An investigation conducted by respected scientists, including four Nobel Laureates, found that clinical
tests on new drugs are highly scandalous. When the FDA made spot checks on these tests, it discovered
that 20 percent of the involved researchers used highly irregular practices, such as applying the wrong
doses of drugs and/or forging documents. In one-third of the examined “clinical tests,” there were no tests
done at all, and another third did not comply with the standard requirements for conducting such tests.
The Journal of the American Medical Association reported on November 3, 1975, that the results of only
one-third of all clinical tests could be considered reliable.
Therefore, at a time when most drugs are entering the market without scientific backing and
justification, both physicians and patients ought to be vigilant and cautious about their use of drugs. Since
there are no long term studies to prove that a certain drug a patient is using today will not cause him
cancer, diabetes, or heart disease 15-20 years from now, he can never be sure that they won’t. As long as
one’s life is not in real danger, it would be better to avoid drugs, especially if they are combined with
other drugs, which amplifies their side effects by 2, 3, 4 or more times. If you want to know more about a
drug, read the list of side effects accompanying the drug or consult the drug advisory board in your area
(if available). Most medical doctors can only pass on the information they receive from the drug
manufacturers.
The whole drug side effect issue is complicated by the fact that drug reactions are only rarely reported
by general practitioners. The British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology reported in 1997 that “most
prescription drugs are more dangerous than they appear because doctors rarely report side effects to the
appropriate authorities.” This tragic situation was confirmed by French researchers, who discovered
massive underreporting of adverse reactions to prescription drugs. The French research revealed that only
one out of 24,433 adverse reactions is reported to the various drug monitoring agencies. All drugs are
poisonous, and even if they happen to have a few beneficial side effects, in the majority of cases these do
not warrant their use.
Doctors are not innocent in this regard. Three out of four physicians fail to tell their patients about the
toxic side effects of the prescription drugs they recommend. Many of the doctors claim that they just don’t
have the time to explain the risks involved to their patients. However, they obviously have the time to
treat them during repeat visits for the diseases that result from the side effects of their prescriptions.
Patients need to draw their own conclusions on this. Perhaps the following facts will help to make it
easier.
- Over the last 10 years, the FDA has approved 12 drugs that have deadly side effects, including
Vioxx, Celebrex, and Aleve, among others. - The Journal of the American Medical Association reported several years ago that an estimated
125,000 Americans die each year from the side effects of FDA approved drugs. Since the new drug
scandals that occurred in 2004-05, this figure is quite likely to be 10 times as high. - The FDA approved the sale of the statin drug Baycol to lower cholesterol. One severe adverse
reaction, discovered later, was the potentially fatal condition known as rhabdomyolysis, in which
destruction of muscle tissue occurs. Despite such a severe adverse reaction, the FDA continues to
approve the use of other statin drugs that are also associated with this deadly side effect. - The FDA has aggressively suppressed natural alternatives to drugs. Red yeast rice, for example,
known to be a safe and effective alternative to cholesterol-lowering drugs, was banned by the FDA in
2001. - One in five patients is completely misdiagnosed by his doctor, who writes prescriptions for health
problems the patient does not have.