Re: Weight Loss Drugs
Reply #6 –
There is much reality in what you write, Spotted One, though some may think you've got your tin foil hat on!
Big Pharma/Medicine/Science has done so much that is positive and protects/saves many, many lives. However, copious amounts of loot does loosen the ethics and morality of some - enough to cost lives.
We should remember that all medication comes with warnings because no matter the efficacy, appropriateness and safety they're well aware of the <5% who will encounter adverse effects. And if their drug, as you point out, has apparent off-label benefits... they will be used/exploited by horrendously over-worked GPs simply wanting to help their patients.
Then there is, as you point out, social pressure; social media pressure; peer pressure. Every woman is expected to be wafer thin and look like a super-model. And young blokes... you'd better get that six-pack. Absurd expectations. I've said it before and I'll say it again, our medical model is absolute bullshizen (but better than fckall, our all too often measuring stick), designed and exploited by profiteers and opportunists. And when I say 'medical model' I include physical health, mental health and spiritual health.Then there are work expectations and competitiveness, let's hoe into the caffeine, alcohol, nicotine and cocaine (if you can afford it).
Put all these ingredients together, and voila.
(A real life case in point of peer group pressure & anti-vaxxers which came to light, tragic light, in my own life recently. My skinny bliss's best friend of more than 40 years, we'll call her Gilly, because that's her name! Gilly's (Gillian) an anti-vaxxer and conspiracy theorist to the back teeth (much to my skinny bliss's loud protestations). Around 3 years ago, Gilly (who I had a crush on back in the late 70s) developed a sore throat that wouldn't go away... well, you know where this is going. She did go to the doc who on a visual diagnosis/inspection saw a suspicious, small growth on one of her tonsils and recommended further tests. Did Gilly take his advice? Nuh. Her friends/peers (also anti-vaxxers) had these special magnets, magical herbs and a healing group that would cure her. However, the cancer continued to grow to the point where she could barely eat. Severe weight loss followed. My skinny bliss went to visit her around six months ago and stayed with her for a week, attempting to get her to a hospital... to no avail. 2 weeks ago Gilly deteriorated to the extent where she had to be admitted to hospital - my skinny bliss drove from the Mornington Peninsula to the Blue Mountains to be with Gilly, only to find her lunatic friends trying to get her out of hospital and to their healing group as, they claimed, the hospital would only fill her with poisonous chemicals that could kill her! Let's just say my skinny bliss didn't hold back on them. Gilly is expected to pass before the end of the month and is in palliative care. She's in her mid 60s).