prescription drugs

Fun fact: Drugmakers may legally advertise pharmaceuticals on television in only 2 countries, New Zealand and the United States. Now under new proposed rules, drugmakers may be forced to disclose in their TV ads how much their drugs cost. [1] [2]
A new federal rule has been drafted by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar that would require drug manufacturers to disclose in television ads the list price for a 30-day supply of any drug that is covered through Medicare or Medicaid and costs more than $35 a month. [2]

WASHINGTON – In March, President Donald Trump outlined for the first time a broad plan aimed at combating the country’s opioid crisis, which kills an estimated 116 Americans every day.

(ANTIMEDIA) — According to a recent survey conducted by cannabis market research firm the Brightfield Group and HelloMD, an online medical cannabis community, nearly half of CBD (cannabidiol) users give up prescription drugs and over the counter medications in favor of the non-psychoactive substance.

In the largest survey to date on cannabidiol (CBD) usage, researchers found that nearly half of people using the products were able to quit using pharmaceutical drugs – something the pharmaceutical industry has long feared would happen.
The Brightfield Group and HelloMD – an online community that brings together doctors and cannabis patients – surveyed 2,400 people from HelloMD’s community of 150,000 members about their usage of CBD products and their effectiveness. [1]
Bethany Gomez, Director of Research for Brightfield Group, said:

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine speaks during a news conference at a Kroger store to announce the chain’s decision to offer the opioid overdose reversal medicine Naloxone without a prescription, Feb. 12, 2016, in Cincinnati. (AP/John Minchillo)
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced Wednesday the filing of a lawsuit against numerous prescription pain medication manufacturers, as part of the Buckeye State’s ongoing effort to fight its opioid addiction epidemic.

On May 18, the California Senate passed a bill that would ban pharmaceutical companies from giving gifts to doctors. The Senate voted 23-13 in favor of sending the bill to the Assembly. [1]
For the bill, SB 790, California lawmakers used a similar 2009 Vermont law enacted in 2009 as a template.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is tasked with making sure that drugs and medical devices are safe and efficient for Americans to use. However, it appears that the agency doesn’t take its job seriously enough, because a new study shows that nearly 1/3 of medications approved from 2001 to 2010 had safety issues years after they were made widely available to patients, and some were quite serious. [1]

(ANTIMEDIA) One-third of FDA-approved drugs were later found to have safety risks, according to a recent analysis of drugs cleared by the agency between 2001 and 2010.
According to the study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, “Among 222 novel therapeutics approved by the FDA from 2001 through 2010, 71 (32.0%) were affected by a postmarket safety event.”

Unbelievable.

There's a lot more to the story than we're being told.