The Future in the form of the fourth-generation drugs, obtained through the use of genetic engineering, is already here. But it’s often tragic that in a pursuit of a new panacea it is often overlooked that the same drug can achieve various results, with an unexpected and often tragic result usually to follow. Today, mortality rates from the use drugs in developed countries, are at the top of the list, along with such death causes as cardiovascular and lung diseases, cancer, trauma and poisoning.
At it’s been noted by the Daily Caller, a disturbing majority of businesses in the US are being negatively impacted by prescription painkiller abuse and addiction among employees.
It’s been noted that a survey conducted by the National Safety Council reveals more than 70% of workplaces in America are feeling the negative effects of opioid abuse. Nearly 40% of employers said employees are missing work do to painkiller abuse. Record pill abuse in workplaces is coming at a time when Americans are taking more opioids than ever before. For instance, Opioid deaths contributed to the first drop in US life expectancy since 1993 and eclipsed deaths from motor vehicle accidents in 2015.
But opioids is not the only drug to kill. According to a study conducted by the French government a drug that was aimed at reducing epilepsy levels that was sold under the name of Depakine to pregnant French women since 1967, has been the cause of numerous congenital malformations in children. Aside from attempts to reduce epilepsy levels, French doctors would usually prescribe this drug for the treatment of bipolar disorder and severe headaches. According to experts of the National Agency for the Safety of Drugs and Medicines, the drug has resulted in a total of 4 thousand people suffering various congenital diseases today. This drug can still be bought in France, although first suspicions about its possible side-effects appeared several years ago.
Medical experts are convinced more than half the number of trials that study the effectiveness of of drugs could be tainted by financial conflicts of interests. There’s a study that shows that a total 58% of principal investigators had financial ties to the drug industry – including travel expenses, honorariums, payment for advisory work, or stock ownership. The authors behind it point to possible mechanisms linking industry funding, financial ties, and trial results such as bias by selective outcome reporting, lack of publication, and inappropriate analyses.
However, few people do comprehend the fact that bio additives can be quite as dangerous as the drugs that we use in our day-to-day life. This is indicated by numerous studies about the side effects that they have. It turns out that some of these allegedly non-medical drugs often contain components that can cause gene mutations, permanent kidney and liver damage, anaphylactic reactions and other life-threatening conditions. Occasionally, an examination would find highly toxic substances in those bio additives, although none of these are mentioned in an instruction or annotations that accompanies the drug. Other dangerous components are listed in instructions, but most consumers wouldn’t recognize it with a proper training before it’s too late. For example, animals tissues that are contained in bio additives are listed in the annotations that they come with, however nobody warns customers that those tissues can can be containing pretty dangerous infections, such as, for instance, bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
Unfortunately, we are treating drug therapy too light-heartedly. But should we be aware of the fact that any drug treatment is an intrusion into the natural way our body works, that is why it requires a lot of precaution even if some doctor says it’s okay to take all sorts of pills.
Grete Mautner is an indepenent researcher and journalist from Germany, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook.”
