Many of the food products consumed in America are derived from a small number of crops such as corn, wheat, soy, and canola. This is largely due to farming subsidies that incentivize mass production of these crops, leading to them being sold at prices below their actual cost. As a result, these cheap crops are utilized in the production of processed foods that make up a significant portion of our daily diet. This poses several issues:
• Health concerns – These foods are often unhealthy and contribute to serious health problems like diabetes and obesity.
• Natural resistance – Our bodies tend to resist these foods, making them difficult to sell.
• Addictive additives – To enhance their appeal, these foods are often laced with addictive substances. In the 1980s, the processed food industry, much like Big Tobacco did with cigarettes, focused on making these foods as addictive as possible.
• Chronic illnesses – The health issues arising from the consumption of these foods create long-term customers for industries such as Big Pharma.
Advocates like Dr. Mercola have long been advocating for the awareness of the benefits of natural foods and the necessity to reform farming subsidies to promote healthier eating habits. The current media landscape, characterized by skepticism towards the COVID-19 response and the emergence of independent media, has shed light on the failures within our food system and enabled these ideas to gain public attention.
Recently, there has been a growing movement towards making America healthier by addressing regulatory corruption. Figures like RFK Jr. have been given platforms on mainstream media to discuss issues like the dangers of seed oils and artificial food colorings, which marks a significant shift in public discourse.
Pharmaceutical Sales
Occasionally, glimpses into the inner workings of the pharmaceutical industry reveal a sales-driven culture that prioritizes profits over public health. For instance, presentations like the one given by GSK to sales representatives for Advair highlight the industry’s focus on financial gain.
Events such as JP Morgan’s annual healthcare conference serve as crucial gatherings for investors and key players in the pharmaceutical sector. These events often endorse and promote highly profitable drugs, with a clear emphasis on financial success.
Keynote speakers at these conferences, including FDA commissioners, often tout the potential profitability of new drugs, indicating a close relationship between regulatory bodies and industry stakeholders. Controversial approvals and conflicts of interest within the FDA have raised concerns about the prioritization of profits over safety and efficacy.
The Rise of Ozempic (Semaglutide)
Following the patterns seen at industry conferences, drugs like Ozempic are aggressively marketed and endorsed, despite potential risks and harms to consumers. The rapid rise of Ozempic, reminiscent of past public health crises like the opioid epidemic, highlights the pervasive corruption within the pharmaceutical industry.
Food safety activists have begun to expose the unethical practices behind the promotion and distribution of drugs like Ozempic, shedding light on the need for greater accountability and transparency in the healthcare sector.
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Unfortunately, the success of the campaign has led to a shortage of Ozempic, driving people to look for alternatives. The efforts to expand the market for Ozempic have targeted various demographics, including:
1. African Americans — Ozempic’s manufacturer paid civil rights groups to advocate for the drug, framing any opposition as perpetuating systemic racism.
2. Children — The FDA approved semaglutide for obese children aged 12 and older just before the Chase conference despite concerns about long-term effects. On the first day of the Chase conference, the American Academy of Pediatrics published a set of guidelines for treating childhood obesity that strongly endorsed giving them the GLP-1’s.
3. The elderly — One major obstacle to selling Ozempic is its high cost ($1,000 to $1,500 per month), making it unaffordable without insurance. The Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 prohibits Medicare from covering weight loss drugs, but the industry has been lobbying to overturn this.
An “obesity rights” coalition, funded by Ozempic’s manufacturer, has successfully advanced a law through committee to allow Medicare coverage, which could cost between $3.1 to $6 billion annually if passed.
This raises a critical question: Why was Medicare originally prohibited from covering obesity treatments?
The Rise and Fall of Fen-Phen
A recurring theme I’ve explored is how medical catastrophes often repeat because we forget the lessons from the past. The current rush for Ozempic is strikingly similar to the fen-phen disaster of the 1990s.
Prior to the GLP-1s being marketed as anti-obesity drugs, many of my colleagues believed they were quite helpful for diabetes. However, I also noticed that I was repeatedly seeing patients develop unusual gastrointestinal complications from the drugs, so I held to the perspective the drugs were too new for their risks to be fully appreciated.
After they started being used as weight loss agents, we started noticing that we’d see more and more patients who should have never been prescribed the drug and are taking enough of it to drive themselves into cachexia. Many healthcare professionals are now noticing an epidemic of Ozempic facilitated eating disorders.
I then looked into the data on the GLP-1 drugs and noticed a curious pattern — just like fen-phen, the weight lost was rapidly regained once the drug was stopped.
In short, having to spend $1,000 a month for a bit of weight loss, which then disappears once you stop the drug, may not be the best deal.
Unfortunately, in addition to being a scam, Ozempic has a few major issues.
The GLP-1 drugs were initially engineered to have a longer lifespan in the body, requiring only weekly injections, compared to the natural GLP-1 protein which has a much shorter half-life. These drugs, like Ozempic, slow down digestion in the body, leading to gastrointestinal issues such as intestinal obstruction. Severe side effects are common with GLP-1 drugs, with studies showing a significant increase in risks for pancreatitis, bowel obstruction, gastroparesis, and biliary disease among users.
Less severe side effects are even more common, with studies showing adverse events in individuals taking Ozempic. Additionally, animal experiments suggest that these drugs may distort the architecture of the small intestine, potentially leading to nutrient absorption issues and chronic intestinal obstructions.
Ozempic also interacts with psychiatric medications, causing delays in absorption and potentially leading to psychiatric destabilization in users. This interaction has been linked to an increased risk of suicidal ideation, particularly in those already taking SSRI antidepressants.
The rise in obesity in America is attributed to factors such as overeating, sedentary lifestyles, additives in food triggering obesity, and gut microbiome dysbiosis. Despite these factors, the medical response often involves prescribing drugs like Ozempic rather than addressing root causes.
The situation with Ozempic highlights the influence of economic considerations on medical guidelines, rather than scientific evidence. As awareness grows about the risks associated with such drugs, there is a shift towards questioning medical recommendations and advocating for safer alternatives.
Overall, the author emphasizes the need for a more holistic approach to health, addressing underlying causes of conditions like obesity and advocating for natural methods to restore metabolic health and achieve a healthy weight. Para encontrar más del trabajo de AMD, asegúrate de revisar El Lado Olvidado de la Medicina en Substack.