Chris Rock on Drug Companies
Chris Rock's brilliant stand-up routine includes some riffs on
the ubiquitous television drug commercials that "keep naming
symptoms till they get one" that the viewer has.
Even if the ads don't mention what it is the medicine is
supposed to do: "You see a lady on a horse or a man in a tub,
and they just keep naming symptoms: 'Are you depressed?' 'Are
you lonely?' 'Do your teeth hurt?'" Even "'Do you go to bed at
night and wake up in the morning?' They got that one!" he adds.
"I got that. I'm sick. I need that pill!"
The New York Times quotes Chris Rock as part of its review of
Greg Critser's new book, Generation RX. This book examines
how baby boomers and their offspring have become the most
medicated generations in history, taking pills that promise to
"do everything from guarding us against our excesses of drink,
food and tobacco, to increasing our children's performance at
school, to jump-starting our own productivity at work, to
extending our very time on this mortal coil."
Critser traces the massive growth of drugs claiming to do
everything to the loosening and speeding up of the regulatory
processes that used to keep the big pharmaceutical companies in
check.
As an onslaught of money and lobbyists has made the government
increasingly willing to do the bidding of drug companies, and
doctors are similarly besieged with advertising, the barriers
between Big Pharma and the public have grown thin and porous.
New York Times September 30, 2005 Registration Required
Dr. Mercola's Comment:Chris Rock's routine is right on the
money. It's great that the social critics like Rock and the
muckrakers like Critser are exposing the truth about what's
going on in the drug industry. Sometimes it's so ridiculous you
just have to laugh.
But it's also a serious issue. For those of you who regularly
read my newsletter, you know that I strongly advise AGAINST
using drugs when possible. And, though drugs are sometimes
appropriate and at times can save a person's life, most of the
time they are unnecessary, harmful and expensive. The drug
companies aren't interested in saving your life; they're
interested in taking your money.
As Critser points out and Rock implies, drug companies are
driven by profits and have used their power to influence many
areas of medicine. What is most unfortunate is that this has
resulted in many biased studies, which ultimately lead to
misleading information to the public.
In addition, health costs are rising through the roof, and
shortly we will be spending over $2 trillion a year for health
care in the United States! It is safe to estimate
that over three-fourths of this money is wasted on short-term
fixes, primarily drugs and surgeries, which in no way address
the long-term cause of the problem.
Further, the far-too-cozy relationship between government
agencies like the FDA and major drug companies lets Big Pharma
get away with practically anything they want. This has much to
do with why I'm so focused on my vision of exposing the existing
medical paradigm's techniques, habits and messages that have put
your health and that of the American public in grave danger.
The key to caring for illnesses is to focus on finding the
underlying cause of the problem. It is possible to maintain
total health by avoiding unnecessary drugs and by gaining a
comprehensive understanding of good nutrition and proper
lifestyle choices. Here are some general guidelines to achieving
good health (without the use of harmful drugs) that seem to hold
true for all people:- Eliminate sugar and
grains
- Eat unprocessed, high-quality foods, organic
if possible, right for your metabolic type
- Eat your
food as close to raw as possible
- Have omega-3 fish
oil
- Exercise regularly