I am copying the Editorial that appeared in today’s issue of the Daily Mirror Sri Lanka which I hope will interest members of this Forum.
http://print.dailymirror.lk/editorial/106-editorial/56457.html
THE PILL POPPING CULTURE
Saturday, 17 September 2011
Most of us have been brainwashed into believing that life is only possible to be lived to the fullest if the requisite medicinal drugs are taken on a regular basis. Regular health checks are promoted and are being carried out in private hospitals after which the patient is advised by the consultant that unless the drugs prescribed are used, the chances of the patient surviving without catching some life threatening disease in the future are high. It is strange that the patient who does not have any disease is often frightened into taking drugs which can be considered as being unnecessary or non-essential, and are usually sold at high prices often in some hospital pharmacies.
This has led to a pill popping culture that many innocent people, especially those in the upper strata of society, have been following for many years, purely as ‘insurance’ to ensure that they do not succumb to some disease that has been vaguely mentioned. They are not aware that their reports on blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar are found normal but they have been told it is best to take some drugs to avert the formation of cholesterol and plaque in the arteries and thereby ensure that a possible heart attack in later years, is averted.
It is rarely that the patient is advised to control his or her diet and refrain from eating fatty foods with special reference to fast foods and to also start a daily exercise routine to ensure that he or she sweats it out and replaces the sweat lost with liquids preferably water, in adequate quantities to ensure that the body is kept at peak efficiency.
The unsuspecting patient is not aware that most of the drugs taken have some side effects on the body and this often results in another drug being given at a later consultation to treat the problems caused by the first. It is also possible that these unnecessary drugs can predispose the patient to other problems and also to be infected by a wide range of diseases including dengue for which there is no known curative drug. But according to Joe De Livera, Sri Lankan representative for Homoeopaths without Borders, a homoeopathic remedy is available for dengue and any other viral flu – as referred to in one of our editorials recently. This is known as Eupatorium Perfoliatum 200c, which is used internationally and has in Sri Lanka, saved the lives of many who caught this disease and were fortunate enough to use this Remedy within a few days after being infected by this highly infectious disease.
Public health experts emphasise that western medical drugs alone cannot possibly cure all diseases in Sri Lanka. There are many forms of alternate medicine practiced here including Ayurveda and Homeopathy both of which are established and practiced and can be co-opted to cure disease, especially Dengue. Unfortunately Homeopathic remedies are not used officially by the medical profession in hospitals where patients continue to suffer as a result of a lack of a National Health Policy. It is fortunate in India that these two curative sciences are accepted and officially used by the government side by side with western medicine to help cure diseases.
Billions of rupees are being spent in importing more than 10,000 varieties of drugs under various brand names. Public health experts have appealed that the state health authorities open their eyes to the realities of life and follow the example of India and make greater use of both Ayurveda and Homeopathy in alleviating human suffering and eradicating disease.
I am adding the article in BBC News which gives more clout to the message that I am trying to convey in my original article:
THE PILL POPPING CULTURE.
2 July 2012
GlaxoSmithKline to pay $3bn in US drug fraud scandal
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is to pay $3bn (£1.9bn) in the largest healthcare fraud settlement in US history.
The drug giant is to plead guilty to promoting two drugs for unapproved uses and failing to report safety data about a diabetes drug to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The settlement will cover criminal fines as well as civil settlements with the federal and state governments.
The case concerns the drugs Paxil, Wellbutrin and Avandia.
Deputy US Attorney General James Cole told a news conference in Washington DC that the settlement was “unprecedented in both size and scope”.
Doctors bribed
GSK, one of the world’s largest healthcare and pharmaceuticals companies, admitted to promoting antidepressants Paxil and Wellbutrin for unapproved uses, including treatment of children and adolescents.
The illegal practice is known as off-label marketing.
The company also conceded charges that it held back data and made unsupported safety claims over its diabetes drug Avandia.
In addition, GSK has been found guilty of paying kickbacks to doctors.
“The sales force bribed physicians to prescribe GSK products using every imaginable form of high-priced entertainment, from Hawaiian vacations [and] paying doctors millions of dollars to go on speaking tours, to tickets to Madonna concerts,” said US attorney Carmin Ortiz.
As part of the settlement, GSK agreed to be monitored by government officials for five years.
GSK said in a statement it would pay the fines through existing cash resources.
Andrew Witty, the firm’s chief executive, said procedures for compliance, marketing and selling had been changed at GSK’s US unit.
“We have learnt from the mistakes that were made,” Mr Witty said. “When necessary, we have removed employees who have engaged in misconduct.”
Glaxo settles healthcare fraud case for $3 billion
Reuters
Washington: GlaxoSmithKline Plc agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor criminal charges and pay $3 billion to settle what government officials on Monday described as the largest case of healthcare fraud in US history.
The agreement, which still needs court approval, would resolve allegations that the British drugmaker broke US laws in the marketing and development of pharmaceuticals.
GSK targeted the antidepressant Paxil to patients under age 18 when it was approved for adults only, and it pushed the drug Wellbutrin for uses it was not approved for, including weight loss and treatment of sexual dysfunction, according to an investigation led by the US Justice Department.
The company went to extreme lengths to promote the drugs, such as distributing a misleading medical journal article and providing doctors with meals and spa treatments that amounted to illegal kickbacks, prosecutors said.
In a third instance, GSK failed to give the US Food and Drug Administration safety data about its diabetes drug Avandia, in violation of US law, prosecutors said.
The misconduct continued for years beginning in the late 1990s and continued, in the case of Avandia’s safety data, through 2007. GSK agreed to plead guilty to three misdemeanor criminal counts, one each related to the three drugs.
Guilty pleas in cases of alleged corporate misconduct are exceedingly rare, making GSK’s agreement especially unusual.
The agreement to settle the charges “is unprecedented in both size and scope,” said James Cole, the No 2 official at the US Justice Department. He called the action “historic” and “a clear warning to any company that chooses to break the law.”
The settlement includes $1 billion in criminal fines and $2 billion in civil fines.
GSK said in a statement it would pay the fines through existing cash resources. The company announced a $3 billion charge in November related to legal claims.
New ‘era’ at GSK
Chief Executive Officer Andrew Witty said the misconduct originated “in a different era for the company” and will not be tolerated. “I want to express our regret and reiterate that we have learnt from the mistakes that were made,” he said in a written statement.
The GSK settlement surpasses what had been the largest criminal case involving a drugmaker in US history. In 2009, Pfizer Inc agreed to pay $2.3 billion to settle allegations it improperly marketed 13 drugs.
The cases follow a trend of US authorities cracking down on how pharmaceuticals are sold, in part because of the rising cost of providing drugs through government programmes.
Part of civil fines address allegations that, from 1994 to 2003, GSK underpaid money owed to Medicaid, the healthcare program for the poor run jointly by states and the federal government. The company had an obligation to tell the government its “best prices” but failed to do so, prosecutors said, and $300 million of the settlement will go to states and other public health authorities.
A portion of the $2 billion in civil fines may go to a group of whistleblowers who contributed to the government’s investigation and who are eligible to share in the recovery under the False Claims Act. Cole said the amount has not been determined.
‘Integrity’ plan
As part of the settlement, GlaxoSmithKline agreed to new restrictions by the US government to prevent the use of kickbacks or other prohibited practices. The inspector general of the US Department of Health and Human Services will oversee the “Corporate Integrity Agreement” for five years.
The company will not be able to compensate its salesmen based on sales goals for territories. It was also required to change its executive compensation program to allow the company to “claw back” certain pay for those engaged in misconduct.
Witty said GSK’s US unit has “fundamentally changed our procedures for compliance, marketing and selling. When necessary, we have removed employees who have engaged in misconduct.”
Prosecutors have not brought criminal charges against any individuals in connection with the GSK case, although the settlement expressly leaves open that possibility. Cole declined to comment on the possibility of future charges.
Almost exactly a year ago GSK agreed to pay nearly $41 million to 37 states and the District of Columbia in an unrelated case about substandard manufacturing processes at a Puerto Rico factory.
In 2010, the company took a $2.4 billion charge in connection with Avandia to settle claims from patients.
GSK’s shares were positive on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, up 1.6 percent to $46.29 at 1400 EDT.
The case is US vs GlaxoSmithKline LLC, US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, No 12-cr-10206.
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