Dying for Drugs

Empowered by Dr Rath’s consistent exposure of the pharmaceutical “business with disease” Europe’s leading news magazine “Der Speigel” was able to openly and fearlessly criticise this industry without fear of threat of a legal backlash - and now a mainstream television station in the UK has taken up the torch.

At 8:30 pm on Sunday April 27th 2003, the terrestrial mainstream TV station Channel 4 broadcast a documentary made by an independent production company with the title 'Dying for Drugs.' Every year, many new drugs come to market which bring billions of pounds into the coffers of the pharmaceutical industry, making Big Pharma the most profitable and powerful business on earth.

This film investigates just how far drug companies are prepared to go to get their drugs approved; what they will do to make sure they get the prices they want and what happens when profits are put before people.

Unsurprisingly, this broadcast has caused the pharmaceutical industry a real headache in trying to preserve their image as a caring, ethical business. Shortly after the program aired, the trade magazine Pharmaceutical Marketing carried an article defending the ‘business with disease’ with the usual platitudes. The article does, however, acknowledge that the industry now has a huge crisis management issue on its hands.

As a result of the continuing information initiative undertaken by Dr Rath and this Foundation, the genie is out of the bottle and there is no going back. The pharmaceutical industry is now likely to have a hard time convincing the public that its business model is beneficial to their health rather than just lining the pockets of its shareholders.