Originally published April 22 2012
Culture of corruption has become common within FDA, Big Pharma
by Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
(NaturalNews) When pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices are approved for use in medicine by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), their safety and efficacy are typically not the primary factors considered during the decision-making process. As pointed out by the Office of Medical and Scientific Justice (OMSJ), the FDA and the drug industry are both now dominated by cultures of corruption that put profits before patient safety in almost every instance, which means that a steady stream of deadly drugs and medical devices continues to flood the market.
Going as far back as the 1950s -- and likely even much earlier than that -- the FDA has made it routine practice to ignore and even deny the dangers associated with drugs and medical devices when approving them. In the case of the Upjohn Company, for instance, which unveiled the antibiotic drug Panalba back in 1957, the FDA ignored many years of complaints about the drug's safety in order to protect the company's profits.
At the time, data showed that as many as 20 percent of patients taking Panalba had suffered severe allergic reactions to the antibiotic, and yet the FDA did nothing. Even Upjohn's own research studies on Panalba showed that the drug was less effective and less safe than alternative drugs on the market, and still the FDA did nothing, effectively sheltering Upjohn's enormous profits from Panalba, which represented 12 percent of its overall profit earnings.
Sadly, the same is true today, as the drug industry and the FDA essentially work in tandem to get dangerous, but highly-profitable, drugs and medical devices to market. It is a win-win situation for both groups as the FDA gets kickbacks in the form of exorbitant new drug and medical device application fees, and the drug industry rakes in billions of dollars for blockbuster drug and device products that would never have been approved had science and facts been legitimately factored into the equation.
FDA's culture of corruption promotes social irresponsibility in all areas of food and medicine
Because the FDA so easily capitulates to the demands of special interests, the food and drug industries have largely become purveyors of social irresponsibility. Back in 2009, the FDA's own scientists came forward and admitted that they are routinely threatened by their superiors to cover up unfavorable study data, and basically promote "corrupt and distorted" information to the public -- and this same type of trickle-down deception is inherent within food and drug firms as well (http://www.naturalnews.com/025827_scientists_FDA.html).
A study conducted back in 1977 by researchers from Penn State University (PSU) revealed that the vast majority of people, when put in such situations by their superiors where they are expected to lie, simply cave to the pressure and comply. Embodying the scenario that has evolved at the FDA and throughout the drug industry, the report explained that:
"[...] ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process. Moreover, even when the destructive effects of their work become patently clear, and they are asked to carry out actions incompatible with fundamental standards of morality, relatively few people have the resources needed to resist authority."
And this is the situation many lower-level workers in government and industry find themselves in today. Will they have the courage to resist the pressure to commit acts of immorality that serve the voracious greed and malice of their superiors? Or will they just defy their consciences and obey their overlords, claiming all the while that they are "just doing their jobs?"
Sources for this article include:
http://www.omsj.org
http://www.naturalnews.com/FDA.html
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml