A Real World Example of Big Pharma's Real Motives

Kimberly Read, the About.com guide to bipolar disorder shares a story on her blog that shows us exactly what big pharma is all about.

If you think pharmaceutical companies develop and manufacture drugs for our benefit, then you are misguided. They do develop drugs. They do manufacture them. Sometimes we even benefit from them.

But the reason they do it is to profit from those drugs. In fact, by law that must be their goal, because they are owned by investors, and investors expect profits and return on their investments.

And the profit motive is far more important than whether patients benefit. You'll remember when Vioxx was pulled from the market. Or, if you've been dieting for years, then you know that drugs like Redux and Phen-Fen were pulled many years ago. Why? Because some of the people who took them died from the effects those drugs had on their bodies. In each case, the manufacturer was aware that the drug could cause death, but withheld that information from the FDA when it sought approvals.

So how can they sell more of their drugs? By advertising, of course. And that's where Kim's blog post comes in. It tells the story of Andy Behrman who felt like he had found a perfect drug, called Abilify -- even to the point of becoming a spokesperson for the company -- only to find out later that not only were the side effects intolerable, but that the manufacturers of Abilify, Bristol Myers Squibb and Otsuka Pharmaceuticals was taking advantage of him, too.

Bottom line for patients? Just because a drug sounds great in a TV or magazine ad, doesn't mean it is. If you see a drug advertised that sounds like it could help you, then learn how to use that ad to really improve your health.

Don't simply ask your doctor for the drug. Yes, I know, for some reason we think our doctors would never prescribe a drug that isn't good for us. But -- sometimes they don't know any more about it than we do.

We patients must take responsibility for protecting ourselves.