FDA and Presidential Candidates Bought By Big Pharma

FDA and Presidential Candidates Bought By Big Pharma 

Folks,
Today, Allison and I are travelling from Nelson, NZ to Auckland, NZ.  Therefore, I have some time to write you. Tuesday is election day in Michigan.  Again, as in past elections, I am unhappy with the choices presented to me.  As for my politics—I dislike both major parties and feel they have failed our country terribly.
We are in desperate need of a third party where healthy, normal citizens can run for the major offices. Although I am in New Zealand, I just discussed the election with Allison.  Here are my thoughts. In the U.S., as in other countries, we have a lot of problems.  But, the biggest problem–the white elephant in the room– is our dysfunctional health care system.  We spend nearly 20% of our GNP on health care—well more than any other Western country– and have little to show for it.  On every single health indicator as monitored by the World Health Organization, Americans finish dead last.  As compared to other Western countries, America finishes last in every category including infant mortality and longevity.
We take more medicines and inject our children with more vaccines than any other people on the face of the planet.  Our children are suffering more and more health disorders and each generation seems sicker.  According to the WHO, our children are sicker than children from other Western countries.  And, to top it off, our medicines are the most expensive.  Clearly, taking more medicines or injecting more vaccines is not the answer. I fear our health care expenditures will bankrupt the country if we do not change things. So, which candidates could you trust to change this situation? Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio have all been well-funded by Big Pharma.  They have all received hundreds of thousands of dollars in financing from Big Pharma.  Each one of these candidates is already bought and sold by the Big Pharma Cartel.
None of these candidates can be counted on to make the right decisions when it comes to the Big Pharma Cartel.

Recently the Senate confirmed a new director of the FDA—Dr.  Robert  Califf.  I have two words for this confirmation:  Oy vey. Dr. Califf is the epitomy of the Big Pharma Cartel insider.  (Note—the next bit of info was taken form Naturalnews.com),  A disclosure statement on the website of Duke Clinical Research Institute says “Robert M. Califf, MD, reports receiving research grant support from Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson/Scios, Lilly, Merck, and Schering Plough, and consulting fees from Annenberg, Aterovax, Bayer / Ortho McNeil, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, GSK, WebMd / theheart.org, Johnson and Johnson / Scios, Kowa Research Institute, McKinsey & Company, Medtronic, Merck, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Sanofi Aventis, and Schering Plough, and has an equity position with NITROX, LLC.”

In disclosure information for a 2013 article in Circulation, Dr. Califf’s also lists financial links to Gambro, Regeneron, Gilead, AstraZeneca, Roche, other companies and equity positions in four medical companies. The medical website Medscape discloses that Dr. Califf “served as a director, officer, partner, employee, advisor, consultant or trustee for Genentech” as well as for Medscape LLC / theheart.org. Portola Pharmaceuticals says Dr. Califf served on the Board of Directors until he was appointed FDA Deputy Commissioner for Medical Products and Tobacco. Appearing on PBS with Susan Dentzer after Vioxx was withdrawn because of its links to thousands of heart attacks and stroke, Dr. Califf said, “Merck played by the rules from everything that I’ve seen.” He also said, “many of us consult with the pharmaceutical industry, which I think is a very good thing. They need ideas and then the decision about what they do is really up to the person who is funding the study.” What?

The FDA is tasked with regulating Big Pharma.  The FDA has not been doing a very good job of that in the past as illustrated in the Vioxx debacle where 50,000 people died and over 100,000 suffered a stroke or heart attack from taking drug—Vioxx—that never should have been approved.  Merck played by the rules?  Give me a break, Dr. Califf. So, who opposed the confirmation of Dr. Califf?  Not the two Republican Senators who are currently running for office—Cruz and Rubio.

Bernie Sanders, currently running for the Democratic nomination opposed Califf’s nomination because Senator Sanders felt he was a Big Pharma insider. That leaves Donald Trump on the Republican side who has received very little money (similar to Bernie Sanders) from Big Pharma.  I saw a report where he received less than $1,000 from Big Pharma.  Trump has made it clear that he will not be influenced by big donors in the election. It is a sad situation that most of the candidates who are running for the most powerful position in the U.S. are bought and sold by Big Pharma before they are even elected. What can we do?  We can say we have had enough and elect someone who will work for us, the citizens.  I see the appeal of Trump and Sanders as they are the only two candidates who I feel are not going to be pawns for Big Pharma.  I know both candidates have their issues, but that is how I see it.  Unless we change who we elect, big Pharma will keep doing as it pleases, until we are bankrupt.  Also, it is time to elect a whole new Congress who can stand up to Big Pharma. Keep in mind, these elected officials should work for us, not Big Pharma.