Abbott Laboratories

Estrogen, testosterone play role in development of hypogonadal symptoms.

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In a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers suggest revisiting the approach to evaluation and management of hypogonadism due to data showing that declining levels of estrogen as well as androgens contribute to negative changes in body composition, strength and sexual desire in men.

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Researchers evaluated two cohorts of healthy men aged 20 to 50 years. All patients received goserelin acetate (Zoladex, AstraZeneca) 3.6 mg subcutaneously at weeks 0, 4, 8 and 12 to suppress endogenous gonadal steroids. Subsequently, patients in cohort 1 (n=198) were randomly assigned to placebo or 1.25 g, 2.5 g, 5 g or 10 g of topical 1% testosterone gel (AndroGel, Abbott Laboratories) daily for 16 weeks. In addition to goserelin acetate and placebo or the same doses of testosterone, patients in cohort 2 (n=202) received anastrozole (Arimidex, AstraZeneca) 1 mg daily to block aromatization of testosterone to estrogen, researchers wrote.

In cohort 1, body fat percentage increased significantly among patients who received placebo or testosterone 1.25 g or 2.5 g daily vs. those who received higher doses, according to data. Additionally, lean mass and thigh-muscle area decreased in patients who received placebo and in patients who received testosterone 1.25 g daily vs. higher doses. Leg-press strength was weakened in the placebo group only, according to data.

In cohort 2, body fat percentage rose in all groups, with similar increases seen in the placebo and testosterone 1.25-g, 2.5-g and 5-g groups. Significant decreases in total-body lean mass were observed in the placebo group vs. the testosterone 1.25-g, 2.5-g or 10-g groups. Researchers found reductions in thigh-muscle area in patients receiving placebo vs. any dose of testosterone. Similar to cohort 1, leg-press strength decreased in the placebo group, researchers wrote.

Overall, sexual desire declined with decreased testosterone doses in both cohorts, they added.

“By examining these relationships with and without suppression of estrogen synthesis, we found that lean mass, muscle size, and strength are regulated by androgens; fat accumulation is primarily a consequences of estrogen deficiency; and sexual function is regulated by both androgens and estrogens,” Joel S. Finkelstein, MD, from the endocrine unit in the department of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues wrote.

In an accompanying editorial, David J. Handelsman, MB, BS, PhD, director of the ANZAC Research Institute and head of the department of andrology at Concord Hospital and the University of Sydney, Australia, wrote that longer studies are required to separate the effects of testosterone on bone density and fractures or on prostate growth and diseases.

“Nevertheless, this excellent study contributes to our expanding appreciation of the complex mechanisms of action of testosterone,” Handelsman wrote.

 

PERSPECTIVE

 

·         Part of the action of testosterone is actually mediated by aromatization to estradiol. Men with genetic aromatase deficiency cannot produce estrogens and show increased adiposity, decreased bone mass and reduced libido. This study shows that in normal men estrogens are important for body fat; androgens are important for muscle; and both estrogens and androgens are important for libido. These data explain why different men have differing sexual symptoms and metabolic risk profiles, despite equivalent systemic testosterone exposure and could lead to a rational approach to developing designer androgens, with varying aromatizability that would promote certain actions and not others. The full clinical implications of this important mechanistic study require the development of these novel androgens and estrogens.

o    Peter Y. Liu, MD, PhD, FRACP

o    Visiting professor in the division of endocrinology, metabolism and nutrition
Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center

Source: Endocrine Today

Top 10 Drug Company Settlements.

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There were a record 4.02 billion prescriptions written in the United States in 20111 – that’s more than ever before.

There are 314 million people in the United States, and with 4.02 billion prescriptions, that amounts to roughly 12.74 prescriptions per person.

The cost for all these prescriptions? $308.6 billion, a hefty sum that is likely to continue to soar even higher as Americans grasp at what they believe to be the solution to their failing health.

Sadly, many will have their hopes go unanswered, as most of the top-selling drugs treat conditions that are better treated with lifestyle changes, healthy food and other forms of natural healing.

Putting your health, your very life, in the hands of drug companies is a frightening prospect when you consider the leading pharmaceutical companies are also among the largest corporate criminals in the world, behaving as if they are little more than white-collar drug dealers.

As these companies have shown time and again, they consistently put profits above human health.

Top 10 Drug Company Settlements

Big Pharma lawsuits, especially those that settle in the hundreds of millions or billions, are intended to make these criminal corporations start to straighten out, abandon their fraud and deception, their kickbacks, price-setting, bribery and all other illegal sales activities in favor of looking out for public health, which to date has been clearly ineffective.

Most of these settlements amount to a mere slap on the wrist for the drug company, which typically will continue right along with their deceitful behaviors. As reported in Time,2 an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine3 echoed these sentiments, calling for change:

“…levy large enough fines against drug companies for illegal behavior, so that the payouts can’t be dismissed as merely “the cost of doing business;” offer more protections for whistleblowers; and perhaps most importantly, file criminal charges against drug company executives for misconduct that could put them in prison.”

Time recently compiled a list of the top 10 drug company settlements,4 and while they are significant, they seem to be of little deterrent to the companies’ unethical, and dangerous, behaviors:

10.  2007: Bristol-Myers Squibb paid $515 million for illegally promoting its atypical antipsychotic drug Abilify to kids and seniors (despite a black box warning that warned of potentially fatal side effects in the elderly). Other accusations included giving payments, kickbacks and expensive vacations to medical professionals and pharmacist to dispense its drugs.

9.  2010: AstraZeneca settled for $520 million for trying to persuade doctors to prescribe its psychotropic drug Seroquel for unapproved uses ranging from Alzheimer’s disease and ADHD to sleeplessness and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Using Seroquel for improper use has been linked to an increased risk of death.

Company executives also promoted the drug for weight loss, highlighting one favorable study while burying others that linked it to substantial weight gain.

8.  2007: Purdue Pharma paid $634.5 million for fraudulently misbranding Oxycontin, and suggesting it was less addictive and less abused than other painkillers. The company was charged with using misleading sales tactics, minimizing risks and promoting it for uses for which it was not appropriately studied.

7.  Currently pending: Amgen, the makers of anemia drugs Aranesp and Epogen, has been accused of handing extra profits to doctors who prescribe the drugs (by overfilling vials, then allowing doctors to charge insurance companies for drugs they got for free). Other accusations include misconduct involving claims of safety and efficacy, marketing, pricing and dosing of the drugs. Amgen has set aside $760 million to settle the suits.

6.  2011: Merck settles for $950 million to resolve fraudulent marketing allegations and safety claims related to Vioxx. Vioxx was pulled from the market in 2004, after it was shown to double the risk of heart attack and stroke. In addition to the $950 million, Merck paid hundreds of millions more to harmed patients and their families (Vioxx contributed to causing heart attacks in up to 140,000 people, half of which were fatal).

5.  2009: Eli Lilly pays $1.4 billion for promoting Zyprexa for off-label uses, often to children and the elderly, and not properly divulging side effect information. For instance, Zyprexa was marketed as a sleeping aid for the elderly because one of its side effects is sedation, even though the drug also increases the risk of death.

4.  2012: Abbott Laboratories settles for $1.5 billion for aggressively promoting their seizure drug Depakote for off-label use in elderly dementia patients, despite lacking evidence of safety or effectiveness (and a known increase of serious side effects, like anorexia, in the elderly).

3.  Currently pending: Johnson & Johnson will pay anywhere from $1.5 to $2 billion for illegal marketing of Risperdal and other drugs. The company not only heavily marketed drugs to children and the elderly despite inadequate evidence of safety or efficacy, they also hid data about drugs’ side effects.

2.  2009: Pfizer pays $2.3 billion for marketing fraud related to Bextra, Lyrica and other drugs. Charges included marketing drugs to doctors for uses for which they had not been approved and giving kickbacks to doctors and other health care professionals for prescribing their drugs. This was Pfizer’s fourth settlement numbering in the multimillions in less than a decade.

1.  2012: GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to pay $3 billion for illegal marketing of Paxil and Welbutrin and downplaying safety risks of Avandia, among other charges. The company hid data about drug risks, marketed drugs for unapproved uses, and paid doctors (or gave them lavish gifts like expensive vacations) for prescribing their drugs. One of the most high-profile accounts involved tv’s Dr. Drew, who reportedly received $275,000 from GSK to promote Welbutrin to treat sexual dysfunction associated with depression even though it hasn’t been proven effective for this purpose.

How Many of the Top 10 Most Prescribed Drugs Are Unnecessary?

IMS Health has recently released the top U.S. prescription drugs of 2011, and an editorial in ACS Chemical Neuroscience has analyzed some of the statistics.5 The most-used drugs in America are, primarily, used to treat conditions that can be better treated without drugs. Let’s take a closer look:

Statin Cholesterol Drugs

Lipitor and Crestor, used to treat high cholesterol, came in at number 1 and 8 on the list, respectively. This class of drugs, used to lower cholesterol, has been linked to over 300 devastating side effects, including muscle pain and weakness, muscle atrophy, rhabdomyolysis, increased plaque deposits, increased cancer risk, immune system suppression, decreased liver function, CoQ10 depletion, diabetes and death.6

The fact that statin drugs cause side effects is well established, but very few people realize that not only is your total cholesterol level not a great indicator of your heart disease risk, but you could be getting told you have high cholesterol when your levels are actually perfectly normal for you. You can make sense of your cholesterol numbers by reading this article, and also get tips for keeping your levels in the healthy range here. To normalize your cholesterol level naturally, four primary strategies work well 99 percent of the time if properly implemented:

  1. Reduce fructose intake to less than 25 grams per day
  2. Regular exercise, especially Peak Fitness
  3. Eat a low-grain, low-sugar diet according as outlined in my nutrition plan
  4. Taking a high-quality, animal-based omega-3 supplement

Heart Disease

Plavix, which is manufactured by Bristol-Myers Squibb and used to help prevent strokes and heart attacks, has serious side effects you many not be aware of. When combined with aspirin, the drug nearly doubled the death rate from heart disease among patients who had not had heart attacks but were at risk for them.7

Many medications commonly prescribed to heart disease patients can also be avoided, as in the case of heart disease, the healthy lifestyle strategies discussed here – strategies like proper food choices, stress reduction, exercise, and optimizing vitamin D – are not only effective as prevention, they’re also useful for treatment.

Additionally, there is compelling evidence that grounding or earthing will thin your blood very effectively and provide the benefit that Plavix and these types of drugs provide with none of the dangerous side effects or costs. Grounding has been shown to be such a potent blood thinner that if a person is taking Coumadin, they need to adjust their dose lower under the guidance of a physician as the grounding will decrease the need for it.

Acid Reflux Drugs

Nexium came in at #3. If you have heartburn, acid reflux, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), peptic ulcer disease or any acid-related condition, chances are very high that you’ve been offered a prescription for a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) like Nexium.

But acid-reducing drugs are actually the opposite of what many people with acid reflux need, as heartburn and GERD are almost often caused by a LACK of stomach acid, rather than an overproduction thereof. Further, when you take PPIs, which significantly reduce the amount of acid in your stomach, it both impairs your ability to properly digest proteins in food and diminishes your stomach acid barrier – your primary defense mechanism for food-borne infections – thereby increasing your risk of food poisoning.

These drugs have also been linked to an increased risk of pneumonia, and result in an elevated risk of bone loss, likely by interfering with the absorption of minerals like calcium and magnesium. Acid-reducing medications also actually induce acid-related symptoms like heartburn and acid regurgitation once treatment is withdrawn. Because of this you have to wean yourself off them gradually or else you’ll experience a severe rebound of your symptoms, As I explained in my acid reflux video below, while you wean yourself off these drugs (if you’re already on one), you’ll want to start implementing a lifestyle modification program that can eliminate this condition once and for all.

The key to addressing the underlying cause of the problem is to limit fructose to below 25 grams per day as this will tend to create a micro-environment that allows beneficial bacteria to thrive. Remember, sugar and fructose tend to act as fertilizer for pathogenic bacteria, fungi and yeast, so stay away from it. Additionally it will be good to include some fermented foods, such as fermented vegetables, and a high-quality probiotic.

Antidepressants / Antipsychotics

Abilify, Seroquel and Cymbalta all made the top 10 list. Most of the atypical antipsychotics like Abilify and Seroquel were approved in the 1990’s, at which time they were reserved for a very small minority of serious mental illnesses – primarily schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, diseases afflicting an estimated 3 percent of Americans. More recently, some atypical antipsychotics have also been approved for the treatment of severe depression. Shockingly, children as young as 18 months are now receiving antipsychotic drugs, despite the fact that the diseases they’re designed to treat rarely develop before adolescence.

There has been a massive increase in off-label use of atypical antipsychotics, which are now being prescribed for ailments such as anxiety, insomnia, and behavioral problems in children.

Abilify (aripiprazole), for example, is a newer psychotropic medication, licensed for the treatment of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, autism – and major depression when taken with antidepressants. i.e. it is used to augment the effects of the antidepressants – because, of course, antidepressants have also been found to be about as effective as a placebo, and sometimes less effective than a sugar pill… Abilify has upwards of 75 different side effects associated with it, including GERD, arthritis, impotence, yeast infections, thyroid problems and more.

As for the antidepressant Cymbalta, which also made the list, research has confirmed that antidepressant drugs are typically no more effective than sugar pills, and have little if any benefit to people with mild to moderate depression, but they can increase suicidal thoughts and tendencies, and violent behavior, especially in children, teens and young adults. Antidepressants have also been linked to diabetes and impaired immune function.

Unfortunately, since most of the treatment focus of depression and other mental conditions is on drugs, many safe and natural treatment options that DO work are being completely ignored .

Asthma

Advair and Singulair, two popular asthma drugs, also made the top 10 list. While these drugs may be justified when used acutely, they should only be used temporarily until the underlying problem is solved, as they, too, carry risks.

Advair, for example, contains the long-acting beta-agonist (LABA) salmeterol, which actually increases the risk of death from asthma problems! Singulair also has serious side effects, including suicidal thoughts and actions, depression, aggressive behavior, hallucinations, sleep walking, tremor and more. Like many chronic diseases, asthma can often be managed using natural strategies, such as optimizing vitamin D levels and increasing your intake of omega-3 fats.

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)

Humira, used for rheumatoid arthritis, rounds out the top 10. Humira belongs to a newer class of RA drugs, the “biologic” drugs, called TNF-alpha inhibitors, sold under the brand names Humira, Enbrel, and Remicade. While these drugs are aggressively promoted, there are still concerns about their safety. Not only are drugs like Humira made from genetically engineered hamster cells, and not only do they suppress your actual immune system, but they can lead to tuberculosis, lethal infections, melanoma, lymphoma and unusual cancers in children and teenagers. This is one class of drugs that I feel are simply too dangerous too use.

My revised and updated drug-free RA protocol based on Dr. Thomas Brown’s RA treatment tends to provide a 60-90 percent improvement rate in most RA sufferers. Important aspects of the treatment protocol include dietary modifications, low-dose Naltrexone, optimizing your vitamin D levels, astaxanthin, beneficial bacteria (preferably in the form of fermented foods), and getting regular exercise

Are Drugs Really the Solution You’re Searching For?

Most chronic diseases, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity, are largely preventable, and sometimes treatable, with simple lifestyle changes and other holistic approaches. Even infectious diseases like the flu can often be warded off by a healthy way of life.

Imagine the lowered death toll, not to mention costs to the economy, if more people decided to take control of their health…

The added bonus to this is that the healthier you are, the less you will need to rely on conventional medical care such as medications, which is a leading cause of death. Please make this transition with wisdom or you can get yourself into serious trouble. Avoid stopping any medications you are currently taking until you are working with a knowledgeable natural health care practitioner who can help guide you, but remember that minimizing your use of drugs should be a goal if you want to achieve optimal health.

The first step in treating virtually any illness, and certainly any of the ones discussed above is to optimize your health through your diet and lifestyle. It took me over 30 years to compile my free Nutrition Plan for you. It is divided into three levels, beginner, intermediate and advanced, but it would be best to start at the beginning. I recently edited the entire document to include updates that we have learned that will help you and your family take control of your health.

Watch the video on youtube, URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOcJA4Tyw50&feature=player_embedded

Source: Dr. Mercola

 

 

New Charges of Fraud on Heels of Abbott’s $1.5 Billion Plea Agreement .

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Only weeks after pleading guilty to criminal charges that it promoted its anti-seizure drug Depakote for uses not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Abbott Labs is being sued again for similar charges with a different drug.

The new lawsuit alleges similar practices with Abbott’s cholesterol drug, TriCor. A former employee filed the whistleblower lawsuit.

Illegal Marketing Practices Mean More Trouble for Abbott

Earlier this year, Abbott settled for $1.6 billion for aggressively promoting their seizure drug Depakote to physicians for off-label use in elderly dementia patients, despite lacking evidence of safety or effectiveness.

In most cases, a billion-dollar (or more) fraud settlement would be a death-sentence for a business, but for the drug industry, it’s just another cost of doing business.

Now, just weeks later, Abbott is in the hot seat again after Amy Bergman, a former Abbott saleswoman, filed a federal lawsuit against them, alleging the company illegally promoted the drug TriCor for uses not approved by the FDA, such as reducing cardiac health risks in patients with diabetes.

The suit, which was filed under the False Claims Act in September 2009, was previously kept confidential in order to protect the whistleblower, but it was recently unsealed after federal and state governments declined to intervene.

Doctors are well within their legal rights to prescribe a drug for off-label use; it’s actually a common, albeit sometimes dangerous, practice. However, drug companies may not promote them for uses other than those that are FDA-approved.

According to a report in the Chicago Tribune:1

“Bergman, who says she was an Abbott saleswoman from 1999 through 2008, alleges in the suit that she was ‘trained, directed, incentivized, and encouraged’ by Abbott to promote TriCor for so-called off-label and medically unnecessary uses. She also claims the company directed her to give illegal kickbacks to doctors to encourage them to prescribe the drug.

In doing so, she alleges, the company defrauded federal health programs, including Medicaid, for an eight-year period between 2000 and 2008.”

Even Billion-Dollar Settlements are Not Enough to Ensure Public Safety

The idea behind Big Pharma lawsuits, especially those that settle in the hundreds of millions or billions, is that the punishment will make these criminal corporations start to straighten out, abandon their fraud and deception, their kickbacks, price-setting, bribery and all other illegal sales activities in favor of looking out for public health, which to date has been clearly ineffective.

It would appear that a far better strategy would be to file criminal charges against the responsible individuals and put them in prison. This would make them think hard and long about trying to get away with these types of illegal behaviors in the future.

In the pharmaceutical world, there seem to be few crimes that don’t pay off – as long as you don’t get caught (and even then, all you’re bound to receive is a fine (a mere slap on the wrist) as long as you’re large and important enough). So make no mistake – the leading pharmaceutical companies are also among the largest corporate criminals in the world, behaving as if they are little more than white-collar drug dealers.

Two years ago, I set out to investigate some of the criminal activities that some of the largest pharmaceutical companies had been convicted of lately, and the amount of gross misconduct, fraud and deceit I found was so insidious, so massive, and so overwhelming that it shocked even me. In all, no less than 19 drug companies made AllBusiness.com’s Top 100 Corporate Criminals List! And if it seems like the number of lawsuits that Big Pharma is settling – many of them out of court without going to trial – are rising, it’s because they are.

To get a picture of what’s been going on, FiercePharma compiled a list of top marketing settlements that the industry has made in the past 10 years. In total, drug makers have agreed to pay more than $11 billion so far for their misdoings. But the worst may yet be ahead: more than 900 whistleblower lawsuits were filed in the last year alone. Some of the most not able in history include:2

  1. 2012: GlaxoSmithKline to pay $3 billion for illegal marketing of Paxil, Welbutrin and downplaying safety risks of Avandia.
  2. 2009: Pfizer pays $2.3 billion for marketing fraud related to Bextra, Lyrica and other drugs.
  3. 2012: Johnson & Johnson will pay anywhere from $1.5 to $2.2 billion for illegal marketing of Risperdal.
  4. 2012: Abbott Laboratories settles for $1.6 billion for aggressively promoting their seizure drug Depakote for off-label use in elderly dementia patients, despite lacking evidence of safety or effectiveness.
  5. 2009: Eli Lilly pays $1.4 billion for promoting Zyprexa for off-label uses, often to children and the elderly.
  6. 2011: Merck settles for $950 million to resolve fraudulent marketing allegations related to Vioxx.
  7. 2005: Serono (now Merck Serono) paid $704 million after pleading guilty to two felony charges for fraudulent marketing related to a growth hormone to treat wasting in HIV patients.
  8. 2007: Purdue Pharma paid $634.5 million for fraudulently misbranding Oxycontin, and suggesting it was less addictive and less abused than other painkillers.
  9. 2010: Allergan paid $600 million for aggressively pushing Botox for unapproved uses.
  10. 2010: AstraZeneca settled for $520 million for trying to persuade doctors to prescribe its psychotropic drug Seroquel for unapproved uses ranging from Alzheimer’s disease and ADHD to sleeplessness and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
  11. 2007: Bristol-Myers Squibb paid $515 million for illegally promoting its atypical antipsychotic drug Abilify to kids and seniors.

Drug Company Fines

Year Fine Drug Company
2012 $1.6 Billion Depakote Abbott
2011 $950 Million Vioxx Merck
2010 $600 Million Botox Allergan
2010 $520 Million Seroquel Astra Zeneca
2009 $2.3 Billion Bextra Pfizer
2007 $515 Million Abilify Bristol Meyers
2007 $635 Million Oxycontin Purdue
2006 $7-4 Million Serono  

Drug Companies Control the System

It is a well-documented fact that the drug companies have the largest political lobbying organizations. They are some of the most clever marketers on the planet, as they know how to leverage their resources by bribing politicians to give them an unfair advantage in the marketplace, often “buying” legislation that is devastating to their competition. This is typically implemented through federal regulatory agencies like the FDA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The pharmaceutical industry spent $1.5 billion lobbying Congress in the last decade, and in so doing has manipulated the government’s involvement with the way medicine is being practiced and secondarily reinforced our dependence on pharmaceuticals, through government policies. So it should come as no surprise that the federal government has a long history of siding with, and protecting, the drug companies, such as:

  • Previous drug company funding – to the tune of $2 billion – in helping drug companies bring flu vaccines to the market faster3
  • Letting drug giants like Pfizer off the hook for fraudulent marketing charges so their products could continue to flow through Medicare and Medicaid
  • Including incentives in the “Affordable Health Care for America Act” for people to purchase more expensive prescription drugs in favor of their less expensive over-the-counter cousins4

So there should be no doubt about the power the drug industry wields in shaping the U.S. health care system. There are simply so many revolving doors between the pharmaceutical industry and the government that it makes your head spin. Here are just a few examples:

  • The American Cancer Society has close financial ties to both makers of mammography equipment and breast cancer drugs. Other conflicts of interest include ties to, and financial support from, the pesticide, petrochemical, biotech, cosmetics, and junk food industries – the very industries whose products are the primary contributors to cancer!
  • The second-highest funding source for drug studies is the National Institute of Health (NIH), which is not the group of neutral government experts you may have assumed them to be. In fact, NIH accepts a great deal of money from Big Pharma and is deeply enmeshed with the industry.
  • Drug companies pay seven-figure amounts into FDA coffers to gain approval of their drugs. FDA staff knows that the cash means higher salaries and more perks in the agency budget. (Incidentally, the FDA’s commissioner Margaret Hamburg came straight from the boardroom of America’s largest seller of dental amalgam, Henry Schein, Inc.)
  • Conflicts of interest are also rampant in a mass vaccination infrastructure that has the same people who are regulating and promoting vaccines also evaluating vaccine safety.
  • The vaccine industry gives millions for conferences, grants, and medical education classes sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The vaccine industry even helped build AAP’s headquarters.

Who Can You Trust With Your Life?

This is the question you need to ask yourself when deciding on a plan for your own health care, as your very life is at stake and depends on the options you choose.

Unfortunately, as the ever increasing slew of pharmaceutical company lawsuits and settlements reveal, when it comes to making money, many industries throw ethics and integrity out the window. You cannot blindly trust that the companies making your medications have your best interest at heart.

There’s a mountain of evidence supporting the use of drug alternatives, and there’s very strong evidence that some “alternative” treatments, such as diet and exercise, are FAR more effective than any of the drugs currently in use. But if your doctor is also under the spell of drug-industry influence, you also cannot trust that he or she will inform you of them (or even be aware of their benefit).

Sources and References

 

Source: Dr. Mercola