Reply #10: In trashing "big Pharma", don't throw out the baby with the bathwater

[elias7]

The FDA requires multi-phase clinical process taking many years and costing many millions of dollars. There is infinitely more data on the drugs that "Big Pharma" releases than on the herbal/natural remedies some espouse, which have virtually no testing or research. The herbal/natural industry is possibly even more corrupt than big Pharma since there is no regulation, there is no body of ongoing research to determine efficacy/toxicity, and it is as much a cash cow for the snake oil salesmen-- nordic naturals, nature made, carlson laboratories, vitamin shoppe, native, nature's way, BioNutritional Research Group, source naturals, spectrum naturals, optimum nutrition, twinlab, M.D. select, garden of life, bragg MHP, cytosport, lumina, country life, stiff, worldwide sport, GNC, vitacost, NOW, rainbow light, solaray... who have taken advantage of the consumer in much the way the Koch Brothers have duped the tea-baggers who in turn dupe the voting public.

Big pharma is an industry. They have terrific R&D people who invent and create chemicals that can improve our lives. These drugs are not without risks, and that is why the process can take 10-15 years for a single drug to be approved. The cost to the company is millions and millions of dollars. And once a drug is approved, the company is still liable in case of unforeseen post-marketing problems that lead to huge lawsuits. People need to give them their due. Businesses, as we know, will resort to unbridled greed unless regulated, and pharmaceutical companies are no different. The products can be life saving, life enhancing, life lengthening and should be considered as part of any holistic approach to health. If you can't lower your cardiac risk by lowering cholesterol through diet, exercise, and weight loss, then these drugs are useful. Some people don't realize that hyperlipidemia is genetic-- types I through V are all "familial"-- there is proportionately less acquired dyslipidemia.