I've been having an ongoing debate about pharmaceuticals with a friend...and this story makes for great ammunition for my side of the argument.

I have an aunt who has battled high cholesterol for years, but resists filling a prescription because she doesn't believe that doctors and pharmaceutical companies really tell all about potential adverse side effects. She thinks many doctors are too quick to prescribe drugs without knowing all the ramifications. My friend disagrees and says, "these things are tested to no end before they hit the marketplace. If there were side effects, we'd know."

While I don't fully disagree with him, I find myself defending my aunt's position: in many cases, we don't really know about all the side effects; and let's not forget that pharmaceutical companies are for profit, not for altruism. This article definitely casts a light on the shady side of the business.

The lesson: stay informed.

I've been having an ongoing debate about pharmaceuticals with a friend...and this story makes for great ammunition for my side of the argument.

I have an aunt who has battled high cholesterol for years, but resists filling a prescription because she doesn't believe that doctors and pharmaceutical companies really tell all about potential adverse side effects. She thinks many doctors are too quick to prescribe drugs without knowing all the ramifications. My friend disagrees and says, "these things are tested to no end before they hit the marketplace. If there were side effects, we'd know."

While I don't fully disagree with him, I find myself defending my aunt's position: in many cases, we don't really know about all the side effects; and let's not forget that pharmaceutical companies are for profit, not for altruism. This article definitely casts a light on the shady side of the business.

The lesson: stay informed.

Is it possible your friend works for Pfizer?

Nope....not in the field at all. But strangely trusting of pharmaceuticals.

My attitude is, strangely, I'm not sure I wanted to be treated for/cured of everything that ails me. Sometimes you just gotta live.

Ghostwriters were not the problem. Whether someone in the communication department at Merck writes an article for the president's signature or a freelancer writes an article for an "independent" physician's signature, it's "ghostwriting."

No, what gives me the shivers is that the article makes it sound as if unqualified staff or contractors (and I'm not sure what the qualifications should be, but they should be rigorous) were CONDUCTING the studies and then writing them up--and also possibly doing "editing" AFTER they were signed. Ghostwriters, staff writers, whatever--the buck stops at Merck. At the very, very least, there was no oversight, and lots of people died.

My step-father has been a pharmacist for longer than I've been alive, and, at odds of most pharmacists I've known his opinion on drugs - all drugs for all conditions - is that you cannot TRULY know the full story on side-effects and/or potential problems from a given drug until it has been on the market and used by human beings for at least 15 years. I tend to agree with that approach.

The drug companies love to launch multiple "me-too" varieties of perfectly fine existing drugs that treat the exact same condition but are more expensive because they are new and so can't yet be "generic-ed".

The other issue here is the advertising of drugs directly to consumers. In my opinion this is the most irresponsible, short-sighted decision ever allowed. Patients are not doctors and are not qualified to determine whether they need a drug, but these commercials - much like tobacco commercials used to do - make these drugs sound like the second coming and patients who have no idea what the appropriate treatment is for their health go screaming into the doctor's office demanding them.

I guess all the above rambling is just a verbose way of my agreeing with Kasia - stay informed and work with your doctor to do what will best keep you healthy. Often that is more likely to be: "eat a vegetable now and then and get your ass up off the couch for some exercise" than "gimme a pill". If more people took this approach we'd all need a LOT less pills.