3 Drugs that Made Big Pharma Millions Despite Deadly Risks
If you’re a large pharmaceutical company and you have an inkling that one of your products-in-development could cause serious health risks for patients, what do you do? Well, if you’re like Astra Zeneca, Eli Lilly, and others, you release your potentially-harmful drugs to the public, and you do it quickly so you can make as much money as possible before the risks are discovered.
A drug is created, the pharmaceutical company gets away with as little testing as possible and then rushes it off to market to make their millions. This is how the industry works. What’s more, only a portion of their trials, many biased, even reach the public – so we’re not even being told the whole truth. They make you think it’s all about your health, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
A few examples:
1. Seroquel, an antipsychotic made by AstraZeneca made over $5 billion in the US in 2010. Patients reported side-effects throughout its run, but it remained on the market. It was marketed to children at such an alarming rate, that the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (who prefers to sedate “troubled” youth) bought more Seroquel than even Advil.
It was also used heavily in veterans for the unapproved treatment of PTSD. Reports of sudden deaths among these veterans led to questions about its safety on the heart’s electrical activity. Despite this, in 2009, it was the number two prescribed drug by the Veteran’s Administration with a total tab of $125.4 million.
Despite being approved for use in 1997 and trouble following it throughout the years, the FDA didn’t issue new warnings on the drug until 2011, one year before the patent ran out.
Disgusting: Even $11 Billion Fines Don’t Stop Big Pharma
2. Zyprexa was designed by Eli Lilly to be a famously effective followup to the anti-depressant Prozac. But this drug came with effects that weren’t so popular. Namely, an estimated 30% of patients on Zyprexa gained 22 pounds and some gained as much as 100. As early as 1995, it was linked to unmanageable weight gain and diabetes.
The company illegally marketed Zyprexa for the treatment of dementia and was charged with doling out a drug that had negative effects on blood sugar levels and diabetes risk. Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, they spent millions marketing the drug to the poor, making it one of the top Medicaid drugs, bringing in $1.3 billion tax dollars in 2005. After the drug-maker made their billions, the patent on this dangerous drug ran out in 2012.
3. Another drug, Topamax made Johnson & Johnson billions of dollars. But a year before Topamax went off patent, it was revealed that the drug was linked to suicide and birth defects such as cleft lip and cleft palate in babies of mothers who take the drug. It even gained the nickname “Stupamax” for the way it slowed reaction times and impaired motor skills, attention and memory.
Drugs like Singulair, Levaquin, and many others share similar stories, where drug makers made billions while patients suffered the consequences. So when will the consumers of these Big Pharma solutions wise up to the game and recognize that these giant corporations would sacrifice the health of patients for the almighty dollar, and hide it all in the process?
Big Pharma is NOT our friend. Read carefully, research & do your Due Diligence AND THEN KNOW that you are in charge of your health and wellness and may very well be able to create and maintain your wellness by “going back to a healthy future” with Natural Remedies.
I wonder how long it is going to take before people realize that the side effects of these drugs and drugs in general are not the answer to their health?
Eating good home cooked meals that are not processed is a better answer for the health problems mentioned above. Stop eating fast foods, and sugary processed junk!
Also need to mention Celebrex……notorious for raising blood pressure and MI risk. It was taken off market in the late 1990s but has reappeared again……..
A Concerned MD
Again I will say—–MY LIFE RUINED BY LEVAQUIN!!!!!
I haven’t been the same since taking CIPRO (same class as levaquin) almost 4 years ago!
Out of curiosity, what are the deadly risks of Singulair and can you point me to other stories to back it up
I have been ill with system-wide issues (CNS PNS, muscle, joint and tendon) since taking Cipro just over 5 years ago. Fluoroquinolones were originally indicated as a last line of defense but are now given out like candy because of fraudulent marketing by Big Pharma and lazy prescribing.
After I took the second pill of cipro prescribed to me for tonsilitis, I couldn’t get up. My whole body were numb. I called the pharmacist because I couldn’t get hold of my doctor, I was told to stop it could be a bad reaction to the medicine.
After I took the second dose of cipro prescribed to me to for tonsilitis, I couldn’t get up and my whole body were numb. I spoke to the pharmacist because I couldn’t get hold of my physician, I was told to stop….it could be a bad reaction to the medicine. This medicine is scary….
In the Military we were required overseas to take medications to protect us from “Chemical Weapons Exposure”. None of us knew what the medications were as we were not told just take it. MANY have developed Thyroid and numerous other types of cancer, female soldiers giving birth to horribly disabled and disfigured children.
Just your government taking care of you.
Depleted and NON depleted (AKA enriched) uranium…
i suffer from a pill addiction..painkillers…
Best thing is to skip Big Pharma Drugs !
People should look at CYMBALTA. The drug you get put on and can’t get off of and, the BEST PART, nobody tells you this when they put you on it.
It needs to be on a list of warnings somewhere.
Another one is Accutane or marketed as Roacutane. I was put on it at 11 by a dermatologist.. It changed my personality & I since found it’s actually a chemotherapy drug in pill form. The researchers noticed cancer patient’s acne was clearing up so being the profit-greedy SOBs they are, marketed it for acne treatment!! It’s the only drug in the top 10 wordwide most highly reported for mental side-effects that is not prescribed for mental problems. I knew a boy who went basically mad for over 2 years, his parents were that scared they hid all the knives. He’s fully recovered now.
They allow these poisonous drugs with horrendous side effects and at best issue a black box warning but turn around and go dump 250 gallons of organic milk and break free range eggs?? Is that insane or psychopathic or both? Raid alternative practitioners offices and herbal shops…go figure