WALL STREET PLUNDERS - BIG PHARMA CRIMINALS SUCKING THE BLOOD OUT OF AMERICA FOR PROFITS

The opioid crisis and endless drug controversies have left the pharmaceutical industry with a ghastly reputation. (Hasty Words/Pixabay)

BETTER LIFE

The Most Loathed Industry in the US

Big Pharma has a terrible reputation that it has worked hard to earn

BY GREENMEDINFO

 CommentsSeptember 26, 2019 Updated: September 26, 2019

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Every year, Gallup surveys Americans about their attitudes toward 25 industries. Ranking in the lowest position as the most-loathed industry is the pharmaceutical industry, which got so many bad rankings that it has a score of -31. For comparison, the top-rated sector, the restaurant industry, has a net positive score of +58.

The survey involved 1,525 adults, who were asked to choose their overall view of 25 industries, using the rankings very positive, somewhat positive, neutral, somewhat negative or very negative. Overall, 58 percent of Americans ranked the pharmaceutical industry negatively, more than double the amount that ranked it positively (27 percent).

Pharma’s Lowest Rating Since 2001

The pharmaceutical industry’s -31 score is the lowest for the sector since Gallup’s “Americans’ Views of U.S. Business Industry Sectors” survey began in 2001. Only a few other industries have received such negative ratings over the survey’s nearly two-decade run, including the federal government, oil and gas, real estate and automobile industries.

“The new low in the pharmaceutical industry’s U.S. image comes amid a range of criticisms of industry norms, from generating the highest drug costs in the world, to spending massive amounts in lobbying politicians, to the industry’s role in the U.S. opioid crisis,” Gallup noted.

While other industries, like real estate, have made favorable turnarounds by cleaning up their images, Gallup suggests it will be some time before Big Pharma gets a favorable glow, in large part due to the opioid crisis facing the United States.

Drug overdose deaths involving opioids increased 45 percent from 2016 to 2017, and in 2017, more than 70,000 people died from drug overdoses—68 percent of which involved an opioid. Already, pharma giant Johnson & Johnson has been ordered by an Oklahoma judge to pay $572 million to the state for fueling the opioid epidemic.

The state accused Johnson & Johnson of being a public nuisance for its deceptive advertising of opioids to doctors, and similar lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies have been filed across the U.S.

Gallup reported: “As the opioid epidemic rages on—and as the actors involved in creating it continue to experience lawsuits, protests and public shaming—it may be hard for the pharmaceutical industry to make a comeback just yet.”

“The industry’s rating likely will not recover until its role in the opioid epidemic is addressed, and the political pressure on the industry for high prices and massive profits subsides.”

Distrust of Big Pharma Well Earned

Americans have caught on to Big Pharma’s deception, with many having lost loved ones to opioids and others having faced drug side effects or been pushed into financial ruin trying to afford medications that offer meager benefits if any at all.

Many of those preyed upon are in their weakest moments, clinging to hope that a drug will offer them survival or freedom from pain. Ipilimumab (Yervoy) is one such drug, which is approved to treat colorectal cancer, renal cell carcinoma and melanoma. Costs for ipilimumab were estimated at more than $1.8 million per patient, which is even higher than other expensive cancer drugs.

Yet, the drug is linked to severe immune-related side effects, some of which may be life-threatening or fatal.

This is but one example of why Americans are right to loathe the pharmaceutical industry. When you factor in their reputation for fraud and deception, it’s clear why Americans’ distrust of Big Pharma has been well earned.

How Do Other Industries Stack Up?

In case you’re wondering how the other industries fared, here’s the full list of rankings, from best to worst:

​*Sourced from Gallup: “Big Pharma Sinks to the Bottom of U.S. Industry Rankings”

Do You Want Your Health in Big Pharma’s Hands?

Many natural substances exert pharmacological actions similar to pharmaceuticals—in fact, many drugs are based on these compounds—but with fewer adverse effects. In GreenMedInfo’s database, you can find 501 such compounds, including anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, chemopreventive (cancer-fighting) and cardioprotective agents.

Natural therapeutic actions—things like exercise, acupuncture, massage, and breastfeeding—also exist to support your body’s natural ability to heal and maintain balance to keep you feeling mentally and physically well.

There are 216 therapeutic actions in GreenMedInfo’s database, many of which rival pharmaceuticals in their effectiveness. Whether you’re facing a health challenge or looking to uphold your current level of health, consider if you want to put your faith in the most-loathed industry in the United States, or seek out solutions with a much less sordid past.

The GMI Research Group is dedicated to investigating the most important health and environmental issues of the day. This article was originally published on GreenMedinfo.com

Author details ‘the worst drug crisis in American history’

Adriana Belmonte

Associate Editor

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Yahoo Finance•September 22, 2019

 

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Author details ‘the worst drug crisis in American history’ 

Fentanyl continues to be a deadly problem in the U.S. Earlier this year, the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security reportedly considered classifying the drug as a weapon of mass destruction.

Ben Westhoff explored this issue in his new book, “Fentanyl Inc,” and explains how there have been “three waves” of the nation’s opioid crisis.

“There was the prescription pills like OxyContin, then heroin, now fentanyl,” he said on YFi PM. “And fentanyl is killing more than the other two combined. It’s the worst drug crisis in American history.”

Between 2016 and 2017, synthetic opioid overdose deaths (including fentanyl) spiked 45%. Fentanyl can be 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. And according to the National Institute of Health (NIH), “synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, are now the most common drugs involved in drug overdose deaths in the United States.”

Fentanyl overdoses have surged since 1999. (Graphic: David Foster/Yahoo Finance)

‘Fentanyl was and continues to be an important medical drug’

“Fentanyl was and continues to be an important medical drug,” Westhoff explained. “And it’s still used for things like epidurals and childbirth. But the fentanyl we hear about is the illicit fentanyl. And really, not a lot of people want it. It’s cut into heroin, it’s cut into cocaine and other drugs because it’s much cheaper to make. And therefore, the drug dealers make a lot higher profits.”

This is a common phenomenon for drug users — many of them don’t actually seek out fentanyl but find it in other drugs they want to obtain.

“By and large, when this problem started, it’s important to keep in mind that drug users themselves did not want fentanyl,” Bryce Pardo, associate policy researcher at the RAND Corporation, previously told Yahoo Finance. “They didn’t know they were coming into contact with fentanyl. They thought they were buying heroin or they thought they were buying a prescription tablet.”

Fentanyl is 50-100 times more potent than morphine. (Photo: REUTERS/GEORGE FREY)

Westhoff explained that the “overprescription of opioids was the first step. That is what set us on this path. And so now, the lawsuits are kind of playing catch up. They’re trying to take down and penalize Purdue Pharma.”

Purdue Pharma, the creator of OxyContin, reached a tentative settlement with plaintiffs suing the company for its role in the opioid crisis. According to the New York Times, the terms include the Sackler family paying $3 billion in cash over seven years and no admission of wrongdoing.

“And then there’s Johnson & Johnson,” he continued. “Johnson & Johnson actually sells a fentanyl patch. And most people don’t know this, but the man who invented fentanyl, his company was bought by Johnson & Johnson, and they still make it — it’s called Janssen Pharmaceuticals. So it seems to me they’re going to be increasingly held liable as well.”

Last month, a judge ruled that J&J breached Oklahoma’s public nuisance law and ordered it to pay $572 million for its role in the state’s opioid crisis, a ruling that was the first of its kind.

A chemical specialist in a protective suit shows pills seized at a clandestine drug processing laboratory of fentanyl located in the Azcapotzalco municipality, in Mexico City, Mexico, December 12, 2018. (Photo: Reuters)

‘It’s coming to the U.S. through two ways’

Much of the problem is the source of the drug: China. According to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, China is the largest source of illicit fentanyl, as well as fentanyl-like substances that have been increasingly imported into the U.S. in recent years.

“China has a huge pharmaceutical industry, the biggest in the world,” Westhoff said. “And a small part of that but still big is making this illicit fentanyl. And it’s coming to the U.S. through two ways. It’s coming through the U.S. mail and even UPS, DHL, FedEx. And it’s also coming from the Mexican cartels through the Southern border.”

President Trump has accused the Chinese government of not doing enough to stop fentanyl from entering the U.S. He went so far as to impose sanctions on three Chinese nationals accused of trafficking synthetic opioids and even suggested that fentanyl was one of the reasons behind the ongoing trade tensions with China.

“The problem is that China is not only failing to tamp down this industry,” Westhoff said. “They’re actually encouraging it. And I infiltrated Chinese drug operations, including a lab, and that’s how I started to learn about the financial incentives. These companies are getting huge tax breaks for exporting fentanyl.”

Fentanyl from China flows into the U.S. in several ways. (Photo: screenshot/Government Accountability Office)

Another issue within China is the fact that these drug manufacturers are always able to stay one step ahead of the government — something that many drug policy experts and DEA agents refer to as “a game of Whack-a-Mole” or “cutting off the Hydra heads,” as Westhoff detailed in his book.

“When a country bans a type of fentanyl, all [that] the lab chemists have to do is tweak the molecular formula just a tiny bit,” he said. “Now they have a new drug that’s just as potent or more potent than fentanyl, but it’s totally legal. And so China has been tweaking and tweaking them. Finally, they’ve taken some steps to ban these analogs.”