Big bad pharma

Doctors admit there has been no major breakthrough in diabetes research since the 1920s, when Dr Banting and Dr Best discovered insulin. As the diabetes epidemic takes a grievous toll across the globe, pharma companies thrive. Which is why patients who read up a bit about their condition become increasingly sceptical about big pharma.

Has diabetes become too profitable to cure? Many believe so. And quite a few believe big pharma is busy blocking any new initiative that shows promise of helping diabetics (and in the process eating into their billion-dollar profits).

I have had some personal experience of how big pharma works. A weekly magazine asked a friend to do an article on diabetes for a special supplement. Thanks to my outings on the Net, and my consultations with doctors outside the allopathic mainstream, I was able to put her on to some leads. Her article turned out comprehensive, in a journalistic context. Along referred readers to doctors with unorthodox approaches to diabetes treatment.

She filed her story, and waited for months to see it in print. After a while, she got to know that the pharma company that was to sponsor the booklet had threatened to pull out if the magazine ran this article. Since it was a question of a good deal of money, the magazine had ditched her and gone with the pharma giant.

The booklet, when it appeared, said the same old things, with the pharma company patting itself on the back for its concern about public health. In truth, it had used its money power to armtwist the magazine and block any reference to unconventional approaches that might have helped diabetics.