A medical doctor should be a person who can be trusted to administer good care with the patient’s health and well-being as the primary concern. Is that necessarily the truth these days?

Doctors and psychiatrists get paid by drug companies to run clinical trials. They get grants for research from drug companies. They serve as paid consultants for drug companies. Perhaps they own stock in a drug company or they sit on one of their Boards. Do you see how easy it is to have a financial tie to a drug company?

Senator Charles Grassley of the Senate Finance Committee looked into the ties between the pharmaceutical industry and doctors. He found several psychiatrists in prestigious positions at Harvard Medical School, Stanford University and Emory University who each had a direct relationship with a drug company and each stood to benefit financially in a big way or had already been paid a hefty consulting fee. These are only a few examples as it is estimated that drug companies pay tens of billions of dollars a year to doctors and psychiatrists to promote their drugs.

One can only conclude that a doctor or psychiatrist with a financial relationship with a drug company is going to prescribe drugs from the drug company that is paying him. Unfortunately as a result, the best interest of the patient is no longer the primary concern. When you walk into your doctor’s office and complain of some ill, you could wind up getting a prescription for a dangerous mind-altering psychiatric drug if your doctor is on a drug company payroll. Maybe your condition could be easily handled by a chiropractor, change in diet or exercise, or other sensible natural remedy. Instead, you walk away thinking you need to take a psychiatric drug with untold side effects because you are unaware of your doctor’s relationship with a drug company.

Next time you see your doctor it would be wise to ask if he/she has any connections to a drug company so you can make an informed decision. It could save your life.