Page 2 - Big Pharma and the Constant Gardener

INTRODUCTION

In 2013, I worked with Vanessa Nix Anthony, “The Portland Writer,”

in developing a series of articles on “Women’s Health and Over-
Medicalization.” The series ran several years ahead of the extensive

national attention now being given to opioids.

Her findings included the misuse of prescription medications

nearly doubling in just five years. According to her research, Dr.

Sanjay Gupta, CNN Medical Reporter, had recently stated that “80%
of the world’s pain pills are consumed here in the United States.”

Our series found that many are caught innocently in opioids –
and asked the question, “Have we now become dependent upon

a pharmaceutical prescription for every condition?”

As recently as November 2018, The Journal of the American

Medical Association, JAMA, reported on the results of a study on

the effectiveness of pharmaceuticals used in the treatment of

Alzheimer’s Disease. This large study involving 2714 participants
included the very medications prescribed for our mother’s diagnosis

of Alzheimer’s – Aricept and Namenda. The results of this study

found that these powerful pharmaceuticals which continue to be
used in this country and marketed around the world are not only