In a recent Wall Street Journal article entitled, “In Drug Case, Justices Weigh Right to Sue,” is a description of a case called “Wyeth vs. Levine.” Ms. Levine went to a physician with a migraine headache and received an incorrectly administered injection medication to treat her accompanying nausea. Within a few days she had gangrene in her right hand, and soon lost her arm. She was offered a settlement of $2 million, which she turned down because her medical expenses and her anticipated lost wages were higher than that (Ms. Levine was a guitarist). The article mentions Johnson and Johnson’s paying out $68 million to settle a case with its Ortho Evra contraceptive patch. Eli Lilly has spent more than $1 billion in settlements for is psychotic drug Zyprexa. Merck and Company has spent $4 billion on Vioxx litigation, and Wyath has spent $20 billion on their Fen-phen-related diet pills.
My comments: It’s amazing to me the price we pay in money, aggravation, loss of limbs and life, by ignoring the realization that there are simpler, more effective methods of treatment that have less negative side effects. These alternatives are far less expensive than the riskier drug options, and would negate the need for much of the pain and agony that we see in society today that stems from incorrectly administered, inadequately tested, and overprescribed medication.
My doctor says I can get all the vitamins and minerals I need from my food. What is your opinion on this?
I used to say the same thing to my patients, back in the days before I studied healthy alternatives. It is the party line of allopathic medicine, although that is starting to change. Here's the bottom line, and I'll follow up with some info on what allopaths are now doing:
1 response so far ↓
1 Tam // Nov 17, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Yep! I could not have said it better myself. Why is it considered radical to try to eat as healthy as possible but taking a whole pill box full of drugs everday is considered “norm?”
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