Remember too that big pharma likes to make and fake all sorts of claims by cherry picking trials, running bad trials etc.
They're not making very many real breakthroughs these days. So when they find a drug that doe the same as another drug already on the market they go to enormous efforts to make it look better.
If anyone is interested, this book is a very enjoyable read and extremely informative.
doctors can be misled by the literature out there on many drugs, as well as from colleagues who are being paid by the pharma company. You can find a lot of information about this in Ben Goldacre's book, Bad Pharma
> First of all getting two vaccinations and a booster reduces your risk of death down to about 1%. Anyone who still dies from covid is extremely unhealthy and could just as easily die from the flu. We don't mandate people to get flu jabs.
Err, pardon? The overall death rate in the *un*vaccinated is about 1%, though of course this varies a lot with age. The death rate amongst the vaccinated is lower, but not zero.
With both Covid and seasonal flu, the risk (for adults) increases with age, the elderly are far more at risk than the middle aged for both, but in fact this age-effect is stronger for flu than for covid. That is why the average number of years of expected life lost is significantly higher with Covid than with Flu. Plus, of course, Covid, even Omicron, is nastier than flu. That is why, by late 2020, there had already been more deaths from Covid in the US than from flu in the 2010 - 2018 flu seasons combined.
So, the reasons that vaccines for other diseases are not being mandated is that such mandates would have a far lower protective effect, for the vulnerable or the healthy, that a covid vaccine mandate would. For those who want to seek the best balance between protecting the public and avoiding compulsion, that would seem to me to be the most sensible approach.
I am well aware of many of the dodgy practices of Big Pharma, that does not discredit everything that they do. I suspect that if you were to develop, say, leukaemia, you would put aside your reservations and accept the chemo developed by that same Pharmaceutical industry.
I'll also note that someone who knows more than either of us about the problems with the industry, Ben Goldacre, author of Bad Pharma is now calling himself "Ben Get-Vaccinated Goldacre" on Twitter.
> And then that's how things change. Not throwing people in jail and demonizing them in the news and slandering them on Reddit.
To repeat my alternative about someone who insists on driving without all the aggro of a licence or insurance, is though how you would advocate tackling their attitude? Are there any other behaviours which risk people's lives that you recommend a similar approach to (or, if such a driver hit and killed your elderly mother, would you accept it if their defence was "well, she was old, she could just as easily have died of flu"?)
Oh dear. It is perfectly possible to be well aware of some of the problems with Big Pharma without leaving conventional medicine behind and jumping into bed with the crazies.
> I feel safe trying prescriptions with my set of doctors
Evidence shows that there hasn't been a single death related to cannabis use. Evidence, and personal testimony, has also shown that cannabis works for some who have anxiety and/or depression. Facts.
Now, onto prescription medications. Here's just one article on the dangers of Citalopram, a medication I was on for 3 years: http://www.nhs.uk/news/2012/07July/Pages/antidepressant-citalopram-qt-heart-rhythm-safety-warning.aspx
I am also going to say do not blindly trust a doctor. My doctor is great, as are my therapists, but they don't conduct the research on medications. They only have the facts from drug trials, and believe me or not, many trials are skewed and important data missed out of trials. That's not the doctors fault, but is a result of a very competitive billion dollar industry.
If you don't believe me, I suggest you read the book Bad Pharma: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bad-Pharma-How-Medicine-Broken/dp/000749808X ... it has excellent reviews, is well received, and was written by a former doctor.
I knew I'd get bashed for mentioning cannabis. The negative propaganda around it is bound to cause a stir, but yet many people all over the world can attribute it to success for a number of ailments. They're all wrong? I'm wrong?
I'd prefer to take my chances with cannabis over medications that can have dangerous, and life long, side effects after prolonged use. MY life is much better without meds. Meds didn't solve the issue when I was on them for the past 10 years. They only caused negative issues. Non of which I had when using cannabis.