Government and university medical research has been cut back in favor of Big Pharmas own research
Doctors know how to prescribe medicines—because that’s what they’re taught in medical school; and because doctors are the primary prescribers, they’re also the target of Big Pharma’s educational push. Currently, 70 percent of the US population is taking at least one prescribed medication. Is that because 70 percent of the population is sick? Well, actually yes. In fact, 88 percent of the population is thought to be metabolically ill. But does that mean that medicine is the treatment? If you ask Big Pharma, the answer is an unequivocal yes.
Ever since government got out of medical research, it has left the playing field wide open. Starting with Ronald Reagan, there’s been a steady push from successive US administrations away from research, and by the time George W. Bush assumed office in 2001, the transformation was complete. Under George W. Bush, NIH Director Elias Zerhouni announced a new plan, known as the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research. Euphemistically, the NIH Roadmap initiatives “are designed to speed the movement of research discoveries from the bench into practice for the benefit of the public.” In reality, this plan shuttered clinical research centers nationwide; as Zerhouni said, patient research should be done by Big Pharma. I’ve witnessed this paradigm shift firsthand. Most clinical research has been cut back at the government and university level, leaving it open for Big Pharma to invest in whatever will turn the biggest profit.
References
- Lustig, Robert. (2021). Metabolical Chapter 6. Because Big Pharma Was Their Teacher (p. 122). New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.