I have yet to have a discussion about the pharmaceutical industry without a conspiracy theorist crawling out of the woodwork. The sad thing is that the pharmaceutical industry has been so closed off to the general public that the view of a "Big Pharma Conspiracy" is widely held and no longer the sole domain of the conspiracy theorist, apathy on the side of the pharmaceutical industry has resulted in this view moving towards fact!
This has created a lack of trust, not only in medication, but in the physicians who prescribe them. This situation can result in some dangerous consequences. Last year a family member started bleeding after taking a natural supplement, luckily he told me, I researched it and told him that the natural supplement he was taking could cause internal bleeding and he stopped taking it immediately...bleeding stopped, I still made him go for a check-up though.
Just as the "Big Pharma Conspiracy" seems to exist, so too the view that alternative medicine equals honesty and better health! That is why just about every lay person out there is happy to walk to their local chemist and buy something based on the fact that it says "natural" on the bottle. Many people won't take paracetamol, but are happy to go into a Chinese herbalist and take whatever they are given without checking what it is or what it interacts with.
My feeling is that it is very naive to think that the purveyors of natural/alternative medicines are somehow above the very human characteristics of dishonesty and greed. These products also use marketing, PR and advertising agencies and they market directly to the consumer, without in many cases having to prove their worth.
The pharmaceutical industry can only help itself by being more transparent with its processes, results and finances. However, I also believe that alternative medicine and natural remedies should be held just as accountable. These practices and medications should also be proven within the same rigorous system and regulated more stringently than they currently are.
Ultimately, the pharmaceutical industry (despite some bad apples) do not equal dishonesty, whilst, alternative medicine (despite a few good apples) does not equal honesty.
Your blog raises a whole host of interesting topics Dot.
ReplyDeleteHonesty and ‘big pharma’ will keep tongues wagging for many years yet. I don’t know of any industry that raises more suspicion, next to banking. Yes, deceit, questionable morals and outright fraudulent practice do sometimes occur in this industry as everywhere (see also ‘politicians’ and ‘BBC’). However, writers (like me) allied to this industry enjoy a largely collaborative and honest relationship with our pharma clients, and one of our jobs is to ensure that their communication with the outside world is well-founded and can stand up to scrutiny. And, more to the point, doing our bit to help genuine medical progress reach its intended recipients (‘big’ muscle is needed to ensure the enormous expense of medical research actually goes somewhere). But there is work still to be done with the public to dispel myths and start to build trust.
‘Natural’ and ‘alternative’ medicine are two other kettles of medicinal fish. A recent intriguing tour of the Royal College of Physicians’ historical ‘Physick Garden’ served as a reminder of how thousands of plant species out there have evolved to be toxic to other species! For example, we have atropine from Belladonna (useful for soldiers in nerve gas attacks) etc., but the Birthwort, shaped like a womb and traditionally valued for fertility, in fact causes lethal urinary tract cancer. Natural does not simply equate to beneficial; Mother Nature is not waiting to cure all ills if only we have the sense to seek her open arms. More transparency here would help to protect people from complacency with what can be very potent substances.
As for the alternatives, shall I just say that honesty and transparency are a particular challenge in areas where I believe one of the overriding influences is the placebo effect! Never to be underestimated. Most of these industries would probably not thrive if forced to expose themselves to the cool, clear, bracing air of transparent and validated science. Yet do they still have a cultural and socioeconomic purpose? I know many people who depend on their beliefs in ‘something other’, declaring their stand against conventional and regulated pharmaceuticals.
I could go on but good conversation starter Dot!