Many people assume that medications go through copious testing before it’s marketed to patients, however the truth is pharmaceutical companies get away with as little testing as possible, so the drug can be rushed it off to market to make their millions. What’s more, only a portion of their trials, many of which are biased, even reach the public – so we’re not even being told the whole truth.
A few examples:
1. Seroquel
An antipsychotic made by AstraZeneca made over $5 billion in the US in 2010. Patients reported side-effects throughout its run, but it remained on the market. It was marketed to children at such an alarming rate, that the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (who prefers to sedate “troubled” youth) bought more Seroquel than even Advil.
It was also used heavily in veterans for the unapproved treatment of PTSD. Reports of sudden deaths among these veterans led to questions about its safety on the heart’s electrical activity. Despite this, in 2009, it was the number two prescribed drug by the Veteran’s Administration with a total tab of $125.4 million.
Despite being approved for use in 1997 and trouble following it throughout the years, the FDA didn’t issue new warnings on the drug until 2011, one year before the patent ran out.