Prescription drug death epidemic continues

Saturday, August 24, 2013 by: J. D. Heyes

Can Big Pharma be stopped?

(NaturalNews) Death by prescription drug continues to be a major health problem in the United States, as Big Pharma remains influential and dominant in traditional medical practice. But a noted neurosurgeon and contributing CNN health expert may represent the first chink in Big Pharma's formidable armor, according to a recently published commentary he authored, in which he discussed the scope of the problem.

"It's the biggest man-made epidemic in the United States. That's how a doctor in Washington state described it to me as we sat outside the state Capitol in Olympia," wrote Dr. Sanjay Gupta, in paraphrasing a discussion he had with Gary Franklin, medical director for Washington state's Department of Labor and Industries.

Franklin was lamenting a litany of "terrifying" cases where scores of innocent patients were killed by the very medications they had been prescribed, a worsening situation that had become "the saddest thing he had ever seen."

Alcohol + pain medications = Accidental overdose

In one particularly gloomy case, Franklin told Gupta about a teenager he'd heard about that had died after taking too much narcotic medication following a dental procedure.

The most common occurrences; however, according to Franklin, involve men in their 40s or 50s who went to see a doctor for back pain, and who then walked out of the office with a prescription for painkillers. An average of three years later, many of those same men die in their sleep from taking too many pills and mixing them with alcohol.

They're not trying to kill themselves, say the medical professionals, but some 20,000 times annually, or once every 19 minutes on average, that's what happens.

It has become so common, in fact, that accidental overdoses are now the leading cause of accidental deaths in the U.S., passing up automobile crashes.

"As a neurosurgeon working in a busy level 1 trauma hospital, I had an idea that the problem was growing - but the numbers still boggle the mind," Gupta wrote.

The numbers say it all. Distribution of morphine - the primary ingredient in the most popular of painkillers - has exploded 600 percent from 1997-2007, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency says. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has called accidental overdoses of prescription medication "an epidemic."

"In the United States, we now prescribe enough pain pills to give every man, woman and child one every four hours, around the clock, for three weeks," Gupta says, adding that the problem usually only makes national headlines if a celebrity overdoses, not our close friends, neighbors or our own family members.

What brought the issue storming home for Gupta was a call from former President Bill Clinton:

He called me a few months ago, and I could immediately tell he was broken up about something. I had worked for him in the White House in the late '90s, talked to him countless times since then, and I had never heard him like this. Two of his friends had both lost sons, he told me. The cause: accidental overdose.

Gupta says he'll never forget how the former president framed the issue.

"Look, no one thinks having a few beers and an Oxycontin is a good idea, but you also don't expect to die," Clinton said, according to the neurosurgeon and CNN analyst.

It was then that Gupta said he felt a responsibility, as a medical expert and member of the media, "to shine a bright light on this issue and find solutions that work."

He notes that a good starting point would be to clean up our own act here in the U.S. He says 80 percent of the world's pain medications are taken in the United States, based on figures from 2011 congressional testimony from the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians.
While there are no doubt legitimate cases for pain medication intervention, Gupta says, culturally our nation has become so intolerant of even minor amounts of pain; we have in turn become entirely too comfortable with taking heavy-duty pain medications.

What's needed is to change doctors' attitudes about pain treatment

What is probably less known; however, is that after just a few months of taking such medications, the body changes - it compensates for the over-medication, if you will.

The effectiveness of the pain med "wears off," Gupta explains, "and patients typically report getting only about 30 percent pain relief, compared with when they started." What's worse, he says, "a subgroup of these patients develop a condition known as hyperalgesia, an increased sensitivity to pain."

Gupta concludes that what really needs to happen is a sea change within the medical community regarding better, less dangerous ways to combat pain.

"In my upcoming documentary, I will explain how we arrived in this deadly situation, but more importantly, explore solutions to address it," he says.

We here at Natural News will keep an eye out for it and bring you his findings.

Sources:
http://www.cnn.com
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6101a3.htm
http://abcnews.go.com

http://www.naturalnews.com/041768_Big_Pharma_death_epidemic_deadly_medications.html

Join The Hooked Generation!

Carl Lowe | Jun 21, 2013


Congratulations, Big Pharma, it looks like you’re winning the healthcare game. A new report shows that 70 percent of Americans are on prescription drugs. And while more than 50 percent of us take two drugs, 20 percent of us are on five or more prescriptions.

The leading prescriptions, according to a study at the Mayo Clinic, are antibiotics, antidepressants and painkilling opioids.

“Often when people talk about health conditions they’re talking about chronic conditions such as heart disease or diabetes,” says researcher Jennifer St. Sauver. “However, the second most common prescription was for antidepressants — that suggests mental health is a huge issue and is something we should focus on. And the third most common drugs were opioids, which is a bit concerning considering their addicting nature.”

Seventeen percent of the people studied are taking prescribed antibiotics, 13 percent are taking antidepressants and 13 percent are on opioids. Drugs to control high blood pressure came in fourth (11 percent) and vaccines were in fifth place (10 percent). Drugs are prescribed to both men and women across all age groups, except high blood pressure drugs, which are seldom taken before age 30.

Overall, women and older adults receive more prescriptions. Vaccines, antibiotics and anti-asthma drugs are most commonly prescribed in people younger than 19. Antidepressants and opioids are most common among young and middle-aged adults. Cardiovascular drugs are most commonly prescribed in older adults. Women receive more prescriptions than men across several drug groups, especially antidepressants: Nearly one in four women ages 50-64 are on an antidepressant.

“As you get older you tend to get more prescriptions, and women tend to get more prescriptions than men,” St. Sauver says.

http://easyhealthoptions.com/alternative-medicine/join-the-hooked-generation/

Six dangerous prescription drugs you should think twice before taking

Wednesday, April 17, 2013 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer

(NaturalNews) Just because your doctor prescribes it does not necessarily mean it is safe for you to take. Many popular prescription drugs, it turns out, come with the potential for serious side effects, including everything from short-term nausea and headaches to chronic inflammatory myopathy and heart disease -- or worse.

But this important information is often shrouded from public view, which intentionally perpetuates the myth that the benefits of FDA-approved drugs far outweigh any risks. So to give you a more solid understanding of the subject, here are six classes of prescription drugs you should definitely think twice about taking due to their inherent dangers:

1) Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). Millions of Americans take PPIs to alleviate the symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a condition marked by food and acid in the stomach leaking back into the esophagus and causing damage. But PPIs like Nexium (exomeprazole) and Prevacid (lansoprazole) have been shown to both block nutrient absorption and inhibit the production of necessary stomach acid, which can cause a host of other health problems. (http://well.blogs.nytimes.com)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued at least a dozen warnings about the dangers of PPIs, which include an increased risk of bacterial diarrhea, magnesium deficiency, and bone fractures (http://www.fda.gov). Long-term consumption of PPIs has also been linked to increased risk of pneumonia and unhealthy weight gain.
(http://www.naturalnews.com/036336_PPIs_acid_reflux_side_effects.html)

2) Statins. The top-selling class of drugs for several years in a row, statins are hailed by the medical system as a type of miracle cure for high cholesterol and heart disease. But popular statin drugs like Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium) and Crestor (rosuvastatin calcium) have been shown to greatly increase users' risk of diabetes, liver disease, brain damage, muscle atrophy, and even early death. (http://www.drfranklipman.com)

The side effects of statins are so severe, in fact, that the FDA recently expanded its official warnings about their use (http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm293330.htm). Beyond this, more than a dozen studies have shown that taking statins for primary prevention does little, if anything, to prevent heart attack or stroke, which means the drug class is medically useless for the millions of otherwise healthy people who are prescribed it. (http://www.minnpost.com)

3) Antibiotics. The leading cause of antibiotic-resistant "superbugs," antibiotics are another class of drugs that can cause long-term health problems without providing much, if any, benefit. Insanely overprescribed for conditions that often do not even respond to them, antibiotics and their long-term abuse by the medical system has made many infections more virulent and untreatable.

According to Shane Ellison, M.S., from The People's Chemist, the three most dangerous antibiotics currently being prescribed are Levaquin (levofloxacin), Vancocin (vancomycin hydrochloride), and Bactrim (trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole). Ellison also lists quinolones, the most commonly prescribed class of antibiotics, as dangerous as well, noting that antibiotics like Cipro (ciprofloxacin), Avelox (moxifloxacin HCL), and Floxin (ofloxacin) can cause severe and permanent disability. (http://thepeopleschemist.com)

4) Antipsychotics. One of the deadliest drug classes, antipsychotics are commonly prescribed for conditions like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and severe major depression, as well as for many "off-label" conditions such as mild mood disorder and everyday anxiety. But popular antipsychotic drugs like Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate), Abilify (aripiprazole), Risperdal (risperidone), and Zyprexa (olanzapine) have been shown to increase blood sugar levels, elevate lipid and cholesterol levels, and promote weight gain. (http://www.nytimes.com)

But even more concerning is the long-term neurological and brain damage that can result from taking antipsychotics, not to mention the greatly elevated risk of metabolic syndrome, which can include major health conditions like cardiovascular disease and diabetes (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121127190016.htm). Antipsychotics are so dangerous that a study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) declared them to be more deadly than terrorism. (http://www.naturalnews.com)

5) Opioid pain relievers. Pharmaceutical drugs have officially been declared a leading cause of death in America today, and leading the way are opioid-based painkillers like Vicodin (hydrocodone bitartrate and acetaminophen), OxyContin (oxycodone HCI), Percocet (oxycodone and acetaminophen), codeine, and morphine.

According to a study out of Brandeis University in Massachusetts, prescription painkillers are now responsible for causing more fatal overdoses than both heroin and cocaine combined. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has actually declared an epidemic in response to this elevated number of prescription painkiller deaths. (http://www.naturalnews.com)

6) Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Antidepressants like Prozac (fluoxetine), Zoloft (sertraline), Paxil (paroxetine), and Lexapro (escitalopram) have been around for years, but their dangers typically receive far less attention than they deserve. Side effects like suicidal tendencies, sexual dysfunction, gastrointestinal bleeding, and heart disease are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the many side effects of SSRIs.

In some cases, SSRIs can actually make depression symptoms worse, leading some individuals to become violent. Be sure to watch the Health Ranger's music video S.S.R.Lies for a creative glimpse at the dangers of SSRIs: http://www.naturalnews.com
http://www.naturalnews.com/039958_prescription_drugs_side_effects_dangers.html

Grapefruit with some prescription drugs 'can be deadly'

Eating grapefruit with some prescription drugs 'can be deadly'

The risks of eating a grapefruit with certain prescription drugs are greater than previously thought, scientists warn.

By Telegraph reporters

7:35AM GMT 26 Nov 2012

It was known that grapefruit can cause adverse reactions when combined with certain drugs, but now doctors say the risks are greater than previously thought.

The fruit can cause death, acute kidney failure, respiratory failure, gastrointestinal bleeding, bone marrow suppression in immunocompromised people, renal toxicity and other serious side effects because of its interactions with drugs.

There are more than 85 drugs that may interact with grapefruit, and 43 can have serious side effects.

The reaction occurs because an active ingredient in the fruit - furanocoumarins - inhibit an activating enzyme in the body. This can lead to the effect of multiple 'doses' of the drug being received with a single dose.

The drugs include certain statins, immuno-suppressants and anti-histamines.

Canadian scientists who discovered the interactions more than 20 years ago, looked at the latest research to help doctors better understand the serious effects the common food can have when consumed with certain prescription drugs .

Dr David Bailey said: "Many of the drugs that interact with grapefruit are highly prescribed and are essential for the treatment of important or common medical conditions.

"Recently, however, a disturbing trend has been seen. Between 2008 and 2012, the number of medications with the potential to interact with grapefruit and cause serious adverse effects...has increased from 17 to 43, representing an average rate of increase exceeding 6 drugs per year.

"This increase is a result of the introduction of new chemical entities and formulations.

"Unless health care professionals are aware of the possibility that the adverse event they are seeing might have an origin in the recent addition of grapefruit to the patient's diet, it is very unlikely that they will investigate it.

"In addition, the patient may not volunteer this information. Thus, we contend that there remains a lack of knowledge about this interaction in the general healthcare community."

Other citrus fruits such as Seville oranges, often used in marmalade, limes and pomelos also contain furanocoumarins.

These chemicals are innate to the fruit and cause the interaction by irreversible inhibition of the drug metabolizing CYP3A4 enzyme that normally inactivates the effects of an estimated 50% of all medication.

Drugs that interact with these chemicals have three characteristics: they are administered orally, they have very low to intermediate bioavailability - percentage of the oral dose of drug absorbed into the blood circulation unchanged - and they undergo drug metabolism in the gastrointestinal tract by CYP3A4.

For drugs with very low bioavailability, ingestion of a single normal amount of grapefruit can be analogous to consuming multiple doses of the drug alone.

This interaction can occur even if grapefruit is consumed many hours before taking the medication. This means that a modest solitary quantity of grapefruit can affect interacting drugs that are taken once a day at any time during the dosing interval.

Frequent daily consumption of a regular amount can further augment the effect. For example, simvastatin, a commonly used statin, combined with a 200-mL glass of grapefruit juice once a day for 3 days, produced a 330% systemic concentration of the drug compared with water.

People older than 45 years are the prime purchasers of grapefruit and receive the most prescriptions for drugs.

Because of the size of this population, substantial exposure to this interaction is likely. As well, older adults can have decreased ability to tolerate excessive systemic drug concentrations. Consequently, older people are especially vulnerable to these interactions.

Dr Bailey said: "The current trend of increasing numbers of newly marketed grapefruit-affected drugs possessing substantial adverse clinical effects necessitates an understanding of this interaction and the application of this knowledge for the safe and effective use of drugs in general practice."

The findings are published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/9702731/Eating-grapefruit-with-some-prescription-drugs-can-be-deadly.html

Other articles of interest:

http://healthticket.blogspot.my/2012/10/grapefruit-interferes-with-medication.html

http://healthticket.blogspot.my/2012/11/grapefruit-with-some-prescription-drugs.html

http://healthticket.blogspot.my/2014/08/grapefruit-not-only-food-that-can.html

Why Prescribed Blood Thinners Aren’t Working ...

Why Prescribed Blood Thinners Aren’t Working (and it’s Not the Side Effects)

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Looks like Big Pharma and mainstream medicine have outdone themselves once again. And not in a good way…

Researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute just released a study showing that improper dosing of two common blood-thinning drugs may be doing more harm than good.

No surprise there. We know the horrible side effects of conventional medicine.

Millions of patients with coronary artery disease usually take one of two drugs – clopdogrel (Plavix) or prasugrel (Effient).¹ The two drugs are prescribed to prevent blood clots that can lead to a stroke or a heart attack.

It’s another one of those situations where the medicine prescribed to fix the problem may actually cause it. Or not work at all. The side effects aren’t the news. There’s another reason. And it’s not making Big Pharma or the physicians writing the scripts look good.

Researchers recently presented their findings at the AHA Scientific Sessions 2012 in Los Angeles.² For the study, they examined 521 patients currently on one of the two heart disease drugs. They found that blood was not clotting properly in 75 percent of the patients taking the blood thinners. .

What does this say for the millions of others taking these drugs?

Again, it wasn’t the side effects. So why the greater risk?

Most of them were taking the wrong dose!

Out of the 521 patients, only a quarter from each drug group was taking the right dose.

Fifty percent of patients who were taking Plavix were not getting enough of the drug for it to work effectively in preventing blood clots. Then going from one extreme to the other, a quarter of the Plavix patients were taking too much of the drug.

Among the patients taking Effient, this time half were taking too much. The increased dose raised their risk of dangerous bleeding. And a quarter was taking too little of the drug.

The number of people treated in hospitals in the U.S. for drug-related issues has increased more than 50 percent in recent years.³ In 2008 alone, 1.9 million people became sick or injured because they took or were given the wrong dose of medication. Among the drugs sending the highest number of people to the hospital – blood thinners!

Doctors are supposed to know this stuff, right?

In the case of blood thinners such as Plavix and Effient there are no set guidelines for dosage amounts. In fact, the guidelines that are “set” suggest everyone take some same dose of one of these pills. That means a 30-year-old male who weighs 220 lbs. is taking the same dose as an 80-year-old, 120 lb. woman.

Dr. Brent Muhlestein, a cardiac researcher at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute says there is an average dosage range for patients but researchers are finding out that most patients are not falling into that “set” range.

It gets worse…

Doctors aren’t even taking the necessary time to perform tests to determine what dosage would be appropriate. Doctors take into consideration a patient’s age, gender, cholesterol levels, and heart history to prescribe. But those are indicators that researchers found to not be good predictors for how a person will react to the drug.

How did the researchers reach their dosage conclusions? A simple blood test.

“We showed that by performing a simple blood test to see whether or not the blood is clotting properly, we can determine whether patients are getting an appropriate, individualized dose of the medications,” Dr. Muhlestein said. “The test is easy to perform, but not widely used.”

Dr. Muhlestein went on to say that it would be very easy for the doctors to perform the test. “A physician could have the test machine on his or her desk and perform the test right there in the office.”

If it is that simple then why aren’t doctors using it?

Enter Big Pharma…

Patients spend over $1,800 a year on just one of those drugs. And if doctors were to find a lower effective dose that medical bill could be cut in half. That definitely wouldn’t make Big Pharma happy. With more than half of Americans taking at least one medication and one out of six of them taking three or more, doctors do not want to sacrifice their costly cut.

But of course there are several natural alternatives to prevent blood clots, strokes, and heart attacks.

Best of all you can find them in your local grocer for pennies compared to the $1,800 you’d be spending on one of the conventional drugs. We’ve told you about many of them.

Here are just a few – click on the links to read more:

• Apples
• Cherries
• Strawberries
• Grapes

A diet rich in fruits and vegetables is a far much safer and effective way to go when preventing heart disease.

Like this Article? Forward this article here to your friends or family or Share on Facebook.

Editor’s Note: More than 2,300 people die of heart disease every day. That means the mainstream’s medical solutions are a failure! Get the scoop on the real, natural solution that one cardiologist credits with restoring heart health to almost every single one of his patients! And the easy way to implement it in your own life, today.

References:
¹http://intermountainhealthcare.org/qualityandresearch/Research-News/Pages/home.aspx?NewsID=1313<
²http://my.americanheart.org/professional/Sessions/ScientificSessions/Scientific-Sessions_UCM_316900_SubHomePage.jsp
³http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/medication-related-injuries-on-the-rise/

http://naturalhealthdossier.com/2012/11/why-prescribed-blood-thinners-arent-working-and-its-not-the-side-effects/

Top 10 Drug Company Settlements

October 04 2012 | 24,228 views

Story at-a-glance

• A record 4.02 billion prescriptions were written in the United States in 2011, showing Americans are taking more drugs than ever before and putting their health in the hands of some of the top corporate criminals in the world
• Drug company settlements continue to be commonplace and are now escalating into the realm of billions of dollars
• Most of these settlements amount to a mere slap on the wrist for the drug company, which typically will continue right along with their deceitful behaviors
• The most-used drugs in America are, primarily, used to treat conditions that can be better treated without drugs, using natural lifestyle changes and other holistic strategies

By Dr. Mercola

There were a record 4.02 billion prescriptions written in the United States in 2011¹ – that's more than ever before.

There are 314 million people in the United States, and with 4.02 billion prescriptions, that amounts to roughly 12.74 prescriptions per person.

The cost for all these prescriptions? $308.6 billion, a hefty sum that is likely to continue to soar even higher as Americans grasp at what they believe to be the solution to their failing health.

Sadly, many will have their hopes go unanswered, as most of the top-selling drugs treat conditions that are better treated with lifestyle changes, healthy food and other forms of natural healing.

Putting your health, your very life, in the hands of drug companies is a frightening prospect when you consider the leading pharmaceutical companies are also among the largest corporate criminals in the world, behaving as if they are little more than white-collar drug dealers.

As these companies have shown time and again, they consistently put profits above human health.

Top 10 Drug Company Settlements

Big Pharma lawsuits, especially those that settle in the hundreds of millions or billions, are intended to make these criminal corporations start to straighten out, abandon their fraud and deception, their kickbacks, price-setting, bribery and all other illegal sales activities in favor of looking out for public health, which to date has been clearly ineffective.

Most of these settlements amount to a mere slap on the wrist for the drug company, which typically will continue right along with their deceitful behaviors. As reported in Time,² an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine³ echoed these sentiments, calling for change:

"…levy large enough fines against drug companies for illegal behavior, so that the payouts can't be dismissed as merely "the cost of doing business;" offer more protections for whistleblowers; and perhaps most importantly, file criminal charges against drug company executives for misconduct that could put them in prison."

Time recently compiled a list of the top 10 drug company settlements,⁴ and while they are significant, they seem to be of little deterrent to the companies' unethical, and dangerous, behaviors:

10. 2007: Bristol-Myers Squibb paid $515 million for illegally promoting its atypical antipsychotic drug Abilify to kids and seniors (despite a black box warning that warned of potentially fatal side effects in the elderly). Other accusations included giving payments, kickbacks and expensive vacations to medical professionals and pharmacist to dispense its drugs.

9. 2010: AstraZeneca settled for $520 million for trying to persuade doctors to prescribe its psychotropic drug Seroquel for unapproved uses ranging from Alzheimer's disease and ADHD to sleeplessness and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Using Seroquel for improper use has been linked to an increased risk of death.

Company executives also promoted the drug for weight loss, highlighting one favorable study while burying others that linked it to substantial weight gain. 

8. 2007: Purdue Pharma paid $634.5 million for fraudulently misbranding Oxycontin, and suggesting it was less addictive and less abused than other painkillers. The company was charged with using misleading sales tactics, minimizing risks and promoting it for uses for which it was not appropriately studied.

7. Currently pending: Amgen, the makers of anemia drugs Aranesp and Epogen, has been accused of handing extra profits to doctors who prescribe the drugs (by overfilling vials, then allowing doctors to charge insurance companies for drugs they got for free). Other accusations include misconduct involving claims of safety and efficacy, marketing, pricing and dosing of the drugs. Amgen has set aside $760 million to settle the suits.

6. 2011: Merck settles for $950 million to resolve fraudulent marketing allegations and safety claims related to Vioxx. Vioxx was pulled from the market in 2004, after it was shown to double the risk of heart attack and stroke. In addition to the $950 million, Merck paid hundreds of millions more to harmed patients and their families (Vioxx contributed to causing heart attacks in up to 140,000 people, half of which were fatal).

5. 2009: Eli Lilly pays $1.4 billion for promoting Zyprexa for off-label uses, often to children and the elderly, and not properly divulging side effect information. For instance, Zyprexa was marketed as a sleeping aid for the elderly because one of its side effects is sedation, even though the drug also increases the risk of death.

4. 2012: Abbott Laboratories settles for $1.5 billion for aggressively promoting their seizure drug Depakote for off-label use in elderly dementia patients, despite lacking evidence of safety or effectiveness (and a known increase of serious side effects, like anorexia, in the elderly).

3. Currently pending: Johnson & Johnson will pay anywhere from $1.5 to $2 billion for illegal marketing of Risperdal and other drugs. The company not only heavily marketed drugs to children and the elderly despite inadequate evidence of safety or efficacy, they also hid data about drugs' side effects.

2. 2009: Pfizer pays $2.3 billion for marketing fraud related to Bextra, Lyrica and other drugs. Charges included marketing drugs to doctors for uses for which they had not been approved and giving kickbacks to doctors and other health care professionals for prescribing their drugs. This was Pfizer's fourth settlement numbering in the multimillions in less than a decade.

1. 2012: GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to pay $3 billion for illegal marketing of Paxil and Welbutrin and downplaying safety risks of Avandia, among other charges. The company hid data about drug risks, marketed drugs for unapproved uses, and paid doctors (or gave them lavish gifts like expensive vacations) for prescribing their drugs. One of the most high-profile accounts involved tv's Dr. Drew, who reportedly received $275,000 from GSK to promote Welbutrin to treat sexual dysfunction associated with depression even though it hasn't been proven effective for this purpose.

How Many of the Top 10 Most Prescribed Drugs Are Unnecessary?

IMS Health has recently released the top U.S. prescription drugs of 2011, and an editorial in ACS Chemical Neuroscience has analyzed some of the statistics.⁵ The most-used drugs in America are, primarily, used to treat conditions that can be better treated without drugs. Let's take a closer look:
 

Statin Cholesterol Drugs

Lipitor and Crestor, used to treat high cholesterol, came in at number 1 and 8 on the list, respectively. This class of drugs, used to lower cholesterol, has been linked to over 300 devastating side effects, including muscle pain and weakness, muscle atrophy, rhabdomyolysis, increased plaque deposits, increased cancer risk, immune system suppression, decreased liver function, CoQ10 depletion, diabetes and death.⁶

The fact that statin drugs cause side effects is well established, but very few people realize that not only is your total cholesterol level not a great indicator of your heart disease risk, but you could be getting told you have high cholesterol when your levels are actually perfectly normal for you. You can make sense of your cholesterol numbers by reading this article, and also get tips for keeping your levels in the healthy range here. To normalize your cholesterol level naturally, four primary strategies work well 99 percent of the time if properly implemented:

1. Reduce fructose intake to less than 25 grams per day
2. Regular exercise, especially Peak Fitness
3. Eat a low-grain, low-sugar diet according as outlined in my nutrition plan
4. Taking a high-quality, animal-based omega-3 supplement

Heart Disease

Plavix, which is manufactured by Bristol-Myers Squibb and used to help prevent strokes and heart attacks, has serious side effects you many not be aware of. When combined with aspirin, the drug nearly doubled the death rate from heart disease among patients who had not had heart attacks but were at risk for them.⁷

Many medications commonly prescribed to heart disease patients can also be avoided, as in the case of heart disease, the healthy lifestyle strategies discussed here – strategies like proper food choices, stress reduction, exercise, and optimizing vitamin D – are not only effective as prevention, they're also useful for treatment.

Additionally, there is compelling evidence that grounding or earthing will thin your blood very effectively and provide the benefit that Plavix and these types of drugs provide with none of the dangerous side effects or costs. Grounding has been shown to be such a potent blood thinner that if a person is taking Coumadin, they need to adjust their dose lower under the guidance of a physician as the grounding will decrease the need for it.

Acid Reflux Drugs

Nexium came in at #3. If you have heartburn, acid reflux, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), peptic ulcer disease or any acid-related condition, chances are very high that you've been offered a prescription for a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) like Nexium.

But acid-reducing drugs are actually the opposite of what many people with acid reflux need, as heartburn and GERD are almost often caused by a LACK of stomach acid, rather than an overproduction thereof. Further, when you take PPIs, which significantly reduce the amount of acid in your stomach, it both impairs your ability to properly digest proteins in food and diminishes your stomach acid barrier – your primary defense mechanism for food-borne infections – thereby increasing your risk of food poisoning.

These drugs have also been linked to an increased risk of pneumonia, and result in an elevated risk of bone loss, likely by interfering with the absorption of minerals like calcium and magnesium. Acid-reducing medications also actually induce acid-related symptoms like heartburn and acid regurgitation once treatment is withdrawn. Because of this you have to wean yourself off them gradually or else you'll experience a severe rebound of your symptoms, As I explained in my acid reflux video below, while you wean yourself off these drugs (if you're already on one), you'll want to start implementing a lifestyle modification program that can eliminate this condition once and for all.

The key to addressing the underlying cause of the problem is to limit fructose to below 25 grams per day as this will tend to create a micro-environment that allows beneficial bacteria to thrive. Remember, sugar and fructose tend to act as fertilizer for pathogenic bacteria, fungi and yeast, so stay away from it. Additionally it will be good to include some fermented foods, such as fermented vegetables, and a high-quality probiotic.

 

Antidepressants / Antipsychotics

Abilify, Seroquel and Cymbalta all made the top 10 list. Most of the atypical antipsychotics like Abilify and Seroquel were approved in the 1990's, at which time they were reserved for a very small minority of serious mental illnesses – primarily schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, diseases afflicting an estimated 3 percent of Americans. More recently, some atypical antipsychotics have also been approved for the treatment of severe depression. Shockingly, children as young as 18 months are now receiving antipsychotic drugs, despite the fact that the diseases they're designed to treat rarely develop before adolescence.

There has been a massive increase in off-label use of atypical antipsychotics, which are now being prescribed for ailments such as anxiety, insomnia, and behavioral problems in children.

Abilify (aripiprazole), for example, is a newer psychotropic medication, licensed for the treatment of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, autism – and major depression when taken with antidepressants. i.e. it is used to augment the effects of the antidepressants – because, of course, antidepressants have also been found to be about as effective as a placebo, and sometimes less effective than a sugar pill... Abilify has upwards of 75 different side effects associated with it, including GERD, arthritis, impotence, yeast infections, thyroid problems and more.

As for the antidepressant Cymbalta, which also made the list, research has confirmed that antidepressant drugs are typically no more effective than sugar pills, and have little if any benefit to people with mild to moderate depression, but they can increase suicidal thoughts and tendencies, and violent behavior, especially in children, teens and young adults. Antidepressants have also been linked to diabetes and impaired immune function.

Unfortunately, since most of the treatment focus of depression and other mental conditions is on drugs, many safe and natural treatment options that DO work are being completely ignored – but for more information on this important and complex topic please read this article on antipsychotics in children, and watch the video below, which focuses on depression.

Download Interview Transcript

Asthma

Advair and Singulair, two popular asthma drugs, also made the top 10 list. While these drugs may be justified when used acutely, they should only be used temporarily until the underlying problem is solved, as they, too, carry risks.

Advair, for example, contains the long-acting beta-agonist (LABA) salmeterol, which actually increases the risk of death from asthma problems! Singulair also has serious side effects, including suicidal thoughts and actions, depression, aggressive behavior, hallucinations, sleep walking, tremor and more. Like many chronic diseases, asthma can often be managed using natural strategies, such as optimizing vitamin D levels and increasing your intake of omega-3 fats.
 

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)

Humira, used for rheumatoid arthritis, rounds out the top 10. Humira belongs to a newer class of RA drugs, the "biologic" drugs, called TNF-alpha inhibitors, sold under the brand names Humira, Enbrel, and Remicade. While these drugs are aggressively promoted, there are still concerns about their safety. Not only are drugs like Humira made from genetically engineered hamster cells, and not only do they suppress your actual immune system, but they can lead to tuberculosis, lethal infections, melanoma, lymphoma and unusual cancers in children and teenagers. This is one class of drugs that I feel are simply too dangerous too use.

My revised and updated drug-free RA protocol based on Dr. Thomas Brown's RA treatment tends to provide a 60-90 percent improvement rate in most RA sufferers. Important aspects of the treatment protocol include dietary modifications, low-dose Naltrexone, optimizing your vitamin D levels, astaxanthin, beneficial bacteria (preferably in the form of fermented foods), and getting regular exercise, as discussed in the video below.

Are Drugs Really the Solution You're Searching For?

Most chronic diseases, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity, are largely preventable, and sometimes treatable, with simple lifestyle changes and other holistic approaches. Even infectious diseases like the flu can often be warded off by a healthy way of life.

Imagine the lowered death toll, not to mention costs to the economy, if more people decided to take control of their health...

The added bonus to this is that the healthier you are, the less you will need to rely on conventional medical care such as medications, which is a leading cause of death. Please make this transition with wisdom or you can get yourself into serious trouble. Avoid stopping any medications you are currently taking until you are working with a knowledgeable natural health care practitioner who can help guide you, but remember that minimizing your use of drugs should be a goal if you want to achieve optimal health.

The first step in treating virtually any illness, and certainly any of the ones discussed above is to optimize your health through your diet and lifestyle. It took me over 30 years to compile my free Nutrition Plan for you. It is divided into three levels, beginner, intermediate and advanced, but it would be best to start at the beginning. I recently edited the entire document to include updates that we have learned that will help you and your family take control of your health.

Please review a copy today so you can start to reap the benefits and avoid taking these dangerous and typically unnecessary drugs.

[-] Sources and References
• Time.com September 17, 2012
• Medical News Today September 14, 2012
• ¹ ACS Chem. Neurosci., 2012, 3 (8), pp 630–631
• ² Time.com September 17, 2012
• ³ N Engl J Med 2012; 367:1082-1085
• ⁴ Time.com September 17, 2012
• ⁵ ACS Chem. Neurosci., 2012, 3 (8), pp 630–631
• ⁶ GreenMedInfo, Statin Side Effects
• ⁷ New England Journal of Medicine March 12, 2006

[+] Comments (29)

What’s the best time to take your pills?

What’s the best time to take your pills? From heartburn to heart disease, swallow your medicine at the wrong time of day and it may not work

By David Hurst

Last updated at 10:25 PM on 27th February 2012


While millions of us take medicine daily, few pay much attention to the time of day we take it.

Yet a growing number of health experts say this is much more important than patients think — indeed when it comes to conditions such as arthritis, osteoporosis and heartburn, the time you have your medication can have a significant impact on its effectiveness and how well it protects you.

New U.S. research, published last week, seems to support this. A study of mice, published in the journal Nature, identified why heart rhythm problems are more common in the morning.

A growing number of health experts believe the time you have your medication can have a significant impact

Experts believe this understanding means patients who are on anticoagulants to prevent heart attacks and strokes could maximise the effect by taking the pills when they wake up.

It’s thought the key is the circadian rhythm, our 24-hour internal body clock driven by the brain’s hypothalamus gland. This controls not only the immune system but also blood pressure, body temperature, hormone production, bowel movements and tiredness.

So what’s the best time to take your medication? We asked the experts...

OSTEOPOROSIS

The most commonly prescribed drugs for osteoporosis are bisphosphonates, which prevent the loss of bone mass.

‘The key thing with bisphosphonates is that they are poorly absorbed,’ says Sarah Leyland, senior nurse at the National Osteoporosis Society. This is because they do not dissolve well, especially in oils and fats. ‘So you need to take your pill first thing in the morning with water on an empty stomach after a night of not eating. Then patients must wait up to hour to eat or drink.’

Many osteoporosis patients have to take calcium and vitamin D but these too can disrupt absorption, so patients should also wait at least an hour after taking their bisphosphonates, she adds.

‘If you eat or drink something other than water, or take another medication, it could mean you won’t get any benefit from it, so it could be a total waste of time taking it.’

HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

Taking blood-pressure tablets at night may better control hypertension and greatly reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, research published last year suggests.

While millions of us take medicine daily, few pay
much attention to the time of day we take it

The results of the five-year Spanish study highlighted the importance of reducing blood pressure at night. In healthy people blood pressure dips at night between 10 to 20 per cent — those whose blood pressure doesn’t fall as it should are more likely to suffer from heart attack and stroke, the researchers said.

In the study of 2,156 men and women with high blood pressure, those who routinely took at least one of their blood-pressure medicines at night had a 33 per cent lower risk of angina, stroke and heart attack than those who took all their blood-pressure pills in the morning.

‘This study confirms sleep-time blood pressure as the most relevant predictor of cardiovascular risk,’ says lead researcher Ramon Hermida of the University of Vigo. ‘Sleep-time blood pressure is best reduced when medication is taken at bedtime.’

However, those who now take their pills in the morning should not begin taking them at night without speaking with their doctor, says Hermida. ‘There’s a risk for nocturnal hypotension (abnormally low blood pressure) which could increase the risk of stroke,’ he adds.

ARTHRITIS

Osteoarthritis patients are likely to find their joint pain is worst in the afternoon, according to a recent Texas Tech University study. The researchers concluded that the optimal time for taking a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug such as ibuprofen would be around noon to mid-afternoon, so that it takes effect as symptoms begin to build up.

They also found that rheumatoid arthritis patients generally experience the greatest pain in the mornings, so taking painkillers just after their evening meal may be the most effective way to prevent pain developing overnight.

HIGH CHOLESTEROL

It is now recommended that cholesterol medicines be taken at bedtime instead of first thing in the morning. Studies at the University of Sunderland found that when patients taking simvastatin, one of the most commonly prescribed statins, switched from evening to morning, there was a significant increase in ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol.

Another study published in the International Journal of Clinical Practice in 2008 revealed that taking another commonly prescribed statin, atorvastatin (brand name Lipitor), in the evening was better than taking it in the morning — it was associated with fewer heart attacks, blockage of the arteries as well as greater improvements in total ‘good’ cholesterol and better blood vessel function. Experts think this may be because most cholesterol is produced at night, while we are not eating.

UNDERACTIVE THYROID

As many as three million people in Britain are said to suffer from an underactive thyroid — the majority of them women. Most thyroid medicines contain levothyroxine, a synthetic version of the thyroid hormone T4.
The T4 hormone needs to be first converted to the active form of thyroid hormone T3 for it to be effective. This takes a long time to occur inside the body.

Traditionally, many doctors suggest that taking thyroid medication first thing in the morning is best. But two recent Dutch studies have found that taking medication at bedtime rather than the morning results in ‘higher thyroid hormone concentrations’. The researchers suggested that as the bowel is slower at night, it takes longer for the levothyroxine tablet to move through the intestinal system.

This results in longer exposure to the intestinal wall, and so better absorption of the medication. Other studies have shown that the key is taking thyroid medication consistently at the same time each day. To ensure quick absorption, doctors also advise avoiding calcium and iron supplements, high fibre foods, antacids and antidepressants for at least two hours after taking a thyroid pill.

HEART MEDICATION

For some time it’s been known that heart attacks and strokes are three times more likely to happen in the morning than any other time, but until now it’s not been clear why. But research published last week by Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Ohio has identified a protein called KLF15 that is crucial in regulating the heart’s rhythm.

The researchers found levels of the protein rise and fall in a 24-hour cycle. The heart’s electrical impulses are slowest from 6am to noon. ‘As the duration between impulses slow down, this makes the heart more likely to go out of rhythm, to short circuit or for electrical storms to occur,’ says Professor Mukesh Jain, who led the research.

This increases the risk of a heart attack — which means that the best time to take heart medication is first thing in the morning.

‘This realisation will be one of the most important innovations in medicine in the next 20 years,’ says Professor Russell Foster, a circadian rhythms specialist at the University of Oxford. ‘Certainly, if I was taking anti-stroke medication I know at what time of the day I’d take it. It should be delivered before you properly wake up. You should lie there calmly and take it, then get up.’

HEARTBURN

The general advice is to take proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs, drugs which suppress acid production) 30 minutes before the first meal of the day.
However, a recent study by the University of Kansas found the drugs were more effective against acid reflux when taken in the evening. More than 70 per cent of patients with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease who took a commonly prescribed PPI, rabeprazole, in the afternoon or evening found their symptoms were eased, compared with 42 per cent who took it in the morning.

They suggested this could be because the drug will act throughout the night, when heartburn can be exacerbated by lying down. They concluded that before the evening meal would be the preferred time for patients to take their medication, particularly those who suffer at night. However, Marcus Harbord, gastroenterologist at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, suggests splitting the daily dose, providing half in the morning then half in the evening, to keep symptoms at bay at all times.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2107287/What-s-best-time-pills-From-heartburn-heart-disease-swallow-medicine-wrong-time-day-work.html

The Waste of Prescription Drugs

Would you throw away a week in the Bahamas?

By Lin-Nam Wang
The Pharmaceutical Journal

10 February 2012 Last updated at 01:27 GMT

Knowing the cost of drugs might prompt different behaviour, Ms Wang suggests

Would you throw away a week in the Bahamas? It is estimated that in England £300m of medicines are wasted each year, and that half of this is avoidable.

In this week's Scrubbing Up, Lin-Nam Wang, community pharmacist and senior contributions editor at The Pharmaceutical Journal, says that current strategies to reduce medicines waste are not enough and explains why she believes NHS patients need to be told how much their medicines cost.

Last month, a man came into my pharmacy and handed me a black bin-bag.

Inside was £2,250.

Ok, so it wasn't in cash, it was in medicines.

Among the stash were 30 unopened boxes of a drug that would have lasted the patient seven months at her prescribed dose. But this was no windfall for the pharmacy - since we can't guarantee how medicines have been stored in patients' homes, they have to be sent for incineration.

Such events make me despair.

And they make me angry that, when we face cuts to services, and over a year since the publication of a Department of Health commissioned report on medicines waste, our system is still letting things like this happen.

'Time to talk'

I admit that in my 15 or so years in pharmacy this "patient return" has taken first prize, but talk to any community pharmacist and he or she will tell you that having to dispose of hundreds of pounds' worth of unwanted medicines is not uncommon.

In this case, the patient, who had died, had been dispensed repeat prescriptions again and again. Some bags had not even been opened.

There are so many holes in the net this patient could have slipped through and the reasons for waste can be complex but in a recent poll of members of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society 57% thought patients are to blame for medicines waste.

Various strategies have been proposed to prevent waste, including limiting prescribing to 28 days (a policy that some primary care trusts have introduced, but which can cause patients inconvenience).

And, since 2006, over 120 campaigns have been run, asking people to "only order what you need". But clearly this is not enough.

It's time to talk about the money

The crux of the problem is that most people don't have a clue how much their medicines cost. I doubt that this patient was aware of the value of what she had been hoarding.

Human nature is such that when no value is attributed to something people take it for granted - when something is free, people behave more irresponsibly.

We're so lucky to have a system that allows free medicines - and long may it continue - but I'm told by colleagues in countries where people have to pay for medicines that they don't see this sort of waste.

'Luxuries?'

The debate on prescription charges will continue but, in the meantime, we need to take a different approach and make individuals aware of exactly how much their medicines cost.

Telling people that saving £300m could pay for 80,906 hip operations is water off a duck's back - the amount is too huge for most people to comprehend and a hip op is something many can't relate to.

Pharmacies could print some extra wording on medicines labels. Something like:

"This box of medicine costs the NHS £XX. Please look after YOUR NHS: don't keep more than two months' worth of medicines."

And perhaps pharmacists should be saying things like: "These tablets need to be taken every day for you to get the best from them. And, just so you know, each box is worth £28".

Will it work? Here is what was in the bin-bag -

Imagine it sitting in your home. 

Now picture, instead, the latest 17in, 2.4GHz MacBook Pro, or a Cartier Love ring in pink gold and diamonds, or tickets for a week on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.

Some might class these items as luxuries so let me put it in perspective: we're talking half a years' worth of food and alcohol for the average family of four.

Would you want to hand any of these to your pharmacist for incineration?

We can only truly have "no decision about me without me" in the NHS if people are fully informed. And that includes telling them how much their medicines cost.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16962465

Prescription drugs - the New Epidemic Sweeping Across America

The New Epidemic Sweeping Across America (and it's Not a Disease)

Posted By Dr. Mercola | October 26 2011 | 2,817views

Previous

Story at-a-glance

• For the first time, deaths from properly prescribed drugs now outnumber traffic fatalities in the United States
• Drug-induced fatalities are being fueled by overdoses on prescription pain and anxiety medications
• Those most at risk from dying from this new drug crisis are people in their 40s, but teenagers and the elderly are also at risk
• Between 2001 and 2008, there was a 36 percent increase in hospital admissions, and a 28 percent increase in emergency room visits, among children 5 and younger who had accidentally ingested medication

By Dr. Mercola

Death by medicine is a 21st-century epidemic, and America's "war on drugs" is clearly directed at the wrong enemy!

Prescription drugs are now killing far more people than illegal drugs, and while most major causes of preventable deaths are declining, those from prescription drug use are increasing, an analysis of recently released data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) by the Los Angeles Times revealed.

The Times analysis of 2009 death statistics, the most recent available, showed:

• For the first time ever in the US, more people were killed by drugs than motor vehicle accidents
• 37,485 people died from drugs, a rate fueled by overdoses on prescription pain and anxiety medications, versus 36,284 from traffic accidents
• Drug fatalities more than doubled among teens and young adults between 2000 and 2008, and more than tripled among people aged 50 to 69

Again, these drug-induced fatalities are not being driven by illegal street drugs; the analysis found that the most commonly abused prescription drugs like OxyContin, Vicodin, Xanax and Soma now cause more deaths than heroin and cocaine combined.

"Pharmageddon" is Upon Us

Pharmageddon is "the prospect of a world in which medicines and medicine produce more ill-health than health, and when medical progress does more harm than good" -- and it is no longer a prospect but fully upon us. Those most at risk from dying from this new drug crisis are people you would least expect; the analysis revealed the death toll is highest among people in their 40s, but all ages, from teenagers to the elderly, and all walks of life are being affected. In fact, prescription drugs are now the preferred "high" for many, especially teens, as they are typically used legally, which eliminates the stigma of being a "junkie."

And even if you don't have your own prescription, drugs of all kinds can be found in the nearest medicine cabinet in most homes.

Yet, these drugs are also now being sold on the black market and on street corners, where people who have run out of prescriptions are willing to pay upwards of $80 a pill to get their fix. Many become addicted after using the drugs for headaches or back pain, and teens are increasingly taking the pills from their parents to use recreationally, under the false assumption that they are not dangerous.

As written in the Baltimore Sun:

"According to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, prescription drugs are second to marijuana as the drug of choice for today's teens. In fact, seven of the top 10 drugs used by 12th-graders were prescription drugs.

More than 40 percent of high school seniors reported that painkillers are "fairly" or "very" easy to get. They also reported that they believed that if they were to get caught, there was less shame attached to the use of prescription drugs than to street drugs. This mirrors the perceptions of their parents, who when queried said that they felt prescription drugs were a safer alternative to drugs typically sold by a drug dealer."

How Many are Dying From Prescription Drugs?

Nearly 20 percent of Americans have used prescription drugs for nonmedicinal reasons, three-quarters of whom may be abusing them. Legal prescription drug abuse is a silent epidemic, and is part of the reason why the modern American medical system has become the leading cause of death and injury in the United States. Authored in two parts by Gary Null, PhD, Carolyn Dean, MD ND, Martin Feldman, MD, Debora Rasio, MD, and Dorothy Smith, PhD, the comprehensive Death by Medicine article described in excruciating detail how everything from medical errors to adverse drug reactions to unnecessary procedures caused more harm than good.

Seven years after the original article was written, an analysis in the New England Journal of Medicine November 25, 2010 piqued my interest -- the researchers found that, despite efforts to improve patient safety in the past few years, the health care system hasn't changed much at all. So, earlier this year I updated posted an update to the original Death by Medicine article, which, unfortunately, shows more of the same:

• In a June 2010 report in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, study authors said that in looking over records that spanned from 1976 to 2006 (the most recent year available) they found that, of 62 million death certificates, almost a quarter-million deaths were coded as having occurred in a hospital setting due to medication errors.
• An estimated 450,000 preventable medication-related adverse events occur in the U.S. every year.
• The costs of adverse drug reactions to society are more than $136 billion annually -- greater than the total cost of cardiovascular or diabetic care.
• Adverse drug reactions cause injuries or death in 1 of 5 hospital patients.
• The reason there are so many adverse drug events in the U.S. is because so many drugs are used and prescribed – and many patients receive multiple prescriptions at varying strengths, some of which may counteract each other or cause more severe reactions when combined.

There are numerous repercussions to a society that eats, breathes and sleeps prescription medications, not the least of which is its impact on children. Between 2001 and 2008, there was a 36 percent increase in hospital admissions, and a 28 percent increase in emergency room visits, among children 5 and younger who had accidentally ingested medication. ER visits for ingestion of prescription opioid painkillers, such as Oxycodone, increased 101 percent!

And in 2009, there were nearly 4.6 million drug-related visits to U.S. emergency rooms nationwide, with more than half due to adverse reactions to prescription medications – most of which were being taken exactly as prescribed. When you add in the growing numbers of people who are using these drugs recreationally or due to addiction, you begin to see the magnitude of the problem that the pharmaceutical industry is propagating.

Unfortunately, this problem is now seriously impacting the next generation. When you were a teenager you may have snuck a beer or two at a party … nowadays teens will mix a variety of prescription pills together in a bowl and take a mouthful of them like candy! The kids think this is a safe way to get high, since they see their parents taking the same medications all the time, but it often turns out to be a literal prescription for disaster that can even be deadly.

The Real Thugs of the Drug World

The "war on drugs" has focused nearly exclusively on the illegal trafficking of drugs like cocaine, heroin and marijuana, while the most powerful drug dealers of all -- the pharmaceutical companies -- are allowed to grow their businesses with the U.S. government's gold seal of approval.

But make no mistake – the leading pharmaceutical companies are also among the largest corporate criminals in the world, and they are really nothing more than white-collar drug dealers.

Although many fail to realize this, prescription drugs can be just as addictive as illegal drugs. In fact, in many cases there's no difference between a street drug and a prescription drug. For example, hydrocodone, a prescription opiate, is synthetic heroin. It's indistinguishable from any other heroine as far as your brain and body is concerned. So, if you're hooked on hydrocodone, you are in fact a good-old-fashioned heroin addict.

But aside from the nature of their business, fraud, kickbacks, price-setting, bribery and illegal sales activities are all par for the course for big-name drug companies. Last year I set out to investigate some of the criminal activities that some of the largest pharmaceutical companies had been convicted of lately, and the amount of gross misconduct, fraud and deceit I found was so insidious, so massive, and so overwhelming that it shocked even me.

You can read the grim details in full here, but here is just a sampling of what the top drug companies are up to:

• Merck: With a long list of deaths to its credit, and more than $5.5 billion in judgments and fines levied against it, it was five years before Merck made its $30-billion recall of the painkiller Vioxx that I warned my readers that it might be a real killer for some people. After the drug was withdrawn, and 60,000 had already died, Merck picked up the pieces painlessly by getting a new drug fast-tracked and on the market.
  
  That drug is Gardasil, a vaccine that so far has been linked to thousands of adverse events and at least 49 unexplained deaths. It's a situation that the FDA and CDC have been denying repeatedly, keeping their heads buried in the sand even as the adverse reports mount.
• Baxter: Dozens of recalls of products that caused deaths and injuries, at least 11 different guilty pleas to fraud and illegal sales activity, more than 200 lawsuits – many of them stemming from selling AIDS-tainted blood to hemophiliacs – and more than $1.3 billion in criminal fines and civil penalties.
• Pfizer: In the largest health care fraud settlement in history, Pfizer was ordered to pay $2.3 billion to resolve criminal and civil allegations that the company illegally promoted uses of four of its drugs, including the painkiller Bextra, the antipsychotic Geodon, the antibiotic Zyvox, and the anti-epileptic Lyrica.

How Can You Avoid Being Killed by a Prescription Drug?

There is a risk of side effects every time you take a prescription drug. No one (except for those who intentionally overdose) expects these medications to kill them, but they can do just that, and it happens far more often than you might think! In a study recently released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA), officials emphasized that people should not assume there's no risk in prescribed medicines. The truth is, the only way to avoid all risk, including death, from prescription drugs is to not take them at all.

It is your body, not your doctor's and not your pharmacist's, so it is up to you to make the decision of what drugs to take, if any. Be SURE you are aware of the risks of any medication prescribed to you, and weigh them against any possible benefit. Then you can make a well-informed decision of whether it's a risk you're willing to take.

Of course, of paramount importance is also taking control of your health so you can stay well naturally, without the use of drugs or even frequent conventional medical care. If you adhere to a healthy lifestyle, you most likely will never need medications in the first place. This includes:

1. Proper Food Choices
   
   For a comprehensive guide on which foods to eat and which to avoid, see my nutrition plan. Generally speaking, you should be looking to focus your diet on whole, unprocessed foods (vegetables, meats, raw dairy, nuts, and so forth) that come from healthy, sustainable, local sources, such as a small organic farm not far from your home.
   
   For the best nutrition and health benefits, you will want to eat a good portion of your food raw. Personally, I aim to eat about 80-85 percent of my food raw, including raw eggs and humanely raised organic animal products that have not been raised on a CAFO (confined animal feeding operation).
   
   Nearly as important as knowing which foods to eat more of is knowing which foods to avoid, and topping the list is fructose. Sugar, and fructose in particular, acts as a toxin in and of itself, and as such drive multiple disease processes in your body, not the least of which is insulin resistance, a major cause of accelerated aging.
2. Comprehensive Exercise Program, including High-Intensity Exercise like Peak Fitness
   
   Even if you're eating the healthiest diet in the world, you still need to exercise to reach the highest levels of health, and you need to be exercising effectively, which means including not only core-strengthening exercises, strength training, and stretching but also high-intensity activities into your rotation. High-intensity interval-type training boosts human growth hormone (HGH) production, which is essential for optimal health, strength and vigor. I've discussed the importance of Peak Fitness for your health on numerous occasions, so for more information, please review this previous article.
3. Stress Reduction and Positive Thinking
   
   You cannot be optimally healthy if you avoid addressing the emotional component of your health and longevity, as your emotional state plays a role in nearly every physical disease -- from heart disease and depression, to arthritis and cancer. Effective coping mechanisms are a major longevity-promoting factor in part because stress has a direct impact on inflammation, which in turn underlies many of the chronic diseases that kill people prematurely every day. Meditation, prayer, social support and exercise are all viable options that can help you maintain emotional and mental equilibrium.
4. Proper Sun Exposure to Optimize Vitamin D
   
   We have long known that it is best to get your vitamin D from sun exposure, and if at all possible, I strongly urge you to make sure you're getting out in the sun on a daily basis. There is preliminary evidence suggesting that oral vitamin D may not provide the identical benefits, although it's still better than none at all.
   
   Just keep in mind that it's really best to get ALL your vitamin D from the sun. It appears that vitamin D plays a crucial role in sulfur metabolism and when you swallow it orally it may not have the same benefit as getting it from the sun.
5. Take High Quality Animal-Based Omega-3 Fats
   
   Animal-based omega-3 fat is a strong factor in helping people live longer, and many experts believe that it is likely the predominant reason why the Japanese are the longest lived race on the planet.
6. Avoid as Many Chemicals, Toxins, and Pollutants as Possible
   
   This includes tossing out your toxic household cleaners, soaps, personal hygiene products, air fresheners, bug sprays, lawn pesticides, and insecticides, just to name a few, and replacing them with non-toxic alternatives.

Source: Los Angeles Times September 17, 2011

Source: MSNBC September 16, 2011

Source: Journal of Pediatrics September 16, 2011

Source: CDC, Deaths: Preliminary Data for 2009

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/10/26/prescription-drugs-number-one-cause-preventable-death-in-us.aspx

Related Links:

How to Save Your Life if You Ever Go to the ER

Nearly 250,000 Deaths From ONE Common Mistake: Here's How to Protect Yourself

The Silent Epidemic -- Legal Prescription Drug Abuse