“The [pharmaceutical] drug industry is the most profit-generating industry after the weapons and [illicit] drugs sectors. With human health as a market matter, everything is evaluated based on its monetary value, and health turns into a commercial service exchanged for money.” This is what Küçükusta claims in his latest book, which seems to occupy the agenda. Similar books have been published in foreign countries before, but a doctor putting forward such arguments regarding the sector from which he earns a living is a first for Turkey.
A chest disease specialist, Küçükusta uncovers unknown aspects of the medical sector with a brave, understandable, fluent and humorous style. The famous doctor also criticizes doctors who he calls experts in “beach medicine,” who make joint notary certified agreements with drug companies. Hospital promotional campaigns, he says, such as “free appendectomy for those undergoing a cholecystotomy,” are like the cherry on top. According to Küçükusta, you also have to contend with Barbie dolls, pink panthers on school bags, cell phones that cause sterility, showily packaged chips, fizzy drinks, school buses with diesel engines, household chemicals and even the computer mouse you work with in order to avoid getting sick.
As we witness dazzling advances in the field of medicine, a new method of examination appears every day. Electronic instruments replace the knowledge and skills of the doctor in diagnosis. Biochemistry and radiology laboratories mostly diagnose disease, instead of doctors. Operations are carried out by robots instead of skillful hands. Mutual relations between the doctors and drug companies, which are based on self-interest, are going further and further. Doctors are sent to conferences free of charge and given costly presents such as laptops, cell phones and laptops.
Advertising drugs is forbidden in most countries in the world. That is why several drug companies carry out secret advertisements. The best example of secret advertisements is advertising the disease instead of the drug. Ongoing news in the media about a certain disease, which makes the disease “fashionable,” is nothing less than advertising drugs. For example, the pharmaceutical industry is behind the recent wide coverage of Gastro-esophageal reflux disease (mucosal damage produced by abnormal reflux in the esophagus) in the media. It is imprinted in people’s mind how the disease is common and dangerous -- but has a remedy. According to Küçükusta, who stresses the excessive use of drugs in Turkey, many drugs, antibiotics in particular, are improperly and needlessly used.
Made-up diseases: “sisi syndrome,” baldness, osteolysis
Küçükusta says drug companies make up new diseases to sell more drugs and present insignificant diseases as if they are serious. Psychological and neurological diseases lead these invented diseases. “Sisi syndrome,” which we first heard of in 1998 and is claimed to be a kind of depression, is one example of these made-up diseases. The disease takes its name from the nickname of Austrian Empress Elizabeth. Although many psychiatrists deny this disease, special drugs were produced for this disease. Hair loss, which is a natural process in human life, has also been transformed into a disease. Baldness, which used to be seen as normal for most men, has become a disease leading to emotional disorders, panic and even preventing men from finding jobs. Here are some warnings from Küçükusta.
Coloring on toys can intoxicate: Mattel, the maker of Barbie and one of America’s biggest companies, announced a recall of some of its products from the market due to suspicions of poisonous content. One million Chinese products were also recalled due to lead-based coloring used in their manufacture.
Do cell phones lead to sterility? Küçükusta warns people not to use cell phones unless they have to. He says their electromagnetic waves pose a big threat to people in Turkey, where cases of sterility are rapidly increasing.
Do not have an X-ray unnecessarily: “Radiological examinations are of course a doctor’s best assistant; however, it is unnecessary to perform an X-ray [to diagnose] every disease. It leads to exposure to radiation as well as a loss for the country’s economy,” Küçükusta says.
Fragrances are quite harmful: Perfumed products, usually used by women, can be as harmful as smoking. More than 5,000 aromatizing substances are found in perfumes, cleaning products, stationery products and even in food products.
Watch out for vehicles with diesel engines: Research reveals that children who travel on school buses with diesel engines are exposed to toxic diesel exhaust equal to four times more than others traveling by other vehicles. It is known that the risk of lung cancer increases parallel to diesel exhaust exposure.
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