http://www.newstarget.com/z022209.html
NewsTarget.com printable article
Originally published November 7 2007
Cold medicine scam finally exposed after decades of harming
children
by Mike Adams
(NewsTarget) Another example of outright quackery by pharmaceutical
companies has finally gathered enough steam to achieve mainstream news
coverage: Cold medicines are useless, say pediatricians who petitioned the
FDA to ban the marketing of such products to children. Last month, an FDA
advisory panel partially agreed with the recommendation, and voted to
declare that such medicines should not be used in children younger than six.
Notably, the FDA advisory panel still somehow believes the same useless
medicines are perfectly fine to be used by children older than six (they
struck down a vote to recommend blocking the use of such medicines in
children aged 6 to 11). This is especially relevant given that the panel
openly admitted that there is no evidence that cold medicines work in older
children, either.
This FDA advisory panel vote represents a landmark defeat for Big Pharma
which has promoted cold medicine quackery for so many decades that very few
people realized cold medicines should be questioned at all. Fortunately,
some bright-minded pediatricians have apparently decided to take action to
protect children instead of protecting Big Pharma. An official from the
American Academy of Pediatrics has openly stated that the cold medicines
don't work in children under six years old and may, in fact, be dangerous to
their health.
Never tested on children
Here's an interesting fact to consider when determining the credibility of
the FDA's safety record: None of the cold medicines that have been marketed
to children for decades -- right under the noses of FDA officials -- were
ever tested in children!
You read that correctly: There has never been a single clinical trial
showing these medicines to be either safe or effective for use in children.
Not one.
So much for the "gold standard" of so-called "scientific medicine," huh? The
FDA was fully aware of this over three decades ago when an FDA panel pointed
out in 1972 that such products had never been tested on children.
Apparently, the FDA saw no need to actually engage in real science regarding
the safety of these products and continued to allow them to be sold by the
billions (literally billions of doses per year) to unsuspecting parents.
Cold medicines are just the beginning of this medical scam
The truth here is that most pharmaceuticals are medical hoaxes. Most drugs
simply don't work on most people, and that statement is backed up by tens of
thousands of clinical studies. The medical literature shows a popular breast
cancer drug, for example, only prevents cancer in 0.5% of women, yet it's
hyped as a "miracle" cancer drug. Many over-the-counter medicines are
nothing but chemical sweeteners, artificial colors, syrups and small doses
of dangerous laboratory chemicals. Some actually contain the very same
chemicals banned by the FDA in herbal medicine.
For example, the FDA outlawed the selling of ephedra, a common herb in
Chinese Medicine, yet the same active chemical is openly allowed to be
purchased in over-the-counter cold medicines sold at virtually every corner
pharmacy in America. Apparently, the FDA believes the herb is dangerous, but
somehow the refined, highly-concentrated drug is far safer -- which is like
saying crack is safer than coca leaf tea. The real reason for this double
standard is that over-the-counter medicines are profitable for Big Pharma,
and that's exactly why this drug remains on the market.
Oh, by the way, it's also the same over-the-counter medication used to
manufacture methamphetamines ("meth"). Virtually the entire meth drug
problem in the United States can be traced back to over-the-counter cold
medicines manufactured by pharmaceutical companies. Does this bother the
FDA? Not one bit. As long as the medications keep selling, Big Pharma is
happy and the FDA keeps it all legal. The FDA, in this case, is a key
enabler of the illegal meth drug trade.
Chemotherapy doesn't work, antidepressant drugs cause weight gain, diabetes
drugs cause liver damage, statin drugs damage the heart, antipsychotic drugs
caused suicidal behavior, arthritis drugs cause heart attacks, blood
pressure drugs cause circulation deficiencies... need I go on? There's
hardly a popular drug in the arsenal of Big Pharma that isn't fraudulently
marketed, promoted and prescribed.
The scam of off-label prescribing
Speaking of applications of prescription drugs, here's the big kicker that
just blows the whole "scientific" medicine idea right out of the water:
Off-label prescribing. This is when a drug has been approved for one
thing -- such as foot fungus -- but is prescribed by a doctor for something
entirely different, for which it has never been tested: Such as asthma. It's
an extremely common practice, and it's entirely unregulated.
What is the FDA's view of this issue, where doctors are prescribing drugs
for health conditions that they've never been tested for? No problem! The
FDA is perfectly fine with it. There's no need to test the drugs for those
other conditions at all!
In other words, there is absolutely no medical evidence supporting the use
of prescription drugs in the way they are often prescribed by doctors! Once
you realize the truth in this statement, you will instantly understand why
the entire Big Pharma / FDA system of drug approvals, drug marketing and
drug prescribing is a massive medical hoax. There is simply no requirement
that a drug be approved for a specific health condition before being
prescribed to treat it! Simultaneously, there is no requirement whatsoever
that drugs be tested on children before being marketed to children and
prescribed to children.
This issue with cold medicines and children is simply one small chapter in a
grand, global hoax known as "pharmaceutical medicine." The whole thing is
rotten at the core, steeped in corruption and quackery, and lacking any real
ethics. These companies aren't out to create a better future for humanity,
they're out to create better profits for themselves -- even if it means
marketing potentially harmful cold medicines to children.
It's about time the world woke up and realized that these cold medicines are
pure quackery. And someday, when enough sane scientists speak out, this
whole system of pharmaceutical medicine will be demolished and replaced with
something that actually works to enhance health (like drinking fresh juices
from leafy green vegetables and citrus fruits). In the mean time, don't be
suckered by over-the-counter medicines. Nearly all of them are laced with
toxic chemical additives (such as coloring chemicals and chemical
sweeteners), and virtually none of them do anything to actually help the
body heal. Remember, too, that 16,500 people bleed to death out of their
intestinal tract as a side effect from taking over-the-counter painkillers.
The number of people killed by pharmaceuticals today is nothing short of
astonishing.
NewsTarget.com printable article
Originally published November 7 2007
Cold medicine scam finally exposed after decades of harming children
by Mike Adams
(NewsTarget) Another example of outright quackery by pharmaceutical
companies has finally gathered enough steam to achieve mainstream news
coverage: Cold medicines are useless, say pediatricians who petitioned the
FDA to ban the marketing of such products to children. Last month, an FDA
advisory panel partially agreed with the recommendation, and voted to
declare that such medicines should not be used in children younger than six.
Notably, the FDA advisory panel still somehow believes the same useless
medicines are perfectly fine to be used by children older than six (they
struck down a vote to recommend blocking the use of such medicines in
children aged 6 to 11). This is especially relevant given that the panel
openly admitted that there is no evidence that cold medicines work in older
children, either.
This FDA advisory panel vote represents a landmark defeat for Big Pharma
which has promoted cold medicine quackery for so many decades that very few
people realized cold medicines should be questioned at all. Fortunately,
some bright-minded pediatricians have apparently decided to take action to
protect children instead of protecting Big Pharma. An official from the
American Academy of Pediatrics has openly stated that the cold medicines
don't work in children under six years old and may, in fact, be dangerous to
their health.
Never tested on children
Here's an interesting fact to consider when determining the credibility of
the FDA's safety record: None of the cold medicines that have been marketed
to children for decades -- right under the noses of FDA officials -- were
ever tested in children!
You read that correctly: There has never been a single clinical trial
showing these medicines to be either safe or effective for use in children.
Not one.
So much for the "gold standard" of so-called "scientific medicine," huh? The
FDA was fully aware of this over three decades ago when an FDA panel pointed
out in 1972 that such products had never been tested on children.
Apparently, the FDA saw no need to actually engage in real science regarding
the safety of these products and continued to allow them to be sold by the
billions (literally billions of doses per year) to unsuspecting parents.
Cold medicines are just the beginning of this medical scam
The truth here is that most pharmaceuticals are medical hoaxes. Most drugs
simply don't work on most people, and that statement is backed up by tens of
thousands of clinical studies. The medical literature shows a popular breast
cancer drug, for example, only prevents cancer in 0.5% of women, yet it's
hyped as a "miracle" cancer drug. Many over-the-counter medicines are
nothing but chemical sweeteners, artificial colors, syrups and small doses
of dangerous laboratory chemicals. Some actually contain the very same
chemicals banned by the FDA in herbal medicine.
For example, the FDA outlawed the selling of ephedra, a common herb in
Chinese Medicine, yet the same active chemical is openly allowed to be
purchased in over-the-counter cold medicines sold at virtually every corner
pharmacy in America. Apparently, the FDA believes the herb is dangerous, but
somehow the refined, highly-concentrated drug is far safer -- which is like
saying crack is safer than coca leaf tea. The real reason for this double
standard is that over-the-counter medicines are profitable for Big Pharma,
and that's exactly why this drug remains on the market.
Oh, by the way, it's also the same over-the-counter medication used to
manufacture methamphetamines ("meth"). Virtually the entire meth drug
problem in the United States can be traced back to over-the-counter cold
medicines manufactured by pharmaceutical companies. Does this bother the
FDA? Not one bit. As long as the medications keep selling, Big Pharma is
happy and the FDA keeps it all legal. The FDA, in this case, is a key
enabler of the illegal meth drug trade.
Chemotherapy doesn't work, antidepressant drugs cause weight gain, diabetes
drugs cause liver damage, statin drugs damage the heart, antipsychotic drugs
caused suicidal behavior, arthritis drugs cause heart attacks, blood
pressure drugs cause circulation deficiencies... need I go on? There's
hardly a popular drug in the arsenal of Big Pharma that isn't fraudulently
marketed, promoted and prescribed.
The scam of off-label prescribing
Speaking of applications of prescription drugs, here's the big kicker that
just blows the whole "scientific" medicine idea right out of the water:
Off-label prescribing. This is when a drug has been approved for one
thing -- such as foot fungus -- but is prescribed by a doctor for something
entirely different, for which it has never been tested: Such as asthma. It's
an extremely common practice, and it's entirely unregulated.
What is the FDA's view of this issue, where doctors are prescribing drugs
for health conditions that they've never been tested for? No problem! The
FDA is perfectly fine with it. There's no need to test the drugs for those
other conditions at all!
In other words, there is absolutely no medical evidence supporting the use
of prescription drugs in the way they are often prescribed by doctors! Once
you realize the truth in this statement, you will instantly understand why
the entire Big Pharma / FDA system of drug approvals, drug marketing and
drug prescribing is a massive medical hoax. There is simply no requirement
that a drug be approved for a specific health condition before being
prescribed to treat it! Simultaneously, there is no requirement whatsoever
that drugs be tested on children before being marketed to children and
prescribed to children.
This issue with cold medicines and children is simply one small chapter in a
grand, global hoax known as "pharmaceutical medicine." The whole thing is
rotten at the core, steeped in corruption and quackery, and lacking any real
ethics. These companies aren't out to create a better future for humanity,
they're out to create better profits for themselves -- even if it means
marketing potentially harmful cold medicines to children.
It's about time the world woke up and realized that these cold medicines are
pure quackery. And someday, when enough sane scientists speak out, this
whole system of pharmaceutical medicine will be demolished and replaced with
something that actually works to enhance health (like drinking fresh juices
from leafy green vegetables and citrus fruits). In the mean time, don't be
suckered by over-the-counter medicines. Nearly all of them are laced with
toxic chemical additives (such as coloring chemicals and chemical
sweeteners), and virtually none of them do anything to actually help the
body heal. Remember, too, that 16,500 people bleed to death out of their
intestinal tract as a side effect from taking over-the-counter painkillers.
The number of people killed by pharmaceuticals today is nothing short of
astonishing.