Will any amount of facts make the "Big Pharma" conspiracy theories disappear?

So we live in a capitalist society - the alties need to get over it. When I need antibiotics to live, I don't give a rat's who gets the profits.

No amount of garlic or colloidal silver will kill a nasty chest infection. If I get smashed up in a car accident, I'm going to want morphine, not acupuncture.

Science is the study of nature, and medical science studies natural sources for potential medicines frequently. There are reports everyday about this if you read science news. They just don't start prescribing stuff from dodgy sources, based on some ancient anecdotes. Medical science is the best method we have for discovering, refining, and producing safe, effective treatments. Who manufactures and sells it is irrelevant to your health.

Edit:

Chuckin - how do you know it was the dandelion that cleared the eye jaundice? Did you have a control? It could have cleared by itself, or by the treatment for the hemolytic anemia.

I have diabetes. When I did not have insurance, I went to the health food store. They sold me $200 of a 1 month supply of stuff that did not help.

If I need a treatment, I will go to a doctor and pay $60, and get my 3 month supply at walmart for $12. So I am being helped by BIG GENERIC, not BIG PHARMA or BIG HERBAL.

Provigil is a drug for narcolepsy. There is no herbal/supplement alternative.

It was $120 a month when it was first sold. It is now $380 a month. Any justification for that, market or otherwise.

Cephalon, the company that holds the patent, paid the generic manufacturers hundreds of millions not to make a generic.

http://www.pharmalot.com/2008/02/ftc-sues-cephalon...

The reason so many Americans spend more money on supplements is because they don't have insurance.

As for herbal supplements not working, sorry, tell my dad that. My family had bad luck with typical medical care. My dad had ulcer problems, and other problems. The doctor took out half his stomach. He was told his other problems were all in his head. We found a Chiropractor who was into holistic healing, and guess what? Minus the fact that half my dad's stomach is gone, he's just fine now.

My dad has been to medical doctors for YEARS and no luck.

I'm getting heel spur treatments done at this same office through ultrasound therapy. Many people get cortisone shots. That only dulls the pain. It doesn't kill the spurs. My spurs are getting killed. Many people also have surgery instead of going alternative. They often grow back, and people often have problems with fallen arches and so on. I will have no ill lasting effects, and started them yesterday, and I notice a BIG difference. Most other people suffer with them for a very long time. For me, it's only been a month.

When i had early jaundice from hemolytic anemia, i cleared my eyes back to white with ordinary dandelion root extract - is there a pharmaceutical that can do this? No. Shall a company pay for research to see if my results are consistently repeatable for others, when every herb peddler can then cite that research for free? I wouldnt. Blaming a 'conspiracy' is almost as ignorant as claiming herbs don't work.

Actually, you misread it. "Americans spent more than $23 billion on vitamin, herb and other supplements in 2007. That's less than a tenth of the amount spent on prescription drugs last year". Thats what it said in the second link you listed.

Americans spent 10 times more on prescriptions than supplements so your entire argument for your discussion just fell out the window.

The "Woo", will always use nonsequitur arguments to prove whatever claims they are trying to make. Beware of the Woo.

It's kinda my favorite one that all these crazy hippy pills have Big Pharma behind them, kills stone dead the: "It's natural, can't be patented, so BP aren't interested in it" nonsense explanation.

We just need a "that's why I mix my own herbs" idiot to turn up because a clueless, uneducated amateur mixing god-knows-what in their bacteria-ridden kitchen is SO much better!

Did you know that nutrionists can take bribes from these companies to supply pills to their customers? That their regulating body allows it? Any doctor doing that would lose their job forever.