“Medicine Over All” or “An Industry in the Era of Late Capitalism”

To me, the role of the pharmaceutical industry in our AE (American-European) culture looks more and more suspicious. It seems that late capitalism (shortly before its end?) really is letting off steam. I get the impression that what the industry is all about is basically turnover and profit, rather than people’s health.

The health sector – and thus also the pharmaceutical industry – has a huge irrational advantage: they promise health and the cure of illnesses. As soon as we hear this, we are only too eager to switch off our brains and pay any price.

To be sure, we do far too little for our health, but still:

Health is our most precious good!

That is why the medicine men have always done excellent business, no matter which century you take.

However, there has never been a time when this has been taken advantage of in such a strategically, systematic and professional way as today. Today, we have a sales structure by pharmaceutical agents that gives me pause, pharmacies with a protected “point of sales” structure, interest-oriented studies and powerful lobbyism. A perfect machinery serves to generate turnover, a clever collection procedure has been integrated into society. The entire concept is promoted by the government and enjoys tax alimentation by the “health fond”.

As far as medicine is concerned, my layman’s impression is that there are only very few drugs that really have a beneficial effect. It seems that many of them are relatively useless if you compare their efficiency with placebos – at least as far as the indication is concerned.

To be sure, the pharmaceutical industry certainly hit home in some instances. A number of drugs are actually capable of curing diseases or have a palliative effect and prolong life. Take for instance the possible treatment of Aids. Many vaccines, too, are valuable. Some of them even made it possible to wipe out the worst of diseases (such as pox and polio).

Unfortunately, these useful medicines can often only be given to those who can pay for them. For example, Europeans who suffer from Aids usually manage to get the appropriate medication. In Africa, however, this is mostly not possible.

Other medicines improve the situation for several “illness situations and symptoms”, such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol. Yet they often have drastic side-effects. Isn’t it a shame that we forget the obvious: in many cases, the aberration could “simply” be rectified without medication, simply by changing one’s habits? Instead of negative side-effects, we would even get positive side-effects. But in order to achieve this, people would have to change their life-styles, often even let old habits die. And that is harder than throwing in a few tablets each day.

Yet if you look at all the pharmaceutical products, you get the impression that the ratio among all medicine of really useful drugs is rather small. And the big bucks are probably not always made with the really useful products.

Here is a list of the ten drugs that rendered the highest turnover in 2008 as listed in the “drug report”:

I really wonder if the pharmaceutical industry serves the people suffering from an illness or if they just serve their business. In the poor countries, people starve of die from drinking contaminated water. And we have to take medication against psychosis and depressions.

My attitude towards the pharmaceutical industry is definitely not going to change from knowing these facts. And I sincerely hope that I will be able to live the next 20 years of my life as medicine-free as I lived the last 39. Since coming of age, I remember taking antibiotics twice. I am still no sure if even that was a good idea.

RMD
(Translated by EG)

P.S.
Now, the  Arzneiverordnungs-Report 2009 (drug report 2009) is also available.

P.S.1
I also got some vaccinations, mostly before travelling the world, or else following the usual advice to get immunized against tetanus, hepatitis, etc. I never took a vaccination against flu.