You Get What You Reward, Part Two

You Get What You Reward, Part Two

By Steve Hayes, Director of Novus Medical Detox Center

    Last week we discussed how the "You Get What You Reward" principle applied to the practice of medicine (http://www.novusdetox.com/YouGetWhatYouRewardPartI.htm).
   In this week's newsletter we are going to discuss how the application of this principle relates to the actions of the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture and distribute prescription and over-the-counter drugs.

   They look just like the rest of us. They are loving parents. They take care of their parents. They help their neighbors. They go to work every morning and do their jobs. Then they return home at night and sleep peacefully.

   These words could have been written to describe the life of a Nazi prison guard during World War II. They could also be written to describe the life of tobacco executives in the 1950's-1970's when they did everything they could to hide the health-destroying aspects of their products and likely killed or severely affected the health of millions.

   They could also be written to describe the Ford Motor Company executives who decided that it would be more profitable to pay the lawsuits rather than spend the money to relocate the gas tanks of their Pinto model that they knew were likely to explode in car crashes.

   They could also be written today to describe many drug company executives and drug salespeople. They attempt to conceal from physicians and the public any clinical study of a drug that implies that it is not really more effective than a placebo (sugar pill).

   They try to dismiss any reports of their drug causing any harmful side effects-like diabetes, heart problems, impotency or even death.

   How could people who could be your neighbors or the parents of kids that go to the same school as your kids be as uncaring as the Nazi prison guards or the tobacco executives or the Ford executives? The answer is simple. These executives are rewarded for one thing-the profits they make for their employers and for themselves.

   If questioned, they will tell you:

   Their job is to maximize the sales of their drugs;

   Their company spent millions of dollars getting their drugs approved and marketing them;

   There is no perfect drug that never causes problems;

   Even if a drug creates harmful side effects for some, it is still ok to market it because it helps some people;

   The decision to give their drug is up to the medical doctors, not them;

   The FDA approved the drug label and that is all that they have to tell doctors;

   There is nothing wrong with their drug salespeople only telling the positive things about their drugs and not telling about any negatives because this is done by all salespeople of every product;