Stamatakis Says Many Drugs Not Needed

Greek-Australian Dr. Emmanuel Stamatakis from the University of Sydney is among the writers of a joint review concerning the drug companies’ effect on citizens’ health, conducted by Australian, British and US researchers which says pharmaceutical companies produce many unneeded drugs just for profit.

According to the research paper published in the European Journal of Clinical Investigation, the pharmaceutical companies, in order to serve their own interests, make and sell unnecessary drugs that  do not work and even put lives at risk.

“It is entirely illogical to rely on the pharmaceutical industry to fund medical research,” Stamatakis said, adding that, “The profits involved are just too large and the temptation to manipulate the evidence is difficult to resist, even when this may lead to the loss of lives.”

He mentioned the anti-diabetic drugs as an example, which “increased the risk of heart problems and were prescribed despite interventions such as exercise being more effective.” He said that drug companies fund, design and control a large portion of the most influential medical studies researchers found, after evaluating 600 clinical trials.

“Medical professionals were bombarded with gifts, education conferences and trips funded by the industry, while billions are spent on salespeople who lobbied doctors and pharmacists to recommend their products,” Stamatakis added.