Few people realize impact of these statistics. As we spend more on health care in form of FDA approved drugs, we becoming sicker. Wrap your brain cells around that! Still though Americans, like cattle, are lining up at pharmaceutical trough for their daily dose of "just what doctor ordered". And they are bringing their children with them.

Researchers writing for Pediatrics showed that between 1997 and 2000, approximately 3,750 serious injuries, birth defects and deaths occurred among children under 2 who were secondary recipients of prescription drugs compliments of their mothers via pregnancy, labor, or breast feeding. The study, conducted by researchers at George Washington University and University of Maryland, found 769 childhood deaths and 664 cases of birth defects or disabilities that could be directly linked to prescription drug use. The FDA has stated that these numbers really only account for about 2% of actual number of deaths and negative side effects reported! In spite of carnage committed against young and innocent, FDA does not require pharmaceutical companies to test newly released drugs for potentially hazardous effects on children. Yet, according to New York Times and JAMA, spending on central nervous system (CNS) drugs for pediatric patients increased by 85% from 1985-1999!

Call it lack of sufficient funding, integrity, human nature, greed or plain old corruption, protective motivation that was once driving force of FDA is gone! A new kind of bureaucracy has risen up in its place and very few professionals are aware of change, especially among media channels. Undoubtedly, general population is grossly ignorant of FDA's new mission, to approve life-threatening drugs that will profit pharmaceutical companies and to suppress non-toxic, inexpensive and effective natural therapies.

Jay R. Cavanaugh, PhD, Member, California State Board of Pharmacy 1980-90, said it best when referring to FDA and international pharmaceutical companies:

"This collection of serial killers with reckless disregard of human life, extinguishes hopes and lives of over 100,000 Americans every year. In past decade they have been responsible for over one million innocent deaths, yet not only have they not faced justice, they have enriched themselves with profits that would make Bill Gates envious. These parasitic killers come not from some cave in Afghanistan, but from plush office suites..."

That FDA is a watchdog agency for public health interests is a fallacy. The FDA is a lapdog for international, multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical companies and is responsible for millions of preventable deaths.

The Kids will Love it! And so will shareholders of Eli Lilly!

In 1987 FDA approved Prozac to treat depression. In 1985 manufacturer, Eli Lilly, conducted tests on Prozac and found drug was no more effective than a placebo. As a remedy for these insignificant figures, an FDA statistician suggested that Eli Lilly might evaluate test results differently to produce a more favorable statistical result for Prozac. Clinical studies performed on Prozac showed 191 negative side effects per 100 people. That is almost two negative side effects for every user of drug! Two months before FDA approved Prozac there had already been 27 deaths from controlled clinical trials. By 1992 Prozac had already scored another 28,600 documented adverse reactions plus an additional 1700 deaths according to an FDA report.7 I guess you could say that death is a pretty strong "adverse reaction" from a pill. But look on bright side...it's your last one! In 2003, FDA approved Prozac for children.

To help drug companies push more poison FDA approved direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising. Now that it's legal, pharmaceutical companies are spending about $2 to $3 Billion annually to unleash false advertising campaigns directly to public. FDA officers report that pharmaceutical companies have been in violation of Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) over a hundred times each year by overstating benefits and not accurately reporting negative reactions to drugs. To date, no pharmaceutical company has been charged by FDA for violations of FDCA.

Closing

How is it that FDA can get away with approving drugs that are known to be deadly? Moreover, how can FDA continue to allow pharmaceutical companies to advertise false information about FDA approved drugs? And finally, why does FDA only take public safety into account when it is forced to by some form of gross public error?

An insider testimony offers an explanation. As published in British Medical Journal, Paul Stolley, MD, MPH, a former senior consultant to FDA, says "the agency neglects drug safety in its rush to speed drug-approval process because current laws and policies let drug industry influence FDA decisions". Federal law prohibits FDA from using experts with financial conflicts of interest to decide whether or not certain medications should be approved. Yet FDA has waived restriction 800 times since 1998! In fact, USA Today reported that more than half of experts hired to advise FDA on safety and effectiveness of medicine have direct financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies that will be helped or hurt by their decision. Historically, FDA has revealed when these financial conflicts exist, but these conflicts have been kept secret since 1992. Hence, it is impossible to determine amount of money or pharmaceutical company involved.

If we truly want health freedom it is time that we seek out natural alternatives that are not FDA approved. The aforementioned examples are not isolated cases. Scientists writing for British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology wrote that, "A random journey through Physicians Desk Reference (PDR) underscores fact that most drugs are poisons which have a few beneficial side effects". It is time that Americans took responsibility for their health or face consequences of becoming a lifetime asset to "big-Pharma".