Have you heard of the book Manufacturing Depression by Gary Greenberg? You can read a fascinating excerpt for free HERE on the author’s website. This powerful book literally draws back the curtain on research organic chemistry conducted for big pharmaceutical companies and exactly how it is that they develop the drugs they sell us. It’s not how you think.
The thing that might surprise you is that the pharmaceutical industry does not develop drugs per se, but rather illnesses. The organic chemists working for pharmaceutical companies discover chemical agents at random and then try to see what effects they have. After they know what they do, then they have to find a condition that it could change. Once they can match a condition for their chemical, they can test it on an illness as a drug trial. The search is not for drugs but for illnesses which could be affected by the chemicals they already have. Sometimes, there is no real illness defined for their chemicals, so they must then market it towards one which doesn’t exist. A prime example is restless leg syndrome.
The excerpt on the author’s website details how a young female research scientist studying mollusks discovered the neurotransmitter serotonin. How is that a scientist studying how mollusks close their shells, purple dye for microscope slides and a strange chemical discovered at Abbott pharmaceutical labs which was farmed out to research chemists in order to find out just what it was, all colluded to develop anti-depressants? It’s a complicated story, one which Greenberg tells in such a way that you feel like you are unfolding a mystery novel. If you have previously read anything by Dr. Russell Blaylock, this will sound somewhat familiar, but not completely, because while he sets the stage well to understand the role of neurotransmitters you likely did not understand the aggressive marketing campaign behind manufacturing a need for them in the broader market place. In order for these companies to make money for executives and share holders, you need to buy drugs; therefore, you need to be sick. And if you’re not sick, they’ll make you sick with conditions like restless leg syndrome.
But Greenberg’s book is not just tedious research, part of what makes his provocative expose so provocative is the fact that he writes from the perspective of a patient. He intentionally enrolled in a drug study to see the process of drug trials in action knowing that he did not believe in the effectiveness nor the role of antidepressants. Greenberg had believed that he would be diagnosed with minor depressive disorder because he saw himself as being a little depressed, but he was actually found to have major depressive disorder and was put on a drug regimen in a different trial than he initially intended. The researchers found him markedly improved. Interestingly enough, when he turned down aftercare, they insisted he continue to take the drug. He was ambivalent and asked if they were certain he was taking the drug at all and not the placebo; they didn’t know themselves and couldn’t reveal it to him in order to not affect the trial results. The researchers were certain he was on the drug; after all, they made some educated guesses based on his improved state. But still, Greenberg would not be told exactly to what drugs to which he might have subjected his body. Since they could not and would not tell him what he needed to know, he sent the drugs off to a private lab. He had been on the placebo the whole time.
In a time when we are deeply concerned about the encroaching role of doctors and the courts in enforcing medical orders this book is a sobering account of just what we are facing. If you read one book this year, this should be it. I can’t help but think of the old G.I. Joe cartoon with the little lesson at the end and the narrator’s voice saying, “But knowing is half the battle!” Now the question is not what is happening but what are we going to do about it.
It's hard to say how much blame Big Pharma has for manufacturing- in my opinion, they aren't actually CREATING the disorders. It's our modern humanist culture and our (the collective "our") worldview that makes these things seem disordered in the first place. Take "self esteem", for example. Nowadays, that's a go-to word- increase your self esteem! Improve your self esteem! And make sure your kids have amazing self esteem!
ReplyDeleteBut that's not the plan our Creator has for us. He doesn't want us to have "self esteem", in the modern sense. The Church calls us to servanthood, to humility. The last shall be first. The opposite of our hedonistic self esteem. The path to holiness lies in making ourselves less, and Him more.
It's no wonder most of us are a hot mess.
added, because I have more to say, lol:
ReplyDeleteI think the root of the problem is that the drugs are created by big Pharma to treat the the symptoms, not the root cause. Most medications aren't cures, they are "management tools". This holds for statins, antidepressants, antipsychotics, and all the big money makers.
So that's also part of the problem. If you can take this pill and feel better, then why do the hard work of rooting out vice and striving towards holiness?n But it's only in our modern culture that denies humanity's true purpose (to know, love, and serve God) that this is even possible.
Milehimama, I think I get what you are saying but this is not about the ideology of pharma as much as is it is about the practical work.
ReplyDeleteIn the excerpt you can read about it. The chemical extracted by scientists at Abbott was unknown to them, so they sent it out to different organic chemists to find out what it was and what it did. It turns out that when used on mollusks it reacted differently to different cells, and it was found to be a neurotransmitter that affected the neurochemical signals to open and close the shell. Knowing this, Abbott then set about to find a medical use for this chemical.
Ultimately, they started to use it as an antidepressant in place of medically induced diabetic comas and shock therapy since it also had a paralytic effect. So this book is less about "a pill for every ill" as much as it about the actual science of drug discovery and drug trials.
I am thankful for drug companies! I rely on Thyroid meds everyday and I have been freed from my anxiety from taking Paxil. If you just look, there is evil out there everywhere, it's a fact of life. Are there corrupt people in drug companies?, sure, are there corrupt people in the Vatican?, sure. There are some wonderful people in drug companies and truly holy people in the Vatican.
ReplyDeleteLaura, I know how much better you are feeling!
ReplyDeleteHere's the thing, this book is written by a mental health professional about his experience in a specific drug trial. He wrote about drugs which were not selling well in a certain category and so were marketed for other conditions in order to make them more profitable. While some drugs are helpful, some are unnecessary and others have proven to be very destructive.
This book is not about Big Pharma bashing as much as it is about drug marketing. You could look at my copy sometime?