by: Craig Stellpflug
(NaturalNews) If a study comes up negative for your favorite drug, just don't publish it! 68 percent of all drug studies are swept under the carpet to keep those pesky side effects from being reported. Only 32 percent of studies come up positive, and a lot of those studies are "shortened" to limit the long-term findings. Studies cut short were found to overestimate the study drug's effectiveness and miss dangerous side effects and complications by an average of 30 percent. This would explain the amazing 85 percent drug study success rate in the hands of Big Pharma according to the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Crime does pay!
Remember Vioxx? Big Pharma research backing that killer drug was all roses. Merck reported over $11 billion in Vioxx sales during the 5 years the drug was on the market. So far the company has paid nearly $6 billion in litigation settlements and criminal fines over Vioxx. Well, that still leaves quite bit of cash left over to pay the greedy executives who were in charge of the company and making criminal decisions. It's all about getting the FDA approval, buying the politicians, making loads of money (even at the expense of human life) and then minimizing the penalties and rebuilding the public relations for another run.
Oh, Merck claims they did a voluntary recall of Vioxx… but the recall came just days after the announcement that an FDA investigator was releasing a study indicating that Vioxx greatly increased the risk of fatal heart attacks and strokes and had probably been responsible for at least 55,000 American deaths during the five years it had been on the market.
How many really died from Vioxx?
Looking back we see the largest ever rise in US mortality rates occurred in 1999, the very year Vioxx was introduced. Not exactly a smoking-gun until you compare it with the largest ever drop in mortality in 2004, the year Vioxx was withdrawn. The net increase was 100,000 deaths per year in 1999 through 2004. Get the picture yet? This equates to 500,000 people who died needlessly and Vioxx is the prime suspect in these murders.
Where is the outrage?
Remember the Chinese milk scandal in 2008? Crooked dairymen were watering down milk products and then adding a plastic chemical compound called melamine back into the slough to raise the protein content back to normal. As a result, nearly 300,000 babies in China suffered urinary problems, with hundreds requiring hospitalization for kidney stones and six babies even died. This is junior league compared to the possible 500,000 Vioxx deaths!
In the Chinese milk scandal, long prison sentences were imposed on all involved and the guiltiest culprits were executed for their role. American media coverage was extensive, accompanied by our obvious outrage about the Chinese leadership's indifference to human life. We were outraged? Yet we stand by with eyes closed to Big Pharma's callous disregard for life and ever-growing greed for more money.
Merck hasn't given up on bad drugs that kill and maim. The company now pushes their new blockbuster vaccine, Gardasil. Merck kicked off with hardball lobbying to have this vaccine mandated in every state. They tried to make it the law for every boy and girl to receive the $120 per shot, three shots required, or the parents suffer legal repercussions. It's a match made in heaven for both Merck and the politicians in charge. Make a fuzzy study, make a law, make scads of money, pay the fines later.
Vaccine critics are calling the Gardasil HPV virus vaccine "Help Pay for Vioxx".
Bottom line, no profit from any drug, no matter how wonderful they make the studies look, is worth murder. Big Pharma companies are not in the business of curing disease. They are out to make money – even if it costs your life. It's high time for a corporate death penalty in America along with appropriate prison sentences for those behind the crimes.