Drug Makers Are Advocacy Group’s Biggest Donors

Dr. Weeks’ Comment:  I am happy to report that most patients who use corrective medicine and psychiatry get much better.  That is not surprising since correcting the problem is the most effective and cost effective opion in health care is in most areas of life. I remember an early mentor of mine, Frank Currier, telling me” ” If you want to fix something, fix it with what it is made of.”

One of the surprising consequences of getting better, which shocked my patients, is that they were told, over and over again, in states all across the nation, that they are no longer welcome to attend various patient support groups.  Initially, this happened with my MS patients who starting getting out of wheelchairs or having less of the debilitating neurological symptoms typical of this horrendous disease process.  My patients couldn’t wait to come back to share the great news with their friends in their MS support groups only to find that the leaders of the groups (who we now learn are often supported financially by Big Pharma) didn’t want the focus of the support group to get off using drugs.  This was particularly heartbreaking in the case of the patients gathering for support in the face of dehumanizing psychiatric care.  Discussion of any other treatment modalities – effective or not –  are not welcome since these are often not  genuine support groups,  but rather they are sophisticated, tightly managed grassroots marketing efforts designed and funded by Big Pharma.  Now the NYT  tells the degree of this deceptive marketing practice which is shameful at best..

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A majority of the donations made to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one of the nation’s most influential disease advocacy groups, have come from drug makers in recent years, according to Congressional investigators


The mental health alliance, which is hugely influential in many state capitols, has refused for years to disclose specifics of its fund-raising, saying the details were private.

But according to investigators in Mr. Grassley’s office and documents obtained by The New York Times, drug makers from 2006 to 2008 contributed nearly $23 million to the alliance, about three-quarters of its donations.


Even the group’s executive director, Michael Fitzpatrick, said in an interview that the drug companies™ donations were excessive and that things would change.

See Message

New York Times
Drug Makers Are Advocacy Group’s Biggest Donors
By GARDINER HARRIS
October 21, 2009

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