Prescription drugs killed 106,000 in hospitals from adverse drug reaction (”properly prescribed and administered”) making these a leading cause of death. Journal American Medical Assoc, 4-15-1998.

Prescription drugs killed 199,000 outpatients. Western Journal of Medicine, June, 2000, p 391. These reports support 305,000 people per year dying from drugs “properly prescribed,” circa 1998. “1998-2005…fatal adverse drug events increased 2.7 fold.” Archives of Internal Medicine, 9-10-2007. Multiplying 305,000 deaths in 1998 by 2.7, 824,000 drug deaths/yr in 2005 exceeds heart disease.

Prescription drugs caused “116 million extra visits to a physician per year, 76 million additional prescriptions a year, 17 million emergency department visits, 8 million admissions to hospitals, 3 million admissions to long-term care facilities [ruined for life]…The total cost was estimated to be $76.6 billion, rivaling the aggregate cost of…diabetes.” Western Journal of Medicine, June, 2000.

“1998-2005…serious adverse drug events increased 2.6 fold.” Archives Internal Medicine, 9-10-2007.

Multiplying the data above (1998) by 2.6, we got 302 million extra visits to a doctor, 198 million more prescriptions, 44 millions emergency department visits, 21 million admissions to long term care, all at a cost of $200 billion for 2005.

Only congress understands such figures, or should, because they approved the TV drug ads in 1997 that led to the 2.7 increase in death (824,000 in 2005) and the 2.6 increase in visits to doctors and emergency departments, admissions to hospitals and long-term care facilities, and the $200 billion in cost.

Congress bears responsibility for enabling the drug companies to deceive this nation as they have done. The Truth About the Drug Companies; How They Deceive Us by Marcia Angell, MD, former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, now teaching at Harvard, should be required reading for congress. She told 60 Minutes that drug companies spend $400 million/year contributing to re-election campaigns for congressmen and lobbying them. Thanking them, congress approved the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan and now they want “Healthcare Reform” to expand drug coverage to all Americans. Like a smoker, drinker or glutton, we are doing it all to ourselves. Why should taxes pay for someone’s choice to smoke or drink? We are drugging America to death as we ignore personal responsibility and the media sponsored by the pharmaceutical companies, makes health practitioners who encourage supplements to look like quacks as SWAT teams destroy their offices.

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