Drugs and the Good Doctor

Sky-High Drug Use

Why has the use of drugs gone sky-high? Is it because good doctors care about you and want to give you a drug that will help?

That’s highly unlikely. We have become a nation of drug abusers, and the good doctors are drug pushers.  The per capita consumption of drugs in the U.S. has gone through the roof.

Good Health and Drugs Don’t Mix

Good health is an important aspect of living a Low Density Lifestyle, yet taking drugs will not allow you to achieve good health. In the last two days I have featured articles about well-known cases of abuse of drugs and the tragic endings they caused.  First, the article on Heath Ledger, and then on Travis the chimp.

Today I want to talk about drugs one more time. I don’t mean to beat the subject into the ground, and I’d rather focus on things positive, but because most people are indoctrinated by drug companies into thinking they need more drugs than they really do (if they need any at all), I want to talk about it one more time.

As I said above, to achieve good health and get into the Low Density Lifestyle groove, you’re going to have to open your eyes about drugs.

Lipitor and Dr. Robert Jarvik

Today, I will talk about Lipitor and the good Dr. Robert Jarvik, who until the spring of 2008, was the corporate spokesman for it. Dr. Jarvik, and Pfizer, Lipitor’s manufacture, used false advertising to convince people that Lipitor was an essential drug.

Dr. Robert Jarvik, born in 1946, resides in New York City. Best known for the artificial heart he pioneered, he has since been working on several other heart-related inventions. He most recently is working on the Jarvik 2000 FlowMaker.

Dr. Jarvik, who received his medical degree from the University of Utah, is not a cardiologist and has never been licensed to practice medicine. In 2006, he returned to the spotlight when he began to appear in television and magazine ads for the Pfizer cholesterol drug Lipitor. In the ads, Jarvik is shown doing a number of physical activities while stating, “When diet and exercise aren’t enough, adding Lipitor significantly lowers cholesterol.”

False Advertising/Side Effects

But as it turns out, the ads contain false advertising. In the ads, he is depicted rowing a one-man racing shell across a lake. Yet, Dr. Jarvik does not know how to row, and a stunt double played Dr. Jarvik in the scene. One colleague of Dr. Jarvik said, “He’s about as much an outdoorsman as Woody Allen.” Dr. Jarvik is not a cardiologist, nor a practicing physician, yet here he is dispensing advice, and supporting his claim with some fancy sleight-of-hand.

Lipitor, which is a statin drug, is known to have serious side effects. Two of the most troubling potential side effects of Lipitor include extreme muscle pain and muscle disease (statin induced myopathy), and serious liver problems.

In addition to serious muscle and liver problems much research has shown that side effects of Lipitor could include sexual dysfunction and performance problems, as well as memory loss, personality changes and irritability.

Another FDA approved statin called Baycol was recently pulled off the market due to serious side effects and even deaths.

Because of the false advertising, the United States Congress investigated Dr. Jarvik, Lipitor and Pfizer. This led Pfizer to cease the ad campaign with the good doctor.

For Pfizer, there was much at stake. Lipitor is the world’s bestselling drug, with 2007 sales of $12.7 billion. To help drive business for the drug, Pfizer spent $258 million from January 2006 to September 2007 on the marketing of Lipitor, with much of that going into the Jarvik campaign.

Yet drug companies continue to market away, spending tons of money to make you believe that you need to take medications, and that there is nothing else that can help you better your health.

Good Health and Drugs Don’t Mix

One more time, I want to repeat. If you want to achieve good health and live a Low Density Lifestyle, drugs are not the answer, no matter what the good doctor might tell you. They are a band aid solution at best, and at worst will lead you straight down the path of a High Density Lifestyle.