The evil in your medicine

About a week ago, I listened to the podcast of Peter Attia, MD, with Kathrine Eban, the author of the book Bottle of Lies. It was one of the longest podcasts Attia has produced, and yet, I could not stop listening. It was a captivating and anxiety-inducing narrative about generics, the cheaper version of the brand-name medications.

As the minutes turned into hours, the discussion revealed the depths of a global crime with the main motivation being the GREED. 

After the podcast, I obtained the book and read it in three days. Several times through the book, I started crying (yes, I am a cry-baby). Several times, I had to stop reading because the words felt like punches to my chest and left me breathless. I was facing one of the most detailed and harrowing accounts of EVIL.

And here is some of the story.

First was the GREED of global pharma. The drugs were developed based upon huge intellectual and research effort, and yes, based upon lots of funds. But the profits exceeded the expenses beyond any imagination. The drug prices that pharmaceutical companies extracted from the patients and the US health system supported the companies’ manicured headquarters and campuses, the lavish caviar-and-champagne office parties, the helicopters and the multi-million-dollar salaries and bonuses of the executives.

The second layer of GREED story was revealed when the pharmaceutical companies in China and India were allowed to deliver the cheaper versions of the brand-name medicines – the generics. The lower price, however, compromised the quality of the medications. As noted in Kathrine Eban’s book, each drug is a poison, and its therapeutic range is rather narrow. Anything outside this range could damage or kill. If to the not-so-precise dosing of the generics, one adds impurities, carcinogens, fast degradation/decomposition or deregulated bioavailability of the active ingredients, then the result is a generic drug that acts as a placebo (the best case scenario), or functions as a lethal weapon. 

The death of the pharmaceutical manufacturing in the USA, the rise of pharma in India and China, the resulting genocide in the form of substandard or murderous generics, and the inability (unwillingness?) of the federal government to address this genocide are all documented in Bottle of Lies.

If you, your family and friends rely on any medication, you should listen to the podcast of Attia and read the book Bottle of Lies.

What can you do when prescribed and dispensed a generic medication that might make you sicker, kill you or is just ineffective?

I hate to say that there is no hope or solution to this tragedy. But for most people who are not aware of what is happening, there is no solution. Many patients would end up poisoned or even killed by the medications. 

And yet, you may try to fight the established system by insisting that your doctor and pharmacy give you the brand version of the medicine. It will certainly cost you.

There is also the very first online pharmacy Valisure, that analyzes for reliability all drugs they dispense. They also keep a list of Indian and Chinese companies that they would never order drugs from. Learn more about this company from another podcast of Dr. Attia, this of his conversation with David Light.  

Finally, eat healthy, move, destress so that your dependence on drugs is decreased. Above all, read the book, be aware. Let your friends and family know the truth.

If you live in Europe, you will find this video revealing and troubling:  How Safe Are Our Medicines.