Last week, I reminded you how important it is to take responsibility for your own health. A report issued recently by the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group (NJPIRG) describes how hard that can be, considering all the energy and money evil marketing geniuses waste on convincing you and, far more often than not, your doctor.
Some interesting factoids from the study, based on a review of enforcement letters sent by the FDA to drug marketers between 2001-05:
- A surprising 62 percent of the false or misleading messages the FDA cited targeted doctors.
- The deceptive messages targeting doctors included unsupported claims, unproven uses and misrepresented risks.
- A third of total number of drug companies that received enforcement letters accounted for two-thirds of all the notices received.
- False statements from drug sales reps made up 30 of the deceptive messages in various FDA notices.
- Clinical trials were cited at least 82 times for unsupportable health claims.
As you know, waiting for any change from Congress and the FDA can be hazardous to your health, which is why your best bet remains taking more responsibility for your own decisions.
New Jersey Public Interest Research Group Free Full PDF Report