Those who know me quite well know that I usually refrain from discussing politics as much as I can. This is because I believe it is a total waste of time. Life is too short to be spending one's time on frivolities. Nevertheless, there is one particular hill I am ready to die on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 4 weeks a month, 12 months a year, and 4 times in between leap years - human health science and capitalism cannot and should not mix. I just believe that any profit-driven venture should not be a target for human health.
Many keep calling it a conspiracy theory, but there are beliefs that some diseases plaguing humans, such as cancer, have permanent cures or that the formulas for their permanent cures already exist. However, the need to keep raking in profits by big pharms seems to supersede the death of many. After all, what is the death of a few compared to the humongous money that is coming from drugs? Management of diseases is the cash cow while anyone who is bent on outright cure is an enemy of humanity.
Just yesterday, I reluctantly took my daughter to see a Pharmacist. We've been nursing this rashes on her face for some days but could not endure it again that yesterday. It appeared the rashes itched her so much that she cried uncontrollably. Now, one may wonder, as enlightened as I am, why didn't I take her to the pharmacy or a hospital immediately the rashes appeared? It is because modern-day pharmacies and hospitals are set up primarily for profit. Thus, objectivity in diagnoses and treatments is gradually becoming a thing of the past.
At the pharmacy, different drugs were thrown in our faces - ranging from the ones that are likely to be relevant to the treatment of the rashes and to expensive multivitamins that have no bearing on the abnormality. Money must be made. Anyway, I quietly dropped all the irrelevant drugs and bought the plausible ones.
I remember when my sister was to have a nerve decompression surgery in her lower back. One of the surgeons who was part of the team that was supposed to conduct the surgery sent a third party to convince us about opting to perform the surgery at his private hospital rather than the government we were using. I was the only person that remained unconvinced among my siblings and I made sure my lack of conviction won everyone over. Despite all the negativities they used to try and dissuade us from performing the surgery at the government hospital, the surgery was a huge success.
A few weeks ago, my wife saw this tea (Image below) at a supermarket in Lagos, Nigeria. The "ulcer healing" got her attention, knowing that I have been nursing stomach ulcers for a while now. Her sister even testified to the effectiveness of the tea in relieving ulcer pains. She sent me a pic of the and tried to convince me to buy it. I told her I didn't have money. She bought it with her money nevertheless.
The tea has been lying intact on my table since then. According to her, it is to be taken only when the ulcer pains surface. It's not like I've not felt the pain since then, but I'm kinda skeptical about this kind of product. Today, I decided to read the details on the label of the tea. The first two words got my attention:
"Oral ulcer".
Now compare these two words to the words boldly written on the pack of the product:
"Ulcer healing tea"
Can you see the deceit at play here? Any unsuspecting person who has been suffering from a stomach ulcer or knows a close person who does will excitedly embrace the product as the next best thing for a stomach ulcer, especially if one or two positive reviews follow it. However, a closer look shows that this product is for oral ulcers and not stomach ulcers. How many buyers of this product know this? I can bet only a very few. The intention has been achieved, to get people to buy the product.
Now, the big question is, is this tea good, neutral, or bad for stomach ulcers? We may never know.
This is capitalism and science at play.