and they are succeeding
Big pharmaceutical companies medically help a lot of people. They also harm a lot of people.
Many medications save lives. Many medications take lives. Nearly all medicines have side effects. Big Pharma does not care. They make a ton of money. They influence doctors to prescribe drugs that patients may or may not need. Big Pharma does not care, they make a ton of money on drugs.
Major drug companies charge Americans double or triple or more for the same drugs sold overseas and in Canada and Mexico. Big Pharma does not care, they make a ton of money on sick Americans.
Big Pharma tried to kill me. Twice.
My doctor put me on a super blood thinner, brand name Pradaxa. I took it for a number of months and it scared me to take it. The drug caused my gums to bleed often and, each time, it took a long time for me to stop bleeding. I never knew when the bleeding started if it would ever stop. There was no antidote for the drug. If you really cut yourself badly, or had an accident that caused serious or severe bleeding, you could die. The only remedy was a blood transfusion - assuming you could get to the hospital quickly enough to get one. I was living in fear, not from having a stroke which the drug helped prevent, but from having an accident that caused me to bleed to death. I was afraid of all activities. I was hyper-vigilant when doing ANYTHING. I was exhausted. And afraid of dying. One day, I got a call from my pharmacy. They left a message telling me to stop taking the Pradaxa immediately. They said that the FDA had issued a warning. What? What does that mean? I called my pharmacy and asked for an explanation, for more information. I was confused. And concerned. They told me to call the FDA. Call the FDA? How the heck do you call the FDA? I went online to FDA.gov and saw the warning for Pradaxa. This drug caused "sudden uncontrollable gastrointestinal, rectal and brain bleeding that resulted in hundreds of deaths". And I had been taking it for months! On the advice of the FDA, I stopped taking Pradaxa. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which approved the drug for use in the U.S. in 2010, warns that suddenly stopping Pradaxa or missing doses may increase the risk of blood clots or stroke, which can lead to permanent disability and death. I stopped taking the drug, held my breath, and waited to see if I would die. Luckily, I didn't. Why did Big Pharma make a dangerous drug that could kill people and foist it on patients? Because Big Pharma doesn't care, they make a ton of money on dangerous drugs.
The other death-inducing pharmaceutical drug I took was ... a name brand over-the-counter cold remedy. The name brand cold remedy contained pseudoephedrine. According to Harvard.edu, "Over the years, there have been reports of heart attacks, strokes, disturbed heart rhythms, and other cardiovascular problems linked with use of pseudoephedrine." I can personally attest to that. Why are over the counter products which contain that chemical being sold without a "black box" warning, a black box warning like cigarettes: "WARNING. This product can be hazardous to your health". Why are these drugs still foisted on unsuspecting consumers and available without prescription? Because Big Pharma doesn't care, they make a ton of money on it.
And let's not even talk about prescription pain pills - opioids! According to businessinsider: "Vicodin is used to treat pain using the narcotic hydrocodone and acetaminophin (which is also found in Tylenol), and is the most popular drug in the US. The painkiller is an opioid, which means it's one of a handful of drugs that are often abused as part of a growing opioid epidemic." Big Pharma doesn't care, they make a ton of money on it.
Yes, Big Pharma saves lives. They also take lives.
Big Pharma. Big harma. And, spiritually, big karma.