The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are known for their guidelines and recommendations setting the standards for mainstream medicine in the United States. Its influence extends globally as the organization is perceived to be independent and free of industry relationships. However, this assessment by The British Medical Journal (BMJ) unveils that the CDC is, in fact, receiving millions of dollars from pharmaceutical companies, contributing to their recommendations and promotion of products that benefit the same corporations involved.
Money from Big Pharma
Congress allowed the CDC to accept “external gifts” from the industry and private parties in 1983. In 1992, it passed legislation to create a nonprofit foundation to encourage relationships between the industry and the agency. In the fiscal year of 2014, the CDC Foundation raised $52 million, $12 million of which came from Big Pharma. In the same year, the CDC received $16 million in direct funding from corporations, individuals, and foundations, including the CDC Foundation.
According to The BMJ, much of the funding from Big Pharma was conditional and targeted for specific projects that promoted the contributing company’s products.
Example: Genentech and Hepatitis C
For instance, in 2012, Genentech donated $600,000 to the CDC Foundation, requiring the CDC to promote expanded testing and treatment of viral hepatitis. Genentech’s parent corporation is Roche, the manufacturer of test kits and treatment drugs for hepatitis C. That same year, the CDC issued guidelines to physicians recommending that everyone born between 1945 and 1965 be screened for hepatitis C virus.
In 2010, the CDC Foundation initiated the Viral Hepatitis Action Coalition to support research and promote expanded testing and treatment of hepatitis C worldwide. The coalition’s members, which received $26 million in contributions from Big Pharma, include Abbott Laboratories, AbbVie, Gilead, Janssen, Merck, OraSure Technologies, Quest Diagnostics, and Siemens. These companies produce products and tests for the diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C.
The flu, antiviral drugs, and Roche
Another example highlighting the CDC’s questionable relationships can be seen in their recommendation for individuals sick with the flu to take an antiviral flu drug. The CDC refers to an “independent” study for this recommendation sponsored by Roche, the manufacturer of the antiviral flu drug oseltamivir (also known as Tamiflu). Furthermore, the study’s four authors all had ties with Roche, Genentech, or Gilead, which owns the patent on oseltamivir.
What’s even more concerning is that the CDC claimed antivirals “save lives” even when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was warning Roche that it couldn’t make that claim in its marketing since oseltamivir “has not been proven to have a positive impact on the potential consequences (such as hospitalizations, mortality, or economic impact) of seasonal, avian, or pandemic influenza.” Despite the lack of evidence that the drug works, the CDC Director Thomas Frieden was actively claiming otherwise, leading physicians to prescribe the drug to patients as a life-saving solution or a way to shorten the duration of their illness.
Bogus industry studies and payments from drug manufacturers
This issue is not exclusive to the CDC. The FDA also promotes drugs based on false industry studies and payments from the drug manufacturers. Similarly, Big Pharma pays physicians exorbitant fees to endorse its products in industry papers and speeches on behalf of its drugs at conventions. Doctors also receive kickbacks for prescribing certain drugs, even if those drugs are prescribed for off-label purposes.
Investigations have found that industry papers are ghostwritten by pharmaceutical companies’ PR personnel, and physicians sign their names to these papers without reading or understanding the research to receive the fee.
Conclusion: A multibillion-dollar scam
The pharmaceutical drug business is a multibillion-dollar scam that not only affects patients but also influences medical guidelines and government agencies that are supposed to keep the public safe. It is time to rethink the role of these corporations in healthcare and address their questionable relationships with organizations like the CDC.
