Recently in all the mailboxes of our house put newspaper “Herald of health”. In it on page four tells of the miracle drugs, which made it possible to fully restore sight, restore sore joints, make sharp ears. There are numerous opinions of people, as if healed thanks to these miracle drugs. The newspaper mainly focused on the elderly. They even include free courier delivery miracle cures.
On radio, television and the Internet is constantly advertising for medicines “for all diseases”. Many sick people believe advertising, hoping for a quick cure. When in fact they are deceiving a clever unscrupulous crooks preying on the suffering of others.
What to do with those who instead of expensive drugs offers essentially “placebo” with a big name, advertised on radio and TV?
3 Jun 2016 year I was invited to Saint Petersburg international criminological club to participate in the conversation on the topic of “Crime of zdravookhrane in terms of the ideology of greed”. A presentation was made by the German doctor of law, Professor Arndt Sinn – Director of the research Center for European and international criminal law (osnabrück, Germany). His presentation was called “Pharmaceutical crime in connection with online Commerce.”
According to the Professor from Germany, criminal trafficking of drugs is comparable to the circulation of weapons and drugs. Criminals work on a high professional level, quickly and flexibly react to changes in supply and demand, coming up with new ways to obtain criminal profits. The police, as a rule, blind and just not see it.
Today it is possible to forge almost any medication. Almost all fake drugs contain no active drug substance. Do the drugs from China and from India. India has not signed the law on the protection of patent rights, so there is full irresponsibility of the counterfeiting of famous brands. In recent years in this “business” involved and, oddly enough, Czech Republic.
The counterfeit drugs can earn more than drug trafficking. In fact, drugs today are a new form of “cocaine” (the drug). The most famous and popular drug, viagra.
Viagra is not considered a drug, and therefore is freely available. If the sale of one kilogram of raw viagra brings 90 thousand euros of income, the sale of raw cocaine only 65 thousand euros.
Moreover, victims from using fake viagra men, as a rule, do not go to the police.
The majority of German citizens trust the doctors and pharmacists. Because in Germany there is a multi-stage check selling medicines.
With the development of the Internet has become a popular online trade. 35% of Germany’s population at least once to buy medication in online pharmacies. However, what is sold in pharmacies that are located abroad often can not be controlled. In the online pharmacies is much freer to sell fake medicines, and pharmacies themselves are usually illegal.
With the active development of the Internet, more and more people use the services of online trading. This is convenient because the product is sold with large discounts and can be delivered to the client’s home. But honestly buy the online pharmacies is almost impossible.
Illegal trafficking of drugs puts two specific objectives: first – protection, second – the fight against crime.
The rules of online trading should be understandable to the public. A citizen should be able to check the resolution and quality of sold goods.
If a citizen the law does not understand, the law will not take effect.
The police obviously losing the fight against crime, because it only reacts to the already committed crime. And have to deal with the prevention of the emergence of new types of criminal behavior. When you restrict one kind of synthetic drugs, criminals have ready several a new, not banned “synthetic”.
Recently on TV showed, how in England the consumers have won a lawsuit against well-known pharmaceutical companies, which advertised and sold a “new” expensive medicine is essentially similar to another cheaper. The composition of the expensive drug was the same in the new and expensive medication, and in the old cheaper. However, pharmacists were insincere, making profit and earning excess profits.
Once on TV, one expert talked about the fact that the widely advertised and sold in pharmacies analgesic drug causes addiction (dependence). And the expert thanked the TV show for the opportunity to talk honestly about it. However, this drug is still sold without a prescription.
Pharmaceutical companies receive huge profits from trade in drugs, and that attracts criminals. The greed does not stop any honest doctors and pharmacists, nor criminals. Greed has deprived people of the remnants of conscience and directly pushes to the crime.
You can definitely say that morality ends where starts the counterfeiting of drugs!
In Moscow employees of Management on fight against organized crime (UBOP) of the Moscow region police detected a criminal group, engaged in the production of counterfeit medicines in the territory of Solnechnogorsk and other cities of the Russian Federation.
The members of the criminal group was involved in the production of fake medicines in the past two years. Thus they used the trademarks of major Russian and foreign drug manufacturers. For sale counterfeit products and tax evasion, a series of shell companies with registrations in various regions of Russia.
During carrying out of special operations in the suburbs, on the territory of the pharmaceutical companies was arrested eight trucks loaded with medicines for the sum about 1 million RUB.
Shadow turnover from the trade in counterfeit medicines amounted to about $100 million a year.
A visitor from Germany, Professor Arndt Sinn argued that pharmaceutical companies are not affiliated with organized crime, because there is a difference of interests.
However, Josef Mercola in his article argues that the pharmaceutical cartel is an organized criminal group. About 20% of corporate crimes are committed by companies that produce products that affect your health.
No less than 19 pharmaceutical companies figure in the list of 100 companies that committed corporate crimes in the 1990s, compiled AllBusiness.com.
To crimes committed the most well-known pharmaceutical companies, are tampered with research, hiding serious problems with their drugs false information, bribery, bribes, lies, threats and scare tactics.
The results of a recently published study suggests that most of the commercials about drugs or misleading, or blatantly false.
There is literally a mountain of evidence that pharmaceutical companies, at best, unreliable, at worst, deserve criminal prosecution.
Even a respectable magazine like Forbes in a recent article under the provocative title “would Big Pharma fraud?” asks the question “is it possible to trust the pharmaceutical business?”
In the article “Such is the Pharma industry Mafia” (“Is the Pharmaceutical Industry Like the Mafia?”) Richard Smith wrote: “U.S. law defines organized crime as an act of repeated involvement in certain criminal activities, fraud, extortion, drug trafficking in the Federal scope, bribery, embezzlement, obstruction of justice, obstruction of law enforcement, tampering of witnesses, and political corruption.
Richard Smith notes that the fault of the pharmaceutical industry kills more people than at the hands of bandits, but from prescription drugs kills more people than drugs.
Annually in the U.S. is 450 000 adverse events related to medications are preventable. Only one pain medication that released by the pharmaceutical company for several years killed more than 60,000 people, and only after that he was withdrawn from the market.
Often, because of the serious distortion of the data obtained in the tests of drugs, their advantages are increased excessively, is a “crime”, which with certainty can be linked with the actions of pharmaceutical companies”.
A famous example is the film “the Fugitive” with H. Ford. In the story, each main character for a career falsificare the results of research with a new drug and gives a positive conclusion to the use and production of drugs. For this he receives from pharmaceutical companies big bonuses and career growth. Although sick people are dying from this “medicine”. Well, an honest doctor (H. Ford), who doesn’t want to engage in the deception of patients, trying to discredit and kill.
The former Vice-President of Pfizer (one of the largest international pharmaceutical corporations in the world with headquarters in new York) owns the words: “a lot of Scary similarities between this industry and a bandit gang. The gang produces obscene amounts of money, it makes the pharmaceutical industry; the side effects of organized crime are killings and death, the same side effects are typical to this industry; organized crime is using the distribution of bribes, including politicians, the pharmaceutical industry…”.
The number of scientific research, recognized as erroneous, has increased since 2001, more than 15 times. In almost 75% cases of the study drugs was found to be incorrect due to “scientific misconduct,” namely, falsification of data, the questionable reliability of data, unethical behavior of the authors of plagiarism.
Obviously, if the recommendations of scientists and tests are derived from false assumptions, a great number of patients can be harmed.
Advertising 60% of prescription drugs and 80% of medicines sold without a prescription is either misleading or outright false. “More than half of the analyzed advertisements were poluprovodnikami. There were also cases of blatant lies”.
“The pharmaceutical industry is constantly forcing science to exaggerate the benefits and to restrict information about the harm created by the drugs… the industry has bought doctors, academics, journalists, magazines, professional organizations, University departments, regulators and politicians. These are the methods of a gang of thieves,” – writes in his article, Richard Smith.
A pharmaceutical company was charged a fine of 3 billion dollars for selling worthless drugs.
Only in Washington on the pharmaceutical cartel works 1000 lobbyists, two lobbyists for each member of Congress. Approximately the same numbers in Germany.
Medicine is under the control of powerful corporations. They also hinder the development of new treatments. If a pharmaceutical company can patent the treatment and make money on it, then we will receive the new treatment, otherwise we even about it do not hear. The proposed billions of dollars to suppress those methods of treatment that cannot be patented.
When pharmaceutical companies were given information about new methods of treatment of cardiovascular disease, they did everything to prevent the spread of this method. And if the information is not sabotaged, more than 60 million people would have been saved from death by heart attacks and heart strokes.
Now anyone can publicly call the pharmaceutical corporations who they really are: criminals, who are not averse to profit at the expense of health and life of millions of people.
Doping scandal once again showed that athletes have become hostages of the pharmaceutical companies producing different dietary supplements, victims of unfair policies.
There is a perception that pharmaceutical companies may be in collusion with the “secret world government” and are making purposeful steps to reduce the population of the Earth.
The US government was caught 30 times in experiments with toxic substances on their own citizens. Genetically modified corn contains a gene that destroys the man’s sperm, leading to infertility. The sterilisation of girls and women is in the process of vaccination as additives to vaccines. Girls are vaccinated ostensibly against a possible cancer of the uterus, but in reality made them infertile. This is called wrestling with the problem of overpopulation.
The healthcare system is designed so that medical education is sponsored by pharmaceutical companies. Therefore, there is a motive to produce and sell more drugs. This is a very effective and fast way to earn money for the doctor, when he prescribes the medicine that knows from the course and which imposes on the patient.
The increase in prices of medicines hurt hitting the poor, forced to buy cheap, but effective medicines. The attending physician usually prescribes expensive branded drug, although there are much cheaper domestic counterparts.
For anybody not a secret that pharmaceutical companies pay physicians who prescribe drugs manufactured by this company. That is, there is a conspiracy. However, to convict of a conspiracy hard to prove since the damage is almost impossible.
My mother told the doctor she was prescribed the expensive branded drug, but not warned about possible side effects. When the consequences arose, the doctor suggested other expensive imported medicine now for the treatment of collateral effects from the use of the first drug. When the mother stopped taking her prescribed expensive imported drugs, the symptoms of the disease and its consequences have disappeared by themselves.
Many people do not go to doctors. Oddly enough, these people are less sick compared with the hypochondriacs, ready to spend big money on the advertised “miracle cures”.
One of my classmate’s whole life works as a doctor, she is now “family doctor”. She told me that there can be quality drugs for 50 rubles, and the so-called “generics” for the most part composed of chalk (in fact, “placebo”). People cured so far as it believes in the power of medicines and their own recovery.
My octogenarian mother often complains that she get a phone call, sometimes even to the door of the apartment and offer miracle cures. The doctor to whom an old woman-the mother turns, gives her some reason the most expensive imported drugs, although there are similar cheap domestic.
The imposition of expensive drugs instead of cheaper domestic counterparts, the sale of “placebo” can be qualified as fraud and deception of the buyer. However, proving this is difficult, you need expertise. And doctors, as we know, there are a mountain of each other.
Offer paid medical and health care services (massage, etc.) in a “free” medicine is a separate issue. While the Criminal Code is no such offence. But this composition needs to be! It is the duty of lawyers serving in the State Duma.
We hear a lot about import substitution. However, the domestic industry does not produce some components of medicines. Therefore, the price of drugs may not be in terms of inflation constant.
On the direct line with President of Russia one businessman complained to Vladimir Putin that it is very difficult not to increase prices in the face of rising dollar. Since the main medicinal components have to be purchased abroad.
Recently, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev were in Crimea before the activists of the party “United Russia” with the report on the state of health. I must admit: the huge financial investments in this area, much remains the same.
All probably noticed that a huge number of pharmacies. Where once was a bakery, now a pharmacy, or even two. Appeared and online pharmacies online. And all because it is very profitable business. The pharmaceutical business is one of the most powerful.
According to the Minister of health of Russia Veronika I. Skvortsova Russia is now the turnover of the pharmaceutical business more than 1 trillion rubles a year.
Russia was 824 thousand patients with AIDS. Of them in 2015 died 12,5 thousand. Mortality tends to increase. The detection rate in Russia is one of the best in the world. Free tested annually more than 30 million people. But treatment only to those who are in priority need. Now that 37% of those who are constantly observed and want to be treated. In order for the epidemic went in the opposite direction, to increase the coverage. By 2020, should increase this figure to 90%.
The cost of annual treatment for HIV-positive patients in the near future should be reduced twice.
According to the Minister of health Veronika Skvortsova during the last three months the number of tourists who come to Russia for treatment increased by 13%. We go to be treated, because we have a high quality and substantially low price than the equivalent in Germany or in Israel.
Like any person, occasionally I have a headache (from overwork, lack of sleep or just from bad weather). In such rare cases always helps me analgin. They say it will soon cease to be openly sold in pharmacies without a prescription and even produce.
The head of Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova believes that all drugs should be sold only by prescription. The patient should take the medicine prescribed for him by qualified experts — doctors, not of their own volition or the Board of pharmacy, she said. Anna Popova does not support the idea of selling drugs via the Internet. “There is a delivery from the pharmacy, where there are specialists,” she explained.
What am I, each time to go to the doctors, when, say, late at night the head ache?
I turned once to the doctors for stomach pain. So none of them even asked if I’d take any medications (and the reason was this – I took the vitamins). We had a lot of tests (at my request free of charge), prescribed expensive drugs, offered to go to the hospital (I refused). Never found out the doctors what was the cause of the pain. I stopped taking vitamins and prescription drugs – and the pain gone.
Our body – self-regulating functional system. All disease is essentially a dysfunction, a consequence of the disruption of normal life. And before poisoning the body with chemical drugs, you should restore the normal way of life, and health back.
“If I get sick, then the doctors will” – sang once. “Pharmaceutical mafia” only knows how to money to lure! The poor to die quickly. People just poison the drugs. So some doctors are afraid of fire; and say – “doctors-murderers!”
Recently on TV show in Ukraine “doctor-killer” deliberately introduced wounded patients such a mixture of painkillers, which caused death.
On the third Sunday of June is celebrated the day of medical worker. Of course, there are doctors that we are grateful for our health and life. Low you want to worship, People in white coats.” However, the number of doctors is much smaller than we all would like. They are also the victims of crime pharmacology and pharmaceutics.
I recently spent three days in the hospital – plain, ordinary mortals. When I was taken to the nearest hospital, in the emergency room with nausea and dizziness I had lain for an hour. There one man told how he offered to EMT the money to take him to a better hospital, but “he that is a fool, refused, and threw money at me in the face.”
Because the summary field was not in the hospital, I was put in 1st chamber is for “temporary”. As explained bunkmate: “1st chamber of the lamest, receiver-dispenser. On Friday we brought two homeless people that night put up a fight. Beat feet. Even had to call the police to have them taken away.
With tears in his eyes, the neighbor said that during the Soviet era such disgrace was not. “I got a stool on the head, injured his collarbone. And because I’m 86 years old…”
I had the money to get a private room. But I decided that a long time in the hospital is not delayed. The mattress on my bed was such that it was like sleeping on stones. The first night I could not sleep because of snoring roommates. Seemed are in a cage with wild animals, growling tiger, lion and bear. From the corridor came the noise. A woman all night banging and shouting, demanding to be let out.
This has not died yet? – I heard a conversation between two nurses.
Help! Save!! – shouted the old woman.
– What are you, grandma, are you yelling? You kill, or what? – asked the nurse. – That’s going to kill me then shout.
After a sleepless night I complained to the head office of the noise and the fray. The head replied that it was the “emergency hospital”, and they are forced to accept and help all who are brought by ambulance to the homeless, hooligans, and drunks, and drug addicts.
When we are in the house on the stand brought an IV with two different capsules, that my medication was placed in front of a neighbor, and designed neighbor in front of me. I’ve been following, so as not to confuse the medicine. Even had to tell the nurse, who is who. And if not suggested?
At four a.m., the door to the ward slowly began to open (just like in horror movies), and on the threshold appeared a naked man in diapers. The old man stood and looked and walked slowly away.
After a while I heard a groan and went into the corridor. Looking around, he saw that a naked man in a torn diapers. He tried to climb off the floor on a metal bed frame.
Swaying from dizziness, I went over and asked what I can do. The old man was breathing irregularly and was shaking her head. I decided to bring him a blanket and a pillow. When I came back, the old man had already made a puddle and slowly walked down the corridor, holding onto the wall.
In the morning, reeling from dizziness, I passed the corridor and heard in one of the chambers conversation.
– All money, money, ” wailed an old woman. – The nurse and said “cross my palm with silver”. I don’t know where to complain.
– If paid, will be placed in a separate charge, and no money may be lying in the hallway.
– What to do with those who cannot pay? For them to cancel the free medical care?
Neighbor in the ward, the relatives brought the newspaper “Arguments and facts” № 47 in 2015. The whole chamber, we discussed the article, “Cut back or hear?”. The doctors in major hospitals of Ekaterinburg has told “AIF” that since August-September 2015 funding for health facilities has decreased. If he was treated at the hospital, say, 10 thousand people, but this year the money will be enough only for 8700. The syringes went up 3 times, medicines and food products – 1.5. The most expensive the cheapest medications. In General, the funding of one day of hospitalization decreased by more than 800 RUB. If the money from the hospital, the day received, and in the evening he has to go home.
Free, as it is known, happens only cheese in a mousetrap. And if we fall into the trap of “free healthcare”, then either pay, or die.
Up to 40% of payments in the healthcare system goes into the pockets of doctors. Patients have to pay for the services that they should be provided free.
Of course, you can seek free assistance defend a great place. But some in the queue do not survive.
Every year patients with doctors “hand in hand” billions of rubles. All of this can be seen as bribery, and it can be planted according to article 291 of the criminal code.
Under socialism, I had two surgeries, and both are free. Now I would not be able to pay for it. In the USSR the medicine not really tried to treat, often just wrote out the hospital. Under capitalism, medicine seeks you “HEAL”, wanting to draw out the patient as much money as possible.
So I don’t know: medicine is not interested in socialism or the interested medicine under capitalism?
Somehow I came to the dentist in a dental clinic. Before pulling teeth, the surgeon asked me what I want cauterized: our usual or imported for a fee. I said “the usual novocaine”. As a result, the tooth I pulled out with so much pain which I never experienced. And pulled out for an hour with a break, besides, pulled next to another one – healthy. I pulled out the Fang, the surgeon lost it and never found…
Almost every one of us had to face a situation when doctors have to offer (or impose) pay expensive medical services. In a “free” medical care, sick, desperate people are willing to pay for a costly getting rid of the disease.
When I was on treatment in the hospital near me on the bed lay the old man. We got to talking. The old man said bitterly:
— I wish it ended my torment. A neighbor of the third day died. Wish I had that. Even the envious take that stopped her suffering. Ah, to die would be.
— Why the hurry? Everything will be there.
— So I try to spend at least another day. Only costs me a lot of suffering… it is Necessary, we must also be patient to a pension could get at least a month, and even to bury will no matter what. … When I was young, everybody wanted him. Worked all my life. And nothing has turned out. It seems to be not a Bender, not littered, money, and children have nothing to leave. … The main thing is to live life honestly. An honest man is cheerful, not afraid of people in the eyes. It is always easy, because for him, the conscience is most important. … Ah, travushka would, — with despair in his voice said the old man. — Pedregal would have legs.”
(from my novel “Stranger strange unusual weird stranger” on the website New Russian Literature
WHAT SHOULD I DO?
My answer as a lawyer – strengthening the criminal responsibility of the pharmacists and doctors for unnecessary medicines, for lilacina and the imposition of paid services, to increase the amount of compensation for the caused harm. It is the duty of lawyers sitting in the State Duma!
And in Your opinion, what to do with the CRIMINAL PHARMACEUTICAL industry?
© Nikolai Kofyrin – New Russian Literature – http://www.nikolaykofyrin.ru
