Most people are not aware that five companies control 95 percent of the media in America. What you see on TV or read in the newspapers are nearly universally being filtered by these five companies that are massively influenced by the drug companies and the conventional medical paradigm.

Thank God the Internet is breaking that threshold and giving the power back to the people who can now objectively and independently access unfiltered information.

It is my primary purpose in life to accelerate this process until the stranglehold is broken and everyone has unfiltered access to the truth. This way, they can make decisions that are not biased by distortions and manipulations.

Clearly not everyone will choose natural medicine. Large numbers will remain either unconvinced or unmotivated to improve their health, and that is their free choice. Unfortunately, they will reap the harvest of their poor health choices.

But at least they will know. They won't be deceived like smokers were 100 years ago by media ads that smoking was good for you. My mission is to help people understand that it is the exception rather than the rule that drugs are good for you. Well over 95 percent of drug use is simply not necessary and not serving the person who is taking the drug.

It comes as no surprise to me that research on the treatment of depression topped the list. Depression is reaching epidemic levels, and of course, most "antidepressant" drugs are no help at all.

The evidence is quite clear that most of these drugs actually increase the risk of suicide. If you are ever feeling "blue" or believe you or someone you know might be depressed, please review my article, Treatment Options for Healing Depression.

Here are links to safer, gentler ways to treat some of the other common problems listed in the article, without prescription drugs:

• Bipolar
• Insomnia
• Cholesterol
• Acid reflux/GERD

Vital Votes reader Julia, from Oak Park, Illinois, had the following troubling information to add:

"Thanks so much for alerting your readers to this comScore.com study. I, for one, would probably not have known about it, if it weren't for your terrific blog.

"... Registered Nurse, Mary from Missouri, pointed out in her comment: 'if you read the entire article, you find that most of the people went to a Pharmaceutical Company's website because of their on-line advertisements.  The Pharmaceutical Companies are changing their strategies so they can market to consumers even more directly than they do now.'

"That, unfortunately, is not such great news.

"I am currently researching this very topic for an upcoming article  ... The preliminary results of my research are leading me to the unfortunate conclusion that much of the information people are finding through their online research has a decidedly pharmaceutical bias.

"... a recent 'Chicago Tribune' article ... refers us to a total of 13 'most useful' websites ... Most of the 13 are 'household-name' websites -- for instance, the American Academy of Family Physicians (familydoctor.org) and the Merck Manual of Medical Information (merckhomeedition.com), to name just two.

"A little research reveals that some, if not all, of these websites and organizations, have troubling financial ties to Big Pharma. While it's obvious whose money is solidly behind the Merck Manual, a quick trip to Google reveals some less widely known information about the prestigious professional group.

"The most recent AAFP Foundation's 2004 annual report lists the foundation's donors ... of all 47 of the companies listed that gave from $5000 to over $50,000, a full 45 are from Big Pharma! The only two non-pharmaceutical donors are the National Dairy Council and the Chlorine Chemistry Council (a trade association for the chemical/pesticide industries).

"... So, is the public (or doctors, for that matter) actually 'researching' at all? I am not so sure."

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