Death on prescription: But do not tell!
‘Death on prescription’ – that was the title of a programme on ARD in 2000, in which a renowned pharmacologist from Bremen, Professor Schönhofer, whose speciality is research into the side effects of medicines, has his say. He assesses the approach of the pharmaceutical industry as follows:
“Profit is often more important than the patient, drugs are often rushed onto the market.”
Using the example of a now practically unknown drug, the antibiotic Trovan, the principle behind this desolate practice is explained.
The antibiotic from the Pfizer company was only on the market for one year. Due to severe side effects plus deaths, it was taken off the market again. At least, one might almost think. But actually such a substance should never have been approved. The studies before approval showed elevated liver values in the test persons, but the manufacturer swept this under the carpet. Pfizer even officially claimed that Trovan was “the best-studied drug ever” and even better documented than penicillin. After one year, the best-studied drug of all time was off the market. For Professor Schönhofer, it was clear that the approval of this substance could not be based on scientific principles, but solely on profit motives, as he put it.
This is only one example of many and thus not an exception that confirms any rule. Rather, it seems to be the rule where one has to look for an exception. While we are on the subject of antibiotics: There is also the unpalatable group of fluoroquinolones. A great thing!
According to Prof. Schönhofer’s calculations, at that time there were 16,000 deaths a year due to side effects of the drugs, half of which could have been avoided. And at that time, according to his statements, there were still more than 20,000 drugs on the market for which there had been no approval at all. But that was in the year 2000.
Here the hypocrisy of orthodox medicine and the pharmaceutical industry becomes particularly clear, who demand approval, re-evaluation, re-approval etc. for natural remedies that have been tried and tested for decades, but are themselves not in the least prepared to have their own chemical filth subjected to scientific testing. And since little seems to have changed in this practice, the 16,000 deaths from 2000 in 2013 has increased evidence-based and significantly to 58,000 deaths from drug side-effects.