Have you ever been to a doctor and been given free samples of drugs? You might feel grateful: there’s something you don’t have to pay for. But those free samples are actually not just given to you out of the goodness of anyone’s heart - although the doctor may feel he’s doing you a favor - they’re part of a vast marketing ploy by drug companies to get doctors to prescribe their products. In fact, drug companies spend $18 billion a year on free samples. All with the hope of getting you on the drugs and with no regard to whether you’ll become dependent or addicted, or whether you’ll need drug detox to get off them.



Drug salespeople represent themselves as experts; someone a family doctor can trust to tell the truth about the drugs they sell. As we witnessed with OxyContin - whose manufacturer was fined $634.5 million for misleading doctors and the public - “trustworthy" is not an adjective we can use to describe drug companies or drug salespeople.

In fact, drug research is often financed by the drug company. Sometimes several trials are done on a drug - some with positive results, some with negative results, and some that show the drug works no better than a placebo. Drug companies just out to make a buck - actually, billions of bucks - don’t ensure all those negative and neutral results get to doctors or the public: they push the positive tests that will support their claims about the drug’s benefits.

It’s difficult for doctors to know the truth. They’d have to spend huge amounts of time doing their own research and finding research that was not funded by the drug company - something that may be difficult because the information on funding is not always obvious. So, unfortunately, they tend to rely on what they can get their hands on. Which is often given to them by a drug rep. Is that drug rep going to tell the doctor that their patients might end up in drug detox, drug rehab or in the morgue? He’s not likely to get a sale out of that, which is his job, so you do the math.

How does this affect you? You or someone you know could be one of millions of people who’ve been harmed by prescription drugs. You may know someone who’s had to go to drug detox or rehab to get off them. You may even know someone who’s died from OxyContin or some other dangerous prescription drug.

Do you want to ensure your safety? I’m afraid it’s going to take a little work - you’re going to have to do the research yourself, or have a trusted friend help you. There’s plenty of information about drugs available on the Internet. Even drug company websites list the side effects - you won’t see them plastered all over the front page in bold letters, but they do have to disclose them. They won’t go as far as saying you may need drug detox or rehab to get off them, but the side effects are generally horrendous enough in themselves to make it clear you’re not doing yourself a favor by taking them.

Educate yourself - your life may be at stake, and certainly your health is.

Your best bet is to find a doctor who prefers to treat without drugs and takes the time to find independent research - not financed by drug companies. And if you or someone you know is already being harmed by unnecessary prescription drugs, help them find a medical drug detox program so they can get off the drugs and find other solutions to their health problems.