The idea that the pharmaceutical industry can be compared to the mafia is for some a case of thinking the unthinkable. However, when you realize that Big Pharma has more interest in profits than the genuine welfare concern of individuals then it starts to make sense when considering their hidden ulterior motives and manipulative ways of controlling.
So here are 9 similarities that may be used to compare Big Pharma with the mafia.
1. Filthy richBoth Big Pharma and the mafia are indeed filthy rich from obscene amounts of money made by their businesses.
2. Side effects of their businessesBoth have businesses that involve serious injuries and killings as side effects as a consequence of their operations. In the case of Big Pharma it's through the release of deadly medicines on the public from corrupted healthcare where they influence and control approval bodies such as the American regulators the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) having conflicts of interest.
3. BriberyFor control Big Pharma, like the mafia, bribes politicians into making decisions in their favour. Politicians have been known to be paid off by receiving generous donations towards funding their political campaigns. In return, politicians have an involvement in the implementation of new unfair laws only in favour of Big Pharma or the mafia... Corruption is indeed abounded.
4. Paid off mass mediaOn the subject of being paid off both Big Pharma and the mafia use their wealth and influence to control the mass media. For Big Pharma, biased media coverage with its acts of omission and commission or unscientific journals reflecting bad science is not uncommon... Because the clinical drug trials are done in-house then there are a number of factors that reflect bad science using shamelessly biased approaches to produce the desired outcome to such an extent that the data cannot be adequately substantiated when published. This could indeed lead to detrimental outcomes for patients taking the drugs.
5. ExtortionThe mafia are not the only ones that can be accused of extortion. Extortionate prices and dramatic price increases for drugs over time are not due to costs in development trials but because of political lobbying and marketing. Once this is done the prices of drugs are unjustifiably grossly overpriced. With little in the way of competition Big Pharma can set their prices accordingly such as $1000 a pill for hepatitis treatment or $10,000 a week for chemotherapy drugs... Pay up or die: Your money or your life!
6. SilencingBoth the mafia and Big Pharma are known for silencing those who dare speak out against them by means of gagging, discrediting or character assassination... Like for example, the doctors who criticized the drug vioxx with their case testimony describing how it had caused patient damage. These doctors were on a 'hit list' to discredit them. Intercepted emails from a major Big Pharma company had instructed that these doctors be 'neutralized' or 'discredited...'
7. Controlling the oppositionAnother Mafioso tactic: As in the case of Big Pharma, any competitor who threatens to undercut or compromise their business could find themselves having a hard time with the big boys of the establishment, such as those in alternative health practices. Take the case of Royal Rife and his cancer machine. Testified in the 1930's by a number of qualified doctors the extraordinary success rate of his cancer machine clinically cured 14 out of 16 cancer patients in 70 days while the other 2 took a bit longer. This should have eventually led to his machines getting made and released to the world at large, but instead he was taken to court time after time for illegal medical practice and in the end had his equipment seized and premises shut down.... In effect through medical suppression he was silenced and the potential humanitarian benefit from his contribution was laid to rest.
8. Run-ins with the lawBoth the mafia and Big Pharma have frequent run-ins with the law in the way of embezzlement, fraud, deception and damage. For instance, Big Pharma has been successfully sued umpteen times for serious health damage or even death as a consequence of pushing harmful drugs on patients.
9. Threat and CoercionThrough misrepresented, misguided science and persuasion Big Pharma have managed to manipulate the politicians to enforce vaccination laws, as in the recent example of SB277 where vaccination in the US state of California is now mandatory. This is nothing more than a case of medical fascism where Big Pharma will indeed greatly profiteer, with the ultimatum threat and coercion of mandatory law.
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