Merck admits that Vioxx was never intended for the general public. Yet Merck advertised it, and people saw the ads and started demanding it from their doctors, and Merck sold 20 million prescriptions―and some people died before Merck pulled both the ads and the drug. But Merck isn’t alone in this; direct-to-consumer marketing is a general practice by almost every drug company in America.

The problem is that, like Vioxx, some of the drugs being advertised are not what they appear, meaning if you see it advertised, the old axiom, caveat emptor―let the buyer beware―is something to remember.

While some psychologists argue that it’s not ethical to brand a child a psychopath before he has a chance to grow and mature, others argue that ignoring the problems could make it even worse. Some are also hinting that the problems are neurological, like autism or diabetes in that it’s not something that can be “cured,” even with early intervention and treatment.

This is the same age group that has had the most cases across the country, and mostly in fully vaccinated children. The nationwide outbreak has led epidemiologists at the CDC to conclude that the whooping cough vaccine wears off a few years after it’s given.

According to AlterNet, the lengths to which corporate America will go to protect their profits includes campaign donations, attacking science, asserting constitutional rights, and threatening federal agencies with smear campaigns. The results were that nearly 200 lawmakers buckled on the guidelines and ignored the nationwide health epidemic affecting millions of children and teenagers.

What it proves is just how much of Washington is ingrained in protecting profits, as opposed to standing up for the public interest, AlterNet said.

A majority of the injuries involved 1-year-olds with bottles as the most common culprit. Injuries tended to occur at home, and resulted in cuts to the mouth and face, usually when children were running or walking, The New York Times reports. Other dangerous items are button batteries, which can be swallowed.

The idea of overdiagnosis is exacerbated by studies showing that the very tests designed to rule out cancer can actually CAUSE cancer to grow from the inflammation and bruising that occur as a result of the surgery. Concerns about overdiagnosis in both breast and prostate cancer have been increasing over the years. In 2009, NBC New York interviewed Dr. H. Gilbert Welch, an expert in cancer screening, who said:

“Screening for cancer means that tens of thousands of patients who never would have become sick are diagnosed with this disease. Once they’re diagnosed, almost everybody gets treated―and we know that treatment can cause harm.”

But the committee ignored their pleas and did it anyway. The FDA doesn’t have to follow the recommendations of its advisory committees, but it often does. The drug, Truvada, is manufactured by Gilead Sciences Inc. It’s not cheap―a month’s supply costs about $1200. The committee’s approval gives Gilead a whole, new, wide-open market for selling the drug.

In the most egregious cases, corporate boards and college leadership overlap; in 2009, for example, South Dakota State’s president joined Monsanto’s board of directors. While some people might say it shouldn’t matter whose board a college president sits on, the implications are huge because corporate funding can influence the results of supposedly “scientific” studies done at the respective universities. A perfect example, AlterNet said, is what happened with a team of researchers at the University of Illinois who were funded by a statewide fertilizer “checkoff” after they published work on how fertilizer affects organic matter in the soil.

The fluoridation debate on the dangers of fluoride has been ongoing for more than six decades. Study after study shows that fluoride is a dangerous, toxic poison. Yet, even while it’s being dumped every day into municipal water systems, health officials that should know better are flooding the media with lies and propaganda singing the praises of fluoridation.

The CDC calls fluoridation one of the public health achievements of the 20^th century. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. The information for this quote comes from 1999 issues of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), which includes fluoridation in a list of “Ten Great Public Health Achievements―1900-1999.” But what most members of the public don’t realize is that the early fluoridation reports were written by people with conflicts of interest and no experience in scientific methods or studies.

This, and other important investigative facts are included in this short video, which exposes  the zealous fluoridation promoters, their hidden agenda, and the harms that have come to people who have no choice in whether fluoride is added to their drinking water.

According to an ABC 7-TV investigation, Whole Foods is selling products grown in China, where no one’s verifying whether the products meet U.S. organic standards. It’s common knowledge that at least 10 percent of China’s groundwater is contaminated with deadly chemicals, and that the country overuses pesticides contaminate both land and water. It’s also no secret that food scandals are rampant in China.

And this is troublesome since Whole Foods simply trusts a Chinese third party to say the foods the company is importing are certified organic.

1. The ester form of parabens in the breast tissue indicated it had gotten there dermally, possibly from products like skin care products and underarm deodorants.
2. The paraben residues were found at concentrations up to 1 million times higher than the estrogen levels found naturally in human breast tissue.
3. Propylparaben was found in the highest concentration in the underarm area (axilla), where underarm deodorants are most used and breast cancer prevalence is at its highest.

Scientists said additional exposure sources such as other cosmetics were also implicated in the study, since some of the women whose tissue was examined reported having never used deodorants.

It turns out other tiny patients the doctor had described in testimony supporting toxic flame retardant materials didn’t exist either. 

Another flaming example of a corporate giant that gets caught lying again and again is Monsanto which, in 2009, was found guilty by France’s highest court of false advertising for claims that its toxic weed killer Roundup is biodegradable and leaves “the soil clean.” The French court noted that Roundup’s main ingredient, glyphosate, is dangerous for the environment and toxic for aquatic organisms. But that's just one example of the lies Monsanto tells to keep on selling its products; this company has a long history of fraudulent statements about the safety of Roundup.