Is the FDA protecting your health, or Big Pharma’s wealth?
Listen to the audio version of this article:
THE TOPLINE
- The FDA’s close ties to the pharmaceutical industry create a system that favors drug approvals over natural medicine and alternative therapies, limiting patient choice and potentially hindering access to beneficial treatments.
- The FDA’s accelerated approval pathway allows drugs to enter the market based on limited evidence, often without adequate follow-up studies to confirm their effectiveness, raising concerns about patient safety and transparency.
- The FDA’s focus on patentable pharmaceuticals actively suppresses research and development of natural, non-patentable therapies, despite their potential benefits.
- With RFK Jr. as Health Secretary, ending corruption and exposing revolving doors could bring natural health out of the shadows.
For decades, the federal agencies responsible for overseeing our health system have been compromised by deep-seated ties to the pharmaceutical industry. Rather than protecting public health, these agencies have built a crony system that prioritizes pharmaceutical profits while sidelining natural, non-patentable therapies. The result is a regulatory framework that restricts Americans from using food and supplements as medicine, reserving disease treatment and prevention for FDA-approved drugs. It’s also ensured that Americans are amongst the unhealthiest people in the industrialized world, ranking 80th in terms of healthy life expectancy.
A common refrain from FDA leadership is that foods, supplements, homeopathy, and compounded medicines lack scientific backing because they have not undergone “gold standard” randomized controlled trials. This narrative is misleading. The FDA approval process is not a gauntlet where only the most rigorously tested drugs prevail; it is, at its core, a pay-to-play system that ensures big pharma has a monopoly on healthcare in this country, and it is part of what’s keeping us such a sick nation.
The FDA’s Accelerated Approval Pathway: A Gift to Big Pharma
A recent report from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) raised significant concerns about the FDA’s accelerated approval pathway. This process allows drugs to enter the market based on surrogate endpoints—secondary measures like tumor shrinkage—that are only “reasonably likely” to predict actual clinical benefit. In theory, drug manufacturers are supposed to conduct follow-up studies to confirm these drugs’ effectiveness. In practice, however, the FDA routinely ignores these requirements.
The OIG report highlighted troubling examples, including the approval of the controversial Alzheimer’s drug, aducanumab, despite concerns from the FDA’s own reviewers and advisory committees. Even more alarmingly, OIG found that some meetings between the FDA and pharmaceutical sponsors were missing from official records, raising serious questions about transparency and accountability. And if this happened with aducanumab, you can bet it isn’t the first time.
Since its inception in 1992, the accelerated approval pathway has overwhelmingly benefited pharmaceutical companies. Of the 278 drugs granted accelerated approval, 40% have incomplete confirmatory trials. Worse, one-third of these incomplete trials are past their planned completion dates.
Put simply, the FDA gave big pharma an expressway to bring new drugs to market but seems to have little interest in enforcing the rules of the road to make sure these drugs actually improve patient lives.
Cancer Prevention: The Overlooked Alternative
We see this very clearly in cancer treatment. Oncology drugs make up the vast majority (84%) of accelerated approvals. Yet a JAMA Internal Medicine review found that most surrogate endpoints in oncology have “low correlations with survival,” meaning they fail to measure real patient benefit.
On the flip side, consider the research indicating that 40% of cancers are attributable to modifiable risk factors such as smoking, poor diet, excess body weight, and physical inactivity. Simple lifestyle and dietary changes could dramatically reduce cancer incidence, yet the healthcare system devalues these critical findings in favor of pharmaceutical solutions.
Instead of promoting prevention, the FDA continues to fast-track drugs of questionable benefit, reinforcing a system designed to generate profit rather than improve public health. This failure to emphasize preventative health measures demonstrates a fundamental flaw in our healthcare approach—one that must be addressed if we are to truly prioritize patient well-being over corporate gain.
A Congress That Bows to Big Pharma
In response to mounting criticism, Congress attempted to strengthen the accelerated approval process in 2022. Yet even then, the shadow of big pharma political influence loomed large. While the FDA now has more authority to demand confirmatory trials, much remains at the agency’s discretion—a concerning prospect given its track record of favoring drug companies. The law’s vague language, such as allowing the FDA to require follow-up studies only “as appropriate,” leaves ample room for continued regulatory capture.
The double-standard at play here is instructive. For natural medicines like foods and supplements, federal agencies demand the highest possible degree of evidence and scientific consensus that a vitamin or a food can help with a disease. During COVID, the mere suggestion that vitamin D or zinc was important for prevention was enough to get the government censors on you. Yet these same regulators have created an express ramp for drugs of questionable benefit to be given to millions of patients—follow-up trials to confirm any benefit being optional!
A Rigged System That Fails Patients
The FDA’s cozy relationship with Big Pharma extends beyond the accelerated approval pathway. Many traditionally approved drugs have later been revealed as dangerous, with Vioxx being one of the most infamous examples. The underlying issue is clear: the FDA views pharmaceutical companies as clients whose interests it serves, rather than acting as a guardian of public health. This is not surprising, given that drug companies provide 45% of the FDA’s budget through industry fees.
The consequences of this regulatory capture are staggering. Even among the top ten blockbuster drugs, efficacy rates are abysmally low. According to this data, Crestor (a statin) is effective for only one in eighteen patients, while Nexium (an acid blocker) helps just one in twenty-five—a 96% failure rate. Despite these dismal results, these drugs generate billions in revenue annually, illustrating a healthcare system that prioritizes profit over patient well-being.
The Need for Reform and Support for Natural Medicine
The FDA’s history of favoring pharmaceuticals while undermining natural medicine highlights the urgent need for reform. Americans deserve a healthcare system that values prevention, transparency, and true patient benefit over corporate profits. The continued suppression of natural medicine in favor of expensive, often ineffective drugs must end. Until then, the fight to protect natural health and medical freedom remains more critical than ever.
Please share this article widely in your networks!
