A rant about pharmaceutical companies

I hadn't heard of the expression the "worried well" until this week, when I have read several articles about how scientists are amending their attitude to aspirin.

I know several people who take an aspirin a day to ward off heart problems, and have always been a little surprised at the needless self medication. Especially since I learnt, the very hard way, of the dangers of aspirin and anti-inflammatories (including ibuprofen).

The recent studies indicate that whereas daily aspirin is a good idea for people who have heart problems, those that don't shouldn't be taking it every day as the risk of ulcers and internal bleeding outweigh the benefits regarding heart problems.  But people are, both on the advice of their doctors, and also based on the well publicised fact that aspirin is good at warding off heart disease. I wonder how many people have followed this bad advice and made themselves ill. No fault of their own, and I'm not blaming the pharmaceutical companies for peddling untested advice. Or not quite. OK, a little. The cynical side of me does believe that pharma giants to tend to avoid highlighting dangers of the pills they are peddling. Not that I am accusing anyone.

It is a great freedom to be able to self-medicate. There is no need to burden the NHS with a trip to the doctor to get a prescription for paracetamol or aspirin. Imagine if every woman who got period pain went to the doctor every month to ask for ibuprofen (again, bad for the stomach by the way).

But the market that the drug companies have spotted and are exploiting the most, and very callously, is that of the worried well. How many people see ads for ibuprofen, cold remedies, vitamin supplments, and all kinds of other types of medication, and decide that it is the best treatment for them, whether or not they are ill?

And encouraging perfectly healthy people to take aspirin every day, just in case, is, to me, highly cynical. It is good that this recent study has come to light. But it does make me wonder how many more pills and potions we are taking that we don't need, or, worse, how much damage they can be doing to us.

Since my brush with the joy that is medecine related disaster I have to be extremely careful taking medication. Even with simple things. But I actually think this is a good thing. I take far fewer pain killers now, and no vitamin supplments at all. I am, in short, exceedingly careful about what goes into my stomach.

But, you see, it's not just over the counter stuff that we need to worry about. The pills which tried to kill me were prescription medication that I was taking for a valid reason. The real danger, I believe, is the influence that pharmaceutical companies have on doctors. And the way that these companies ruthlessly market their remedies to doctors, not just the public.

I was unfortunate enough to work very closely with the marketing department of a large pharmaceutical company several years ago. They were working on the release of a new pain killer, an anti-inflammatory. My client's task was to work out how to market the medication despite the fact that the tests they had run showed that it caused a high rate of, you guessed it, stomach ulcers. And ulcers are not benign. People often joke about being so stressed they are developing an ulcer.

Ulcers kill. Mine bled through to an artery and I would be dead now if I hadn't already been in intensive care and on my way to surgery. Ironic that I worked on marketing a product which, years later, almost put an end to my life isn't it?

My point. Of course you should trust your doctors when they prescribe you medication. No doctor (or, hopefully, not many doctors) actively try and make their patients ill. When my doctor prescribed the anti-inflammatories he had no idea that I would become so ill. But I think doctors should make potential side effects clearer to patients, and highlight any circumstances in which a patient should worry.

I also advise, when self medicating, to read the leaflet thorougly, and in case of doubt, any doubt, ask a pharmacist or doctor before taking the pills.

Finally, it would be nice if the powers of the pharmaceutical companies in their marketing, lobbying and other activities could be checked, possibly curbed, and certainly far better regulated. Yes, they are trying to cure as many illnesses as possible. But they are businesses, and the bottom line of business is profit. Dangers of medication should be highlighted, not hidden in glossy brochures passed over to doctors who can't have the time to read them all. And not hidden in small print in the tiny leaflets you find in your pill packets.

And as patients, no we don't need to worry ourselves silly over rare side effects. But we should be made aware. It is our right, and their duty. They should not be encourgaing the worried well to take meds needlessly. It is irresponsible, dangerous, and cynical.

Oh, one more thing. Please give blood.