All legal protections for Big Pharma must be immediately and comprehensively removed. At present, the pharmaceutical industry operates like a powerful and highly profitable cartel, often prioritizing profit over patient welfare, exploiting monopolistic practices, and engaging in questionable business strategies that include price gouging, manipulation of clinical trials, and aggressive marketing tactics. These actions have led to a healthcare system that places excessive reliance on expensive prescription drugs, creating long-term dependencies while neglecting more cost-effective and holistic treatments. It is time to reevaluate the current regulatory framework that enables these practices and ensure that corporations are held accountable for their actions, not only in terms of legal compliance but also in their ethical responsibilities toward public health.
Moreover, natural medicine, with its emphasis on prevention, wellness, and holistic healing, must become an equal — or even greater — part of the healthcare conversation. The current dominance of pharmaceutical approaches in modern medicine has limited the exploration and integration of alternative treatments that have been used for centuries and proven effective in many cases. Natural medicine, including herbal remedies, nutritional therapy, acupuncture, and other alternative modalities, should be considered alongside traditional medical treatments in the decision-making process. Integrating both conventional and natural therapies would offer patients a broader, more balanced range of options, potentially reducing the over-prescription of pharmaceuticals and promoting a more sustainable approach to health.
Furthermore, a critical reform must be the elimination of Big Pharma’s influence on medical education and the healthcare profession at large. Pharmaceutical companies should be banned from making donations to medical schools, as these financial contributions often create conflicts of interest and influence curricula to favor pharmaceutical-based treatments over alternatives. Doctors, too, must be freed from the influence of pharmaceutical incentives, whether direct or indirect. Financial relationships between doctors and pharmaceutical companies, including speaking fees, gifts, or research grants, must be strictly regulated or eliminated. This would ensure that medical professionals make decisions based on evidence-based medicine and the best interests of their patients, not on financial incentives that may encourage over-prescription or unnecessary treatments.
