The Pharmaceutical Industry

[glatt]

Originally Posted by DeepOne

So why not just go to the pharmacy and buy plan B which you don't need a prescription for, not mess up the rest of your year's worth of pills OR, better yet, use a condom?

Two reasons: The first is that during the 80, the plan B pills were first being rolled out in various countries, and they were not as available as they are now. So BCPs were the only game in town then for many people. The second reason is that BCPs are cheaper than the plan B pills, and many people already had them on hand.

I agree with your implied point that today it's more convenient to go for the plan B pills. I think you don't even need a prescription when you go to the pharmacy window.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by jinx

I don't understand why you think the alternative medicine industry is the bigger scandal.

Because the worst practices of the medical industry, the unfortunate examples that make up the bulk of these anti-pharmaceutical news articles, are the standard practice of the alternatives. Advertising and profit are corrupting forces on the industry. But that's all there is in the alternative industry - they are the pharmaceutical industry without the clinical trials.

The fact that some clinical trials are botched is not a good reason to skip them altogether.

[jinx]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

Advertising and profit are corrupting forces on the industry. But that's all there is in the alternative industry

Well that and thousands of years of use... of trial and error. And you don't see much advertising... or profit really, when you compare to mainstream big pharma medicine.

The fact that some clinical trials are botched is not a good reason to skip them altogether.

Hey that's fine, make your choices. And mind your own business when it comes to mine ok? Because I might want to try an herbal tea before I get an expensive prescription... or I might try a dab of clove oil before I take a bunch of narcotics etc etc... Placebo effect? Ok fine, I'll take the cheapest/easiest one thanks.

edit: FYI: Botched and fabricated mean two different things.

[Trilby]

Originally Posted by jinx

...or I might try a dab of clove oil before I take a bunch of narcotics...

We can never be friends.

[jinx]

Might, I said, might... I want to keep my options open.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by jinx

Well that and thousands of years of use... of trial and error.

Which can't seem to be duplicated in a double blind study.

And you don't see much advertising... or profit really, when you compare to mainstream big pharma medicine.

It's pure profit. They have no R&D costs, and minimal manufacturing costs. And some of them get plenty of advertising. Head-On, Airborne, and Enzyte come to mind.

[jinx]

Which can't seem to be duplicated in a double blind study.

What, specifically, are you talking about?

Head-On, Airborne, and Enzyte come to mind

Yeah I don't know anything about these products (although I've had a medical professional who frequents this board recommend Zicam based on experience, I haven't actually tried it).
I had more herbal/traditional remedies in mind when talking about "alternative"... you know, the stuff "modern medicine" comes from... although ineffective and advertised would also describe main-stream over the counter cough medicine.

[Trilby]

Originally Posted by jinx

Might, I said, might... I want to keep my options open.

*wipes eyes*

well, okay then. I mean, you could get the narcotics and just...oh, I don't know, have them around in case someone you knew needed them or something like that.

no biggie. Just, you know, narcotics.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by jinx

What, specifically, are you talking about?

Anything except the few exceptions noted in the article.

I had more herbal/traditional remedies in mind when talking about "alternative"... you know, the stuff "modern medicine" comes from...

When an herbal remedy is tested and works, it becomes part of modern medicine. If it isn't tested, or is tested and doesn't work, it remains "alternative". If the ginger capsules hold up to further testing, they'll become as much part of modern medicine as aspirin. But all of the remedies that failed testing will remain on the herbal remedy aisle at Whole Foods.

[jinx]

When an herbal remedy is tested and works, it becomes part of modern medicine.

Orly?

I disagree with you HM. I'm sure you're devastated.

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

When an herbal remedy is tested and works, it becomes part of modern medicine.

If it doesn't require a prescription, what does that mean? People use it? Doctors informally recommend it?

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

If it doesn't require a prescription, what does that mean? People use it? Doctors informally recommend it?

Yes. Aspirin is an obvious example.

[Clodfobble]

Okay. I use lactobacillus acidophilus as a probiotic. My doctor has recommended it. It has been tested in a variety of studies as a digestive aid. So you're on board with that, then?

[Happy Monkey]

According to a quick Google:

Originally Posted by Mayo Clinic

Multiple human trials report benefits of Lactobacillus acidophilus for bacterial vaginosis. Other medicinal uses of Lactobacillus acidophilus are not sufficiently studied to form clear conclusions.

Wikipedia and medicinenet also mention using it to repopulate the gut after antibiotics. NIH seems to be the source of the Mayo Clinic quote, and has a lot more data about the studies with respect to that and other uses.

I'm on board with the NIH.

[Clodfobble]

And from your initial link, I would assume that you're now on board with the use of ginger to alleviate nausea, right? And of course, any proctologist in the country will tell you to use magnesium citrate to clean out your colon before an examination, and by extension it will treat constipation as well... I could continue to name them, but my point is you already use and "believe in" a huge number of "natural remedies." The only problem is you hear the phrase "natural remedies" and you assume that must mean it hasn't been tested.

What's more, untested does not equal disproven. It is all well and good to hold ourselves to a scientific ideal of broad-scale, blind testing for the effectiveness of every single remedy everyone has ever thought of. But the reality is neither the medical or the pharmaceutical companies can meet that ideal, the vast majority of the time. Economic realities taint everything.