Inventing Diseases? Why Would Big Pharma Do That?

Majikthise alerted me to this BBC article. This is one of those newspaper articles where I shake my head and say "duh." But, then I remember that what is perfectly obvious to me, in part because so much of my research hinges on this, is news to most people. In fact, what often prevents me from writing is thinking that what I have to say is just plain trivial. Let this article be a reminder that it is worthwhile to point out what is obvious to me regularly.

Anyone who watches TV and the thousands of Big Pharma ads parading in front of them, and doesn't realize that they are hoodwinking you to think that "problems of living" are diseases, needs to put on his or her thinking cap. Where does Big Pharma put their dollars, you ask: marketing drugs that solve problems resulting (a) either from overindulgent American habits or (b) drugs that enhance ones personality or looks.

Now, to fully unmask my identity, here is a review I wrote over at Metapsychology of a book called the Merck Druggernaut. You should also check out my review of David Healy's book, Let Them Eat Prozac.