This is the true story of my participation in the corruption of the medical industry. A decade ago I assisted at an event sponsored by one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. I was only a small cog in the machine but the bigger picture was clear.
The event was held on an island in South East Asia. The attendees were several hundred Doctors whose practices involved treating families and children.
Only later did I realise that I was directly participating in the corruption of these Doctors. The following sequence of events was to change my perspective irrevocably.
Hippocrates & The Hippocratic Oath
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First I must explain the Hippocratic Oath to those of you who are unaware of it. The Hippocratic Oath is named after the Greek physician Hippocrates who is known as the father of western medicine. All the Doctors participating in this event had sworn a form of the the Hippocratic Oath to become a Doctor.
In part the Hippocratic Oath says:
"Into whatever houses I enter, I will go into them for the benefit of the sick, and will abstain from every voluntary act of mischief and corruption " - emphasis added
"I will give no deadly medicine to any one if asked, nor suggest any such counsel" - emphasis added
In addition to taking the Hippocratic Oath, Doctors are required to complete a certain number of study hours per year. This is to ensure they are up-to-date on the latest medical information.
Where Is The Medical Corruption?
The event I was assisting with was held for one week in a resort situated on an idyllic tropical beach. On behalf of the pharmaceutical company we chartered flights and flew the Doctors to the island for the entire week of "study" . The Doctors were allowed to bring their wives and children. Many bought their mistresses. All expenses were paid by the pharmaceutical company: flights, transfers, accommodation, food & drink - everything was included!
I did not realise what I was engaged in - but that changed on the first day...
The first morning I set up one chair for every one of the hundreds of Doctors in the huge auditorium. I ensured the sound system was working then I waited for the Doctors to arrive. I was delighted to see that the first Doctor arriving happened to be my own personal physician. I had known her for years and have a very high regard for her. She remains to this day the best Doctor I have ever known. I hesitate to add this detail here but it is what happened.
A further 10 Doctors slowly ambled into the auditorium and the presentation began. As the day progressed the few Doctors who had turned up drifted away until the only people remaining in the auditorium were myself, the pharmaceutical representative and my Doctor. By the morning of the third day the only people attending the lectures were the 3 of us! We sat in a small group surrounded by hundreds of empty chairs. For the final 2 days of the week I only set up 3 chairs.
The other Doctors seemed to know the drill and had excused themselves immediately from all lectures. They preferred to spend their time on the beach, eating, shopping or locked in their bedrooms!
At the time I did not care.
However I soon began to work out what was going on...
The pharmaceutical company was funding the "event" and paying the Doctors' expenses. At the end of the week the pharmaceutical company certified that all Doctors had completed their yearly hours of study. The Doctors didn't have to attend the lectures if they did not wish and received an all-expenses-paid holiday.
It seemed logical that the funding for the event was derived from the profits accrued from the sale of pharmaceuticals by the Doctors - but this would surely be a conflict of interest!
Everybody looked happy and it was clear that this yearly all-expenses-paid holiday for hundreds of Doctors fulfilling their study quota was a regular and accepted practice within the medical community.
There are some serious problems with this scenario:
It seemed implicit that these Doctors had all achieved certain sales quotas for the sponsor pharmaceutical company. Those who had sold enough were invited on the yearly study jaunt. Doctor sales quotas for pharmaceuticals don't officially exist as this would represent a major conflict of interest. I wonder if the Doctors with low sales figures were invited back the following year?
The pharmaceutical company was confirming that these Doctors had completed their yearly study quota without any oversight from a medical body. The vast majority of the Doctors did not attended a single minute of the lectures. Even if they had attended the entire presentation was a planned sales pitch exclusively for the pharmaceutical company's products. No discussion of any other medical topic transpired!
The many families who these Doctors treated were completely unaware of a potential conflict of interest between the pharmaceutical company, the Doctors and the Government which would place the needs of their families behind the profits of the sponsor.
As the event was a one sided sales pitch there was minimal discussion about the potential health risks associated with the various products of this pharmaceutical company. The statistics of people who die every year from new pharmaceutical products makes it clear that they can be "deadly" and kill many people. I wonder if any of those hundreds of Doctors had ever prescribed one of the pharmaceutical company's drugs that had an adverse health effect on one of their patients?
This event was hosted by just one pharmaceutical company but I suspect all the other large pharmaceutical companies were hosting similar yearly events.
Although this transpired in South East Asia I have been reliably informed that corrupt practices of collusion between pharmaceutical companies, Doctors and Governments happen all over the world. Update: the comments to this article add credence to this view.
I believe the pharmaceutical companies change their event suppliers regularly so this situation does not become too obvious. I was able to work out what was going on in just 3 days!
Implicit in this corruption were multitudes of people from the pharmaceutical company, civil servants from the Government agencies and hundreds of Doctors. It was so obvious what was happening but everyone was quite happy with their pay packets, so everybody was keeping quiet. Literally thousands of unsuspecting members of the public were funding this process to their detriment and the corruption of medical integrity. Hippocrates must be turning in his grave!
I draw your attention again to the Hippocratic Oath and the words "corruption" and "deadly" :
"Into whatever houses I enter, I will go into them for the benefit of the sick, and will abstain from every voluntary act of mischief and corruption " - emphasis added
"I will give no deadly medicine to any one if asked, nor suggest any such counsel" - emphasis added
I am sure you are curious as to what became of my Doctor?
At the end of the week I asked my Doctor directly what she thought about what was going on. She skirted the topic not wanting to discuss her colleagues but I could see she was distressed. She was the only Doctor who attended every minute of that event, taking notes and asking uncomfortable questions. Her conduct gave me the greatest faith in her. I doubt she was invited back the following year.
What happened to me?
The truths of this experience took a few years to sink in. After I digested and analysed what I had seen my perspective changed. I began to study. I learnt about the history of our medical systems. I studied the shift from homeopathic medicine to allopathic medicine.
This knowledge led to a paradigm shift in my perspective that has changed my outlook on many things to this day. I now have a very different view on the veterinary/medical industry and our food supply. I am fascinated with natural healing. These are all excellent topics that I could write more about if you are interested!
