Popular Health Web Site Busted!

A very interesting article was posted on Mercola.com about the #2 most read health web site. In a shocking report published earlier this year, BNET exposed how WebMD’s online test for depression is rigged for profit. The test is sponsored by Eli Lilly — maker of the antidepressant Cymbalta – so it’s anything but unbiased. In fact, no matter which of the 10 answers you choose on the test, the result comes out the same: “You may be at risk for major depression.”

OpEdNews.com also points out the site’s habit of offering unmarked product placement to various pharmaceutical companies, which is an insidious, sneaky, subliminal sales tactic: “Lilly is not the only pharma company receiving unmarked product placement on WebMD,” Martha Rosenberg writes for OpEdNews. “Last summer, a video featured a woman patient confessing she was fearful of life while a voice-over said she needed treatment for “general anxiety disorder” and the camera showed bottles of Forest Pharmaceuticals’ antidepressant Lexapro moving down the manufacturer’s assembly line. No disclaimer on the video or “sponsored content” appeared.

Another very interesting and sucpicious point is that two years ago the first-ever partnership between the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and a private company was put into place with WebMD. According to WebMD’s own announcement: “The partnership will enhance the FDA’s ability to get crucial information to the American public, FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach, MD, said in a news conference. “What we will do by virtue of this partnership … is to really be able to present online … content material we at FDA feel is extremely important for consumers to be aware of as they are making critically important decisions for themselves and for their families about their health and the products that they use to ensure their health.”

There are a number inexpensive, safe alternatives out there for each and every ailment WebMD presents. As a reuslt of this partership, when you go on WebMD, you willl learn about products the FDA has approved for your condition – which does not include vitamins, herbs, homeopathy, or food remedies. And by default, you will be kept in the dark about the strategies that can make a real and lasting difference, courtesy of WebMD’s financial ties to the drug- and processed food industries.

WebMD is not an independent site that will help you find all possible remedies to your ailment – it is an avenue for the drug companies to push their drugs on us. In my opinion, drugs are the abolsute LAST resort. When anyone in my family gets sick or has some kind of sympton, we treat it with natural remedies, essential oils, homeopathy, herbs, vitamins and whole foods. Most of the time drugs are not necessary at all. It’s so upsetting to me that the second most widely read health web site is simply a drug pusher.

My message to you in response to this is to be careful what you read and who you trust. Whenever you hear about a study that was done on the news or read about something online always check – who PAID for this study? Nine times out of ten it is a biased study becuase it was funded by a company that benefits from the results.

Tags: FDA, WebMD