After graduating from vet school I spent a few years in equine and small animal practice. As a young practitioner, I had many questions about our understanding of the disease processes and their treatment. In regards to emergency and critical illness, my quest for answers led me on a long detour into the world of human medical research at top notch medical schools abroad and in the US, culminating with my becoming a faculty at one of the most respectable medical schools in the United States.
However, as time elapsed I got really bored and disappointed with all the politics and financial interests in the shadows of the research world. Much of the drive/energy to discovery was ultimately to come up with a new drug - a "magic bullet" so to speak, which would be patented and hopefully generate billions of dollars to the investigators and pharmaceutical industry producing it. Don't get me wrong! I am a Libertarian and have deep faith in Free Market Capitalism; there is absolutely nothing wrong with being successful and making money. But something in research didn't feel quite right i.e. the Pharmaceutical Industry's (aka Big Pharma) interests and strong influence on the medical establishment/research arena.
Big Pharma, as a whole, uses a systematic progression in its quest for securing an ever-increasing number of customers for its products - both in human and veterinary medicine. Three types of customers are Big Pharma's target: (1) Sick people/pets who have minor health issues preventable through food habits and lifestyle modification; (2) healthy people/pets who must be convinced through heavy propaganda that they have some disease that can only be addressed through medical/drug intervention; (3) healthy people and pets who are propagandized into believing that every potential ailment or disease is a possible or likely event that is preventable through aggressive drug treatment or vaccination. This latter group is an easy target, because these people place a heavy reliance on their doctors/veterinarians as a whole to understand exactly what the issues and risks are. They also tend to follow orders accordingly. In this regard, preventative drugs like vaccines, can be and have been mandated via coercive political policy that all but guarantees profits, subsidies, and the continuance of similar policies in the future. As such, Big Pharma places a lot of emphasis on this customer base, securing continued streams of revenues, which alleviate potential economic uncertainty. Do you doubt it? Have you never noticed the increasing number of commercials on TV advertising drugs? If you haven't noticed it, please read this article on the Wall Street Journal: Americans on Prescription Drugs.
Just to give you a quick illustration, in regards to vaccines, in 1983 the Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommended only 10 vaccines for the immunization of infants and children. As of 2013, the number of shots recommended by the CDC has increased to nearly 40. That's right - 40!Members of The American Animal Hospital Association Vaccination Task Force published in 2006, 2007 and recently 2011, the AAHA Canine Vaccination Guidelines whose goal is to help veterinarians and pet owners to make decisions in regards to pet vaccination protocols. This will be our next topic, if you stay tuned to this blog!
[to be continued]
