Just recently, the FDA gave Braeburn Pharmaceuticals the green light to use the first opioid addiction treatment, a Probuphine (buprenorphine) implant, on patients. The more I read about this new implant, the more nervous I get.
The implant, an inch long and the width of a matchstick, is designed to deliver the drug buprenorphine continuously for six months to people suffering from opioid painkiller addiction.
Buprenorphine is an opioid that works by activating the receptors in the brain that respond to opiates such as prescription pain medications and heroin. It provides less euphoria and physical dependence, and the withdrawal symptoms are relatively mild. It reduces cravings and blocks the effects of other opioids.
But folks, like the nasal sprays and vaccines also currently being introduced, it’s still an opioid and people are still dependent on it.
Harm reduction
Over time, most people develop a steady tolerance for opioid painkillers, meaning they need more of the drug to get the same effect. If they stop taking the medication regularly, that tolerance goes down and this can be dangerous: Low tolerance means he or she can overdose fairly easily and die, should they start using again. This is what contributes to higher rates of overdose according to the National Institute for Drug Abuse.
So yeah, it’s harm reduction at it’s best but isn’t it the least bit ironic that this latest solution comes from the same industry (Big Pharma) that got North America hooked on opioids in the first place? Um, yeah.
And I can’t help but feel that the only thing this company is concerned about is their bottom line.
Oh wait! Look at this: The implant won’t necessarily be cheap, though Braeburn Pharmaceuticals CEO Behshad Sheldon said it would be priced lower than other long-acting drugs used in the neuropsychological space. Braeburn is also working with payors to come up with an “outcome-based agreement” that will give them rebates if Probuphine doesn’t save them money, compared to other buprenorphine options.
Gosh, I feel better.
Big Pharma revealed
The medical community isn’t full of the shining saviours it was once thought to be. In fact, we’re finally getting to the truth of the matter regarding the degree of scientific fraud and manipulation around pharmaceutical drugs, and the entire health industry in general.
The editor in chief of the Lancet (one of the most reputable peer-reviewed medical journals in the world), Dr. Richard Horton said that “half of all the literature published is false” and that “science has taken a turn towards darkness.”
There are plenty of studies to choose from where financial ties were investigated between the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders (DSM) panel members and the pharmaceutical industry. One such study found that, of the 170 DSM panel members, 95 (56%) had one or more financial associations with companies in the pharmaceutical industry.
One hundred percent (that’s ALL) of the members of the panels on “mood disorders” and “schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders” had financial ties to drug companies. The connections are especially strong in those diagnostic areas where drugs are the first line of treatment for mental disorders.
Lisa Cosgrove, PhD, Professor of Counseling and School Psychology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, says “The DSM appears to be more a political document than a scientific one. Each diagnostic criteria in the DSM is not based on medical science. No blood tests exist for the disorders in the DSM. It relies on judgments from practitioners who rely on the manual.”
Dr. Irwin Savodnik, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California at Los Angeles states, “The very vocabulary of psychiatry is now defined at all levels by the pharmaceutical industry.”
When just scratching the surface of the above mentioned studies, there’s lot of proof to suggest that pharmaceutical companies have influenced doctors to “pathologize” certain behaviors as a mental illness so that more drugs can be marketed to the masses.
A closer look
Here’s an example of how crazy it all is: Just this past February, The Toronto Star published an article about how Big Pharma woos doctors, reporting that, “a three-course dinner with wine was served to the doctors assembled to hear the (pharmaceutical) presentation in a restaurant’s private dining room. Drug companies routinely host and fund these dinners at upscale restaurants as training events for family doctors. These events are called continuing medical education.”
“After the plates were cleared, the speaker, a general practitioner with a specialty in chronic pain, wrapped up his lecture and slide show. While discussing effective drugs for lower back pain that is moderate but persistent, he zeroed in: The best medication for that is Cymbalta. Cymbalta is a prescription drug made by Eli Lilly — the company that organized the event, paid for the wine and food, and paid the doctor giving the talk.”
The article continues, “Family doctors are most often responsible for choosing what drugs Canadians are prescribed. In Ontario, where there have been more than 500 industry-sponsored events in the last two years, physicians are required to attend ‘continuing medical education’ to keep their license in good standing. These medical education events are vetted and approved by the College of Family Physicians of Canada, which represents more than 30,000 physicians. A task force created by the College acknowledged that the drug industry’s interests are ‘not always aligned with the best interests’ of family doctors or their patients.“
Huh?
To further control the health system, Big Pharma has dictated what’s been taught in medical schools throughout North America, heavily subsidizing them as a means of dictating the standard curriculum right down to the textbooks. Starting in the final year of med school, Big Pharma insidiously hones in on young med students, seductively wining and dining prospective physicians, showering them with money in the form of educational handouts, gifts, trips and perks galore.
Just say NO to Big Pharma
The untimely death of Prince suggests that Big Pharma’s hold on our society needs to be broken: opioid addiction, SSRI addiction, children on their version of speed, are all contributing to the downward spiral of civilization as we know it.
And yet we continue to allow them to rule over our health. Their influence on the legislative process could at some point mean laws forcing our kids to be medicated, even past vaccines.
Pharmaceutical companies are quite literally controlling the masses through not only funneling bribes through the system but by also over-medicating our society.
We have focused literally no time or energy on natural cures. For example, doctors often suggest statins, a class of drugs that help lower cholesterol levels, over dietary changes. The entire base of the system is tainted, penetrated by pharmaceutical bribes that most people are simply unwilling to give up.
When we speak of drug addiction, we often have this picture of a cocaine user or a meth user, but the fact is as we said in this post, prescription painkiller addiction is a much larger monster. People can’t just quit. So the cycle continues to break us all down. One medication leads to another medication, which leads to another medication. Big Pharma invents illness for the sake of treating it with their own made up products and the opioid addiction epidemic is a prime example. So why not fight it with other opioids you’ll still be dependent on? No. It makes no sense.
As they say in this video, “when you slice and dice data, and only show portions of it, you can spin it any way you like.”
So, if you believe in getting off the opioid addiction treadmill and you’d like a better answer than another opioid to be rid of opioid addiction for you or a loved one, have talk with us. We can explain how the medicine works not only to stop withdrawal and cravings, but to lead to a deeper understanding of why one is addicted in the first place and where to start to work through it. Call 778-988-2997 or email us at IbogaBC@gmail.com for more information