Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. begins to take on Big Pharma
Tuesday, February 25th, 2025
Jacky Lay wrote a book several years ago titled Big Pharma: Exposing the Global Healthcare Agenda.
The mainstream media acts like the idea of Big Pharma is a conspiracy theory. Here is something from Wikipedia about that:
Big Pharma conspiracy theories are conspiracy theories that claim that pharmaceutical companies as a whole, especially big corporations, act in dangerously secretive and sinister ways that harm patients. This includes concealing effective treatments, perhaps even to the point of intentionally causing and/or worsening a wide range of diseases, in the pursuit of higher profits and/or other nefarious goals. The general public supposedly lives in a state of ignorance, according to such claims (Big Pharma, conspiracy theory. Wikipedia, accessed 02/25/25)
Having tried to work with two of the biggest pharmaceutical firms in the world in the 1990s, let me state that my experience was not that they were sinister, but that their focus on monopolistic ways to maximize profits vastly exceeded their interest in the public good. In one case, let me simply state that if one of them, which I will not name here, was satisfied with getting a product with normal, non-pharmaceutical, markups, it would have been profitable, but that was not enough for them–greed and lust for money is the real driver as far as I have been able to tell.
Now, the new US Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is looking into Big Pharma:
RFK Jr. takes on Big Pharma: Can the Make America Healthy Again Commission save our kids from psychiatric overmedication?
February 25, 2025
In a bold move that has sent shockwaves through the medical and pharmaceutical industries, President Donald Trump has appointed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to chair the newly formed Make America Healthy Again Commission. Among its primary targets: the skyrocketing use of psychiatric medications in children and adolescents. The commission will scrutinize the “prevalence of and threat posed by the prescription of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, stimulants and weight-loss drugs” to young Americans.
Kennedy, a vocal critic of SSRIs and other psychiatric drugs, has long argued that these medications are overprescribed and underregulated, often causing more harm than good. His appointment has reignited a fierce debate over the role of mental health medications in modern society — and whether we are sacrificing the well-being of our youth on the altar of Big Pharma profits.
The rise of the “medicated generation”
The statistics are staggering. Between 2016 and 2022, antidepressant prescriptions for Americans aged 12 to 25 increased by 66%. Stimulants like Adderall, often prescribed for ADHD, have become a staple in classrooms across the country. Meanwhile, antipsychotics and mood stabilizers, once reserved for severe psychiatric conditions, are now routinely prescribed to children as young as six.
This trend is not without consequences. Critics argue that the overdiagnosis and overmedication of young people have created a generation of “mental patients,” where normal emotional struggles are pathologized and treated with powerful drugs. As Kennedy himself has noted, “Members of my family had a much worse time getting off of SSRIs than they have getting off of heroin.”
The mainstream medical establishment, however, has pushed back. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) insists that these medications are “very effective” and are prescribed “carefully” after other treatments, such as talk therapy, have been tried. But as the number of psychiatric diagnoses continues to climb — the APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) now lists over 300 mental illnesses, up from just 60 in the 1960s — many are questioning whether we are medicalizing normal human behavior. …
At the heart of this issue lies the influence of Big Pharma. Critics argue that the pharmaceutical industry has a vested interest in expanding the market for psychiatric drugs, particularly among children and adolescents. …
Dr. Frances has warned, “Bogus mental illnesses have turned millions of healthy Americans into ‘mental patients.'” The question now is whether Kennedy and his commission can succeed in reversing this trend—or whether the medicated generation will continue to grow. https://www.naturalnews.com/2025-02-25-can-maha-save-kids-from-psychiatric-overmedication.html
The products from Big Pharma are almost always substances that are foreign to the human body. They have never been tested enough in order to understand all the possible negative side-effects that they may produce.
It is my clinical experience that there are normally better and more natural approaches to deal with the issues psych drugs are prescribed for.
However, since Big Pharma funds a lot of political campaigns, the medical profession, mainstream news outlets (see Big Pharma the big television news sponsor–but do they really improve health?), etc., it has been effective in censoring a lot of scientific debate over many of its products.
Those in the USA use a lot of medications. Here is something from the US Centers for Disease Control’s website:
- Percent of people using at least one prescription drug in the past 30 days: 49.9% (2017-March 2020)
- Percent of people using three or more prescription drugs in the past 30 days: 24.7% (2017-March 2020)
- Percent of persons using five or more prescription drugs in the past 30 days: 13.5% (2017-March 2020) …
- Number of drugs provided or prescribed: 1.0 billion
- Percent of visits involving drug therapy: 71.9% …
Hospital emergency department visits
- Number of drugs given or prescribed: 361.3 million
- Percent of visits involving drug therapy: 76.2%
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/drug-use-therapeutic.htm accessed 02/25/25
Consider also the following:
Medicine Use
- A total of 6.3 billion prescriptions were dispensed in 2020 with growth slowing to 1.7% after adjusting for the increased use of 90-day prescriptions for chronic therapies.
Medicine Spending and growth drivers
- U.S. medicine spending increased 0.8% on a net price basis to $359 billion, which reflects an increasing gap between list or invoice prices and manufacturer net revenues.
- Real net per capita spending – adjusting for net prices, population, and economic growth – declined in 2020 to $1,085 and has increased only $56 since 2010. • Specialty medicines now account for 53% of spending, up from 27% in 2010 and driven by growth in autoimmune and oncology therapies. accessed 06/26/22 https://www.iqvia.com/insights/the-iqvia-institute/reports/the-use-of-medicines-in-the-us
If it seems like about half the country is on drugs, that is because it is actually true. According to a new survey from the National Center for Health Statistics, almost half of all Americans have taken a pharmaceutical drug within the past 30 days, and that officially makes us “the most medicated country in the world”. And needless to say, those dealing these drugs are becoming exceedingly wealthy at our expense. .. antidepressants are just one part of the problem. For example, opioids are some of the most addictive drugs on the entire planet, and their overuse has destroyed countless lives all across America. 05/08/19 http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/the-most-medicated-country-in-the-world-46-of-americans-have-taken-a-pharmaceutical-drug-within-the-last-30-days
Pharmaceutical drugs, artificial medicines, are not the answer for many health issues.
Notice some scriptures about medicines and the medical profession:
11 In vain you will use many medicines; You shall not be cured. (Jeremiah 46:11)
12 And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians. (2 Chronicles 16:12)
4 But you forgers of lies, You are all worthless physicians. (Job 13:4)
25 Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, 26 and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. (Mark 5:25-26)
There are multiple factors that affect health and for many of those, medications really cannot help.
The USA pushes and promotes GMO ‘foods’ around the world that I have major health concerns about (GMOs and Bible Prophecy). The USA also pushes and promotes a lot of excessively-processed ‘foods’, which now also include GMOs.
For example, grits, which once were made of ground, whole organic corn, are now made with degerminated GMO corn, ‘fortified’ with synthetic (petroleum-derived) vitamins. After corn was ‘degerminated’ thousands of people in the Southern USA died from a disease called pellagra. Instead of going back to whole corn, chemically-derived synthetic vitamins were added, which I consider to be dangerous.
Breakfast cereals used to be one of the original ‘health foods’ when Dr. Kellogg first introduced Corn Flakes at his clinic in Battle Creek, Michigan. It was basically made of whole organic corn. Now, it seems to be made with GMO corn (its label does not state otherwise, which in the USA means the corn source is almost always genetically-modified) and is ‘fortified’ with synthetic vitamins.
Many other breakfast cereals, especially the ones targeted towards children are made of refined, degerminated grains, synthetic vitamins, a lot of sugar, and artificial colors. Pop-Tarts are made of refined, degerminated grains, synthetic vitamins, fruit, sugar, gelatin (probably biblical unclean; see also The New Testament Church and Unclean Meats), and artificial colors.
As far as sodas go, they are not healthy, often contain GMOs, and most should avoid them, yet the USA is a big consumer of them.
As far as bacon (biblically unclean), biscuits, and gravy go, a study came out showing that the typical Southern diet (which tends to contain those) was unhealthy and increased risk for strokes (see Obesity, processed foods, health risks, and the Bible).
Processed and uncleaned meats are a health risk for many (see Certain American ‘foods’ gross out foreigners, while American hotdogs often have ingredients no one should eat).
Furthermore, the Bible warns about eating things that are not really food:
2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good (Isaiah 55:2).
Refined processed “breads,” refined and artificial sweeteners, chemical additives, and some other items commonly associated with junk foods, and hydrogenated fats would seem to be consistent with that warning.
What should you eat? You should eat real food and be careful about your quantities.
2 … Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, (Isaiah 55:2)
People should try to eat real, not artificial, foods. Artificial medications are not the solution.
People should also get enough physical activity and exercise, if appropriate (1 Timothy 4:8).
Related to exercise, the Continuing Church of God (CCOG) put together the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:
A 2019 report shows that Americans are becoming sedentary. Since it is a physical thing, should Christians be concerned about exercise? Could not exercising possibly be a sin? What did the ‘Plain Truth’ magazine report about exercise? What is the US CDC reporting about exercise? Can exercise help prevent diabetes, heart disease, and obesity? Can exercise help sleep, endurance, and aging? Are there scriptures about exercise and health? What about laziness? What are some of the risks and benefits of exercise? Dr. Thiel addresses these subjects and more.
Here is a link to our video: The Plain Truth About Exercise.
Related to drugs, back in 1976, the old Worldwide Church of God published the following:
Psychoactive Drugs
Technically speaking, a drug is any substance (other than food) that by its chemical nature affects the structure or function of a living organism.
Doctors usually refer to a drug in terms of its ability to treat physical and mental diseases. They stress the therapeutic value. But many laymen now focus on the negative connotations of the word. For them, “drug” has become a four-letter word of the worst kind, an epithet, an obscenity. When used in conversation it provokes strong emotional reactions. It’s a good word to start an argument with, or even a fight.
Medicine and Menace
You encounter a lot of this when discussing drugs. They can relieve pain, prevent infection and save lives. That’s good! But they can also destroy bodily tissue, impair healthy bodily metabolism, enslave by addiction and ultimately kill. That’s bad!
The drug problem would be greatly simplified if drugs were not ambivalent, if they were very selective in their effects. If only drug X eased pain, but was not addicting, if only drug Y helped people relax but didn’t adversely affect the brain or the liver.
But drugs don’t work that way. Rather, their effects are varied and often ambivalent — they have the potential to simultaneously hurt or harm, depending on a number of variables. Because any drug can play both the role of medicine or health menace, any description of its effects is bound to sound like a “that’s-good, that’s-bad” routine.
Morphine presents a good example of a “that’s-good, that’s — bad” story. It came into widespread use as a pain-killer during the American Civil War (1861-65). So effective was it as an analgesic for wounds and amputations that physicians sometimes referred to it as “G.O.M.” — “God’s own medicine.”
That’s good!
But in time morphine was found to be addicting — prolonged use followed by abstinence led to agonizing withdrawal symptoms. “God’s own medicine” turned out to be “the Devil’s own misery.” Hundreds, if not thousands (accurate statistics are hard to come by), of war veterans inadvertently became drug addicts.
That’s bad!
But that’s the nature of opiates. And it illustrates a fundamental principle of pharmacology: any drug can be dangerous depending on the dosage, the duration of use, its purity and many other factors. No drug is completely “safe.”
Recognizing this, the Federal government under the Controlled Substances Act regulates drugs according to their potential for abuse. The drugs are listed in five schedules in descending order of proven abuse potential and current medical usage.
Schedule I lists drugs deemed to have great abuse potential and no legitimate medical use. The score or so drugs on this list include heroin, LSD, mescaline, psilocybin and marijuana.
Schedule II lists drugs with great abuse potential that have legitimate medical uses. Drugs in this list can come under production quotas, and telephone and refillable prescriptions are prohibited. The psychoactive drugs listed here include the opiates such as morphine and synthetic opiates such as methadone and Demeral, certain barbiturates of the short-acting type, methaqualone and amphetamines. Altogether over 1300 drug preparations are listed!
Schedules III, IV and V list drugs with correspondingly less proven abuse potential. The widely used tranquilizers Librium and Valium are in Schedule IV — a classification the manufacturers have protested. Altogether over 3600 drug preparations are covered by these three schedules.
The list is not static. On the basis of new evidence and accumulated experience, drugs are often being added to the list. And drugs already listed are sometimes moved to higher schedules, indicating greater proven abuse potential.
The dual nature of drugs guarantees that the debate over their benefits versus hazards will continue for some time. (Graunke DP. The Dilemma of Drugs. Worldwide Church of God, 1976)
Since that came out in 1976, the opioid crisis has worsened.
Notice also the following:
The term “big pharma” is really making its rounds as more and more people become aware of the fact that the major corporations that manufacture the majority of our “medicine” are actually criminals. The latest example comes from a recent case where a federal jury found multiple top executives of Insys-Therapeutics, a well-known pharmaceutical company that sold a fentanyl-based painkiller (opioids), guilty of racketeering charges and contributing to America’s current opioid epidemic.
According to the New York Times:
The verdict against Insys executives is a sign of the accelerating effort to hold pharmaceutical and drug distribution companies and their executives and owners accountable in ways commensurate with the devastation wrought by the prescription opioid crisis. More than 200,000 people have overdosed on such drugs in the past two decades. Federal authorities last month for the first time filed felony drug trafficking charges against a major pharmaceutical distributor, Rochester Drug Cooperative, and two former executives, accusing them of shipping tens of millions of oxycodone pills and fentanyl products to pharmacies that were distributing drugs illegally. …
The U.S. Department of Justice document reads:
Several pharmaceutical executives and managers, formerly employed by Insys Therapeutics, Inc., were arrested today on charges that they led a nationwide conspiracy to bribe medical practitioners to unnecessarily prescribe a fentanyl-based pain medication and defraud healthcare insurers.
Pretty wild, isn’t it?
This is great, but how deep does the deception go? How much power do these corporations and their executives hold? Below is a great quote from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that explains the issue quite well:
The pharmaceutical companies have been able to purchase congress. They’re the largest lobbying entity in Washington D.C.. They have more lobbyists in Washington D.C. than there are congressman and senators combined. They give twice to congress what the next largest lobbying entity is, which is oil and gas… Imagine the power they exercise over both republicans and democrats. They’ve captured them (our regulatory agencies) and turned them into sock puppets. They’ve compromised the press… and they destroy the publications that publish real science. (source)
We don’t really live in a democracy, we are living in a ‘corporatocracy.’ There are many products manufactured by pharmaceutical companies that are highly questionable in light of evidence like the example above. Take, for example, when pharmaceutical companies were not disclosing all information regarding the results of their drug trials. Researchers looked at documents from 70 different double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) and serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI) and found that the full extent of serious harm in clinical study reports went undocumented. (source)
Another great example comes from documents showing that pharmaceutical companies are deliberately concealing information for the sole purpose of getting us to comply with an “official” vaccination schedule. https://www.collective-evolution.com/2019/05/09/big-pharma-exec-pushing-opioids-found-guilty-of-racketeering/
Yes, many in the pharmaceutical industry are drug pushers. And yes, money influences a lot of “medical” decisions. The Bible warns:
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, (1 Timothy 6:10)
As far as opioids go, the reality is that many people have physical and spiritual pain and they reach out to drugs for relief. This tends to be addictive.
The Continuing Church of God (CCOG) recently put out the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:
Since 1997, over 700,000 Americans have died related to opioids. What are opioids? What does the National Institute on Drug Abuse teach about them? Why do people use them? Are they effective? Can they be addictive when medically-prescribed? Does the UK have a problem with opioids? Did Great Britain force China to accept opioids in the 19th century? Has pharmaceutical greed been a factor in the opioid crisis? What is the dilemma of drugs? Is switching to non-opioid substances like marijuana the answer? Does the Bible provide insights related to mind altering substances? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more. A written article of related interest is available titled “Opioid Crisis Leaves 700,000 Americans Dead.”
Here is a link to the sermonette video: Opioid Crisis.
Notice something the Apostle Paul was inspired to write:
19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
As God inspired Jeremiah to write:
11 In vain you will use many medicines; You shall not be cured. (Jeremiah 46:11)
Hopefully, problems associated with drugs pushed by Big Pharma will get more public attention and reduced use.
Some items of possibly related interest may include:
Christian Health Matters Should Christians be concerned about their health? Does the Bible give any food and health guidelines? Here are links to three related sermons: Let’s Talk About Food, Evil is Affecting the Food Supply, and Let’s Talk About Health.
American foods that gross out foreigners A study done in the Fall of 2014 found out which foods that non-USA Americans considered weird or gross that Americans eat. This video discusses those foods, ingredients in some of those foods, and warns against consuming ‘that which is not bread’ (Isaiah 55:2). Dr. Thiel also warns about synthetic vitamins and some of the issues associated with them. He also discusses something promoted by the late Seventh-day Adventist, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg.
The New Testament Church, History, and Unclean Meats Are foods considered to have been unclean in the Old Testament considered to be food in the New Testament? This article discusses this from the perspective of the New Testament. It also has a list of clean and unclean animals. It also answers the question, is pork healthy or is pork dangerous? There is also a sermon-length video on this: Christians and Unclean Meats; two short videos are also available: Did Jesus declare all animal flesh food? and COVID, Pandemics, and Unclean Meat.
Obesity, processed foods, health risks, and the Bible Does the Bible warn about the consequences of being obese? Is overeating dangerous? Is gluttony condemned? What diseases are associated with eating too much refined foods?
Eating Right, Eating Too Much, and Prophecy Are there disadvantages to being overweight? Is junk food really bad for you? Does the Bible discuss overeating and/or obesity? Is overeating having an effect on the US military? What are the ramifications of personal and national health for overeating? What should you eat? This is a sermonette-length YouTubevideo.
Should Christians Exercise? What does the Bible teach? What are some of the benefits and risks of exercise? Here is a link to a related video: The Plain Truth About Exercise.
GMOs and Bible Prophecy What are GMOs? Since they were not in the food supply until 1994, how could they possibly relate to Bible prophecy? Do GMOs put the USA and others at risk? Here are some related videos: GMO Risks and the Bible and GMOs, Lab meat, Hydrogenation: Safe or Dangerous?
Chimeras: Has Science Crossed the Line? What are chimeras? Has science crossed the line? Does the Bible give any clues? A video of related interest is Half human, half pig: What’s the difference? and Human-Monkey Embryos and Death.
Ten Simple Rules that Lead to Health Herbert Armstrong gives his opinions on this.
Does God Heal Today? What does the Bible teach? Herbert Armstrong tries to explain this.
UK Study Supports Daniel Diet Daniel and his companions looked better eating more vegetables and avoiding strange meats. Has modern science confirmed this?
Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America? Where did those people come from? Can you totally rely on DNA? What about other peoples? Do you really know what will happen to Europe and the English-speaking peoples? What about Africa, Asia, South America, and the Islands? This free online book provides scriptural, scientific, historical references, and commentary to address those matters. Here are links to related sermons: Lost tribes, the Bible, and DNA; Lost tribes, prophecies, and identifications; 11 Tribes, 144,000, and Multitudes; Israel, Jeremiah, Tea Tephi, and British Royalty; Gentile European Beast; Royal Succession, Samaria, and Prophecies; Asia, Islands, Latin America, Africa, and Armageddon; When Will the End of the Age Come?; Rise of the Prophesied King of the North; Christian Persecution from the Beast; WWIII and the Coming New World Order; and Woes, WWIV, and the Good News of the Kingdom of God.
Should Christians Smoke Tobacco or Marijuana? Is smoking a sin? What does the Bible teach? What have COG leaders written? Can smokers change? What about marijuana? Here is a link to a related video: Should You Smoke? Would You Like Help to Quit?
Marijuana: Should a Christian Get High? There is increasing acceptance of the use of marijuana. How should Christians view this? Here are links to two related videos: Does marijuana cause harm? and How Should a Christian View Marijuana?
Alcohol: Blessing or Curse? This is an article from the old Good News magazine that attempts to answer this question.
Binge Drinking, Health, and the Bible Many college students and others overindulge in alcohol. Are there health risks? What does the Bible teach? A related video is also available: Binge Drinking and the Bible.
Importance of Fasting An old article by Herbert W. Armstrong on this subject. Here is a link to it in Mandarin Chinese 禁食的重要性.
Christians: Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God, Biblical instructions on living as a Christian This is a scripture-filled booklet for those wishing to live as a real Christian. A related sermon is also available: Christians are Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God.
