Is Big Pharma a Conspiracy or Not?

Use this forum to discuss the January 2019 Book of the month "Winning the War on Cancer" by Sylvie Beljanski
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Cristina Chifane
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Re: Is Big Pharma a Conspiracy or Not?

Post by Cristina Chifane »

The only thing I can tell you is that I'm growing tired of so many commercials to different miraculous medicines and of seeing more and more people virtually ruining their health by trying one pill or another every time they have a headache or anything else. I know that cancer is something else entirely, but I have this inner conviction that even cancer can be beaten with more natural, alternative means of treatment.
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Briannahm12
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Post by Briannahm12 »

I agree with the other reviewers because yes big pharma is a business but also Pharma is a BIG reality. As we see the cancer is being spread in the world, especially in third world countries, in a "planned way" provides sufficient proof of the monopoly of Big Pharma in the world.
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Post by TheMain_Jane »

I will need to read this book. I don't know much about Big Pharma, but I think any US citizen who has been very ill or had a loved become ill very quickly realizes the shortcomings of our healthcare system. My son got very ill when he was a baby with Reactive Airway Disease. It cost us 15,000 out of pocket and that was WITH insurance. Then, my daughter was diagnosed with Autism. And guess what? Insurance companies don't like to cover ongoing therapies, even if those therapies can be life changing. They don't care. They just want to get paid. I'm envious of other 1st world countries with great healthcare at affordable prices.
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Post by LV2R »

I agree with some of the other comments that Big Pharma is definitely about money,but I also think there are always two sides to everything. On the one hand, the government and all the regulations about drugs are trying to provide safe, controlled, and regulated substances to the public, but on the other hand, I do not see why the public cannot know about alternative natural ways to help with cancers and diseases and have it available. I like that Sylvie shared her father's important research about plant extracts found to work to block the growth and get rid of cancer stem cells responsible for pancreatic and ovarian cancers while leaving the healthy cells alone. She explained it well comparing it to get rid of the root of the problem. As long as the public has access to information and to acquiring the alternative methods, it would be acceptable.
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Post by Paxman21 »

The idea behind Big Pharma is definitely something to think about. I think there is a culture in the U.S. in which most people don't even think twice about taking prescription drugs and just see it as normal. As this topic is brought out more into public light as well as having more information on alternative and preventative medicine, we could finally see Big Pharma loose their iron grip on the people.
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Post by KSaxer »

I have to admit that I agreed with the Big Pharma concept. I do feel there is a political power coming from the government in collusion with the pharmacy companies to keep the money in the higher atmosphere instead of truly helping heal the sick.
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Post by Kratarzu »

The whole world is about money, pharmaceuticals included
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Post by Olaoluwa_oso »

This is an interesting question. So many medications being produced to manage diseases when am sure the cure can be gotten with a little more effort. But the 'Big Pharma' will not do that because they make more profit when people keep managing their sicknesses. It is a business they are running.
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Post by Angelina_Bazar »

I think thag there may be some truth to this theory. Big pharma could definitely be working with insurance companies to make some extra profit.
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Post by dreamthewilderness »

I wouldn't call it a conspiracy at this point, since it's so dang obvious, but there are those that would call us conspiracy theorists just for suggesting it. At the end of the day, it's the pharmaceutical INDUSTRY made up of privately owned companies whose highest end-goal is profit. Successful medicine is bad for that kind of business.
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Azeline Arcenal
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Post by Azeline Arcenal »

I think that Big Pharma is real since they are made up of a bunch of companies that are privately own that want to make as much money as possible. I do think it’s sad that they would rather focus on making money rather than helping people.
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Post by Bluebird03 »

I think that Big Pharma probably does resort to the tactics that some other Big businesses do (this doesn't excuse it!). They still have made great strides in treatments and prolonging life, as well as in preserving the quality of life (I'm also referencing other drugs outside of cancer treatment). And with their seemingly unlimited funds for research, they will hopefully continue to do so.
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Post by Zora C Penter »

dreamthewilderness wrote: 02 Feb 2019, 22:50 I wouldn't call it a conspiracy at this point, since it's so dang obvious, but there are those that would call us conspiracy theorists just for suggesting it. At the end of the day, it's the pharmaceutical INDUSTRY made up of privately owned companies whose highest end-goal is profit. Successful medicine is bad for that kind of business.
Well said! Their ultimate goal is to make money. I do think that they may want people to be healthy...but healthy while continually relying on their products.
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Post by Mary WhiteFace »

I completely agree with your statement,
I find that insurance companies, particularly state health insurance, is often willing to shell out hundreds or thousands of dollars for highly addictive, dangerous substances to treat pain and chronic pain disorders. These same companies are entirely unwilling to pay for massage therapy, which may be just as successful and significantly less dangerous. They may pay for physical therapy, but only up to twelve sessions a year. Forget about acupuncture, that won't be covered in the slightest.
I have chronic pain and the insurance company is more than willing to pay for oxycodone for pain, but are unwilling to pay for any of the treatments I have requested, such as acupuncture, acupressure, massage, inversion therapy, herbal medicine, etc. I even asked for a nutritional therapist to help with inflammation issues. I've done my own research, but that's not the point. If they were truly interested in helping people get well, they would be willing to pay for more than just drugs. They are also willing to pay for surgery which I refuse to do.

Big Pharma and insurance companies work together to treat the symptoms (some of which are caused by the medications), instead of working to eliminate the cause of the problem. Sadly, it's all about the money.
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Post by Chikari »

melissah30 wrote: 03 Jan 2019, 06:15 I definitely don't trust "Big Pharma", but at the same time, I do think modern medicine is very helpful. The problem is corporate greed. I can definitely believe some of the more conspiracy theory sides to this book. I personally believe the whole US government is a scam. If they can keep us sick, poor, and stupid, they can keep people from uprising or whatever it is they're afraid we'll do.
I agree with all of this! Modern medicine can be very helpful, but in the United States money plays too big of a role. They don't seem to even both researching medicine that could be made cheaper and made more available because then they would lose money.
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