs.
Giving kickbacks to physicians for prescribing Imitrex, Lotronex, Flovent, and Valtrex.
Making false and misleading statements about Avandia’s safety.
False reporting to the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program.”
Johnson and Johnson has been involved in many lawsuits, including $2.2 billion they paid out for misbranding their drug Risperdal.
Bayre and Johnson lied about the safety of their drug, Xarelton, used as an anticoagulant drug, leading to them being fined $775 million. It caused severe health issues in the patients to whom this drug was prescribed.
There have been multiple lawsuits against drug companies for promoting opioids to patients, causing addictions for thousands. These patients were not informed of the severe addictive properties.
Drugs: OxyContin
“Purdue Pharma holds the dubious distinction of being forced to pay the largest health care fraud settlement in U.S. history. A bipartisan coalition of 15 states and other parties reached a $7.4 billion settlement with members of the Sackler family and their company Purdue Pharma, Inc.
The penalties are related to the company’s instrumental role in creating the opioid crisis. In addition to delivering $7.4 billion to address the opioid crisis, the settlement barred the Sackler family from selling opioids in the United States.”
I can give you a whole page more on the settled lawsuits against drug companies for hiding safety studies, lying to doctors and patients about the side effects of their drugs.
So doctors say that herbs are unsafe, but are drugs safe? They are not.
So let's look at Cipro, a common drug used for infections. This is true for every drug that you take.
Is Ciprofloxacin safe? Keep reading and answer that question for yourself.
Question: Can you be certain whether you will experience side effects when taking this drug, and what side effects will affect you personally?
Truth: Each patient who takes this could have one side effect, several side effects, or end up in the hospital with side effects from this drug.
Question: Is each patient given the same dosage?
No, it’s an individualized dose based on weight, age, and the condition being treated.
This is the quoted information on Ciprofloxacin, a commonly used antibiotic for the treatment of bacterial infections.
“Oral route (tablet; tablet, extended release; suspension)
“Ciprofloxacin is a prescription antibiotic used to treat various bacterial infections. The typical dosage for adults varies based on the condition being treated.”
There is a whole page of possible side effects with this antibiotic.
Fluoroquinolones, including ciprofloxacin, are associated with disabling and potentially irreversible serious adverse reactions that have occurred together, including tendinitis and tendon rupture, peripheral neuropathy, and CNS effects.”
“General adverse events
The most common side effects (from clinical trials of all formulations, doses, durations of therapy, and indications) were nausea, diarrhea, abnormal liver function tests, vomiting, and rash. The most common side effects reported with the IV formulation were nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, injection and infusion site reactions, rash, and increased transaminases (transient).[Ref]”
“A 27-year-old woman with mild systemic erythematosus developed toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) after starting a second oral course of this drug after a prior 5-day course. She developed a rash, high fever, and diarrhea after taking the 2nd dose and presented with diffuse rash, epidermal sloughing of 60% of the skin, desquamation of the lips, shock, and respiratory distress. She died on the 28th hospital day of TEN, right ventricular failure, and acute respiratory distress syndrome. As of 2003, 9 cases of TEN, including 5 fatalities, had been reported in the literature.
Erythema nodosum, Stevens-Johnson syndrome (potentially life-threatening), and TEN (potentially life-threatening) have also been reported during postmarketing experience.[Ref]”