FDA Announces 20 Dangerous Drugs You Should NOT Be On

It’s difficult to fathom the immense power of the pharmaceutical industry at times, but consider this: The global market for pharmaceuticals was worth more than $693 billion in 2007.

It is expected to increase to over $737 billion in 2008 and will top $1.0 trillion by 2013.

To put these mind-boggling numbers into a larger perspective, the pharmaceutical industry was worth more money in 2007 than the gross domestic product (GDP) – which is the market value of all the output produced in a nation in one year -- of these COUNTRIES, according to statistics from the World Bank:

• Belgium ($448.5 billion)
• Sweden ($444 billion)
• Switzerland ($415.5 billion)
• Norway ($382 billion)
• Saudi Arabia ($381.7 billion)

In fact, if placed on the list ranking the countries of the world according to gross domestic product, the pharmaceutical industry would rank number 17 out of 185 countries in 2007!

So, when I liken the pharmaceutical industry to a giant wielding a mighty club, I really mean it. Their power and influence over government, the field of conventional medicine, and your mind through massive marketing efforts, is in a class of its own. It’s just that most people don’t realize the magnitude of their financial influence, and therefore are blinded and deceived by the manipulated perception that the industry is “helping mankind.”  

However, as has been repeatedly demonstrated, and as this latest FDA watch-list of drugs that potentially pose serious risk, the pharmaceutical industry is NOT putting out magic elixirs for good health.  

On the contrary, the industry is gaining power and strength from propagating disease, not from achieving cures.

With Friends Like That, Who Needs Enemies?

These numbers are a sad reminder of just how successfully the industry has turned our society into a “pharmacracy” where every twitch and hiccup is deemed treatable with another prescription.

Unfortunately, treating disease symptoms with drugs will invariably create other health problems, which lead to yet another prescription to counteract the side effects from the first one, followed by another one, and another… It’s an evil circle that is clearly evident when you review the statistics of prescriptions per capita, which has grown exponentially in the past 75 years.

In 1929, the average American received less than two prescriptions per year. By 2006, the average annual prescription rate per capita in the United States was:

• just over 4 prescriptions per child (age 0-18)
• almost 11 prescriptions per adult (age 19-64), and
• 28 prescriptions per senior, aged 65 and over!

If these drugs did in fact treat and cure disease, the United States would have the healthiest inhabitants on the planet. Instead, we’re seeing ever mounting numbers of people suffering from completely preventable diseases like diabetes, and we’re seeing a mounting death toll directly attributable to prescription drugs.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), adverse drug reactions from drugs that are properly prescribed and properly administered cause about 106,000 deaths per year, making prescription drugs the fourth-leading cause of death in the U.S. Compare this to the death toll from illegal drugs -- which is about 10,000 per year -- and you begin to see the magnitude of the problem, and the magnitude of the coverup.

We are indeed a nation of drug addicts, and just like old-fashioned street junkies, we’re spending every penny we have to feed the beast; we believe the sweet-talking, free-sampling salesmen, and are dying in droves because of our dependency on a quick fix. 

Looking for a Safe Drug? Keep Lookin’ 

But how can it be that clinically tested, FDA-approved drugs that are supposed to “cure” diseases are ending up hurting, and in some cases killing, so many people?

One reason is because even under the BEST circumstances -- such as with a drug that has gone through unbiased, stringent, long-term testing -- when it is released into the uncontrolled environment of your body, literally anything can happen. It may interact badly with another drug you’re taking, or perhaps a food you eat causes an unforeseen reaction, or maybe your genetic makeup, metabolism or the state of your immune system will cause it to have an unpredictable impact.

There are countless possibilities, and only a tiny fraction has been “tested for” in a lab.

And that’s the best case scenario. Unfortunately, studies are frequently biased, results are skewed, and drugs are put on a fast-track to be approved long before anyone knows whether they’re safe.  

In essence, it’s all a gamble, and there are NO 100 percent safe drugs. 

To Medicate or Not to Medicate, That is the Question 

You have to remember that, ultimately, it’s your body, and the decision to medicate yourself for an ailment is yours alone.  

If your doctor suggests you take a drug, research it before you take it. Do not believe for one minute that your physician will have all the answers and all the latest research findings at his or her fingertips. They won’t. Most physicians will have little to offer you aside from the lines they learned from their drug reps.

Make sure you are aware of the potential side effects of the drug, read the package insert, and remember that even if it lists a side effect as rare, it can still happen to you. Then decide whether the potential benefits truly outweigh the potential risks.

Also remember that a large number of drugs are vastly over-prescribed and unnecessary. They’re frequently referred to as “blockbuster drugs.” If several people you know are on it, ask yourself, “why?” 

Curing Disease Means Finding Health 

If you make drugs a last option, not a first choice, you will have taken a major step in the right direction.  

For example, all of the following conditions can be treated or prevented with LIFESTYLE CHANGES, yet if you go to a typical doctor, you will likely be prescribed a potentially dangerous drug instead:

• Diabetes 
• Heart disease 
• High blood pressure 
• High cholesterol
• Insomnia    

I realize that it takes a massive shift in thinking to realize that your body can heal itself, and that often drugs only hinder the process. But I can’t stress enough the importance of the most basic principle of HOW to resolve an illness: finding the underlying cause of the problem. Masking it with a drug that lessens your symptoms does not fix anything.

Disease can only be resolved by addressing its root cause.

What many people fail to realize is that it is possible to maintain optimal health by simply avoiding unnecessary drugs and by understanding the fundamentals of good nutrition and exercise, which include:

• Eliminating sugar and most grains
• Eating unprocessed, high-quality foods, organic if possible, right for your nutritional type
• Eating your food as close to raw as possible
• Consuming enough omega-3 fats
• Exercising regularly