The Evolution of Modern Medicine
The world has become dependent on the pharmaceutical industry, which makes profits of nearly 1.5 trillion dollars a year.
As the advertisements claim, there’s a pill for everything:- a pill to make you smarter, a pill to make you thinner, a pill to make feel better, a pill to treat an illness, etc. Let’s look into how this giant came into existence.
History of Allopathic Medicine
Today, allopathic medicine is the most widely used and commonly accepted form of medicine. Most public and private healthcare facilities provide allopathic treatment only. It is the foundation on which the drug industry developed.
Allopathy has adapted to modern times very effectively through imaging technologies such as, ultrasound, x-ray, MRI, etc, and pharmaceutical solutions to various problems from headaches to cancer.
Allopathy is supported by a network of infrastructure including hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and chemists that provide convenient treatment. Its development is backed by institutes, research centers and drug and equipment manufacturing industries.
But allopathy is not new. Let’s examine its journey through time to better understand the pharmaceutical industry of today.
Timeline
In the early 1700s, eastern medicine, which includes East-European and Chinese medicine, was popular in Europe. Eastern medicine was the only branch of medicine available to Europe at that time.
Allopathy originated in West Europe in the mid-19th century. Its earliest successes included vaccination, inoculation and simple surgeries. Initially, because Eastern medicine was established and widely used, allopathy was not trusted by the general people.
In the late 1800s, allopathy made a breakthrough with painkillers, especially morphine. These drugs increased allopathy’s popularity, as there were only a handful of painkillers in Eastern medicine.
The next big breakthrough was during World War I, when Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, the first antibiotic. This was the game-changer for allopathic medicine, because previously fatal infections such as tuberculosis (TB) and leprosy became treatable.
Antibiotics are of great importance today, especially in big cities because of the population density. But before this breakthrough, allopathy was already widely accepted by European society. Let’s look at how allopathy took down its established rival, eastern medicine.
Early Allopathy vs. Eastern Medicine
The rise of allopathy and the fall of Eastern medicine in Europe occurred at around the same time, because of a sociopolitical shift. Let’s look into why allopathy became more important.
Approaches
The very nature of allopathic and Eastern medicine differ, simply because of the society they developed in. The two branches approach the same problem, in two entirely different ways.
Eastern medicine came from a time of peace and prosperity. It is slow, and focuses on minimizing side-effects. It’s procedures are designed to be as noninvasive as possible. It provides excellent immunity boosters, effectively tackles chronic ailments and some auto-immune diseases like lupus. It often provides a slow, but steady and effective alternative to surgery.
However, eastern medicine can’t cure serious infections like TB, and many other aggressive diseases. It also cannot tackle gunshot wounds or any kind of sudden and severe damage that causes a person’s condition to rapidly degrade, simply because the person would die before the medicine could finish working.
Eastern medicine came to Europe during the 13th century. At this time diseases did not spread as easily because of low population density. Also, it came from a time of peace, so weapon wounds were uncommon.
Unlike eastern medicine, allopathy originated during the time of the imperial wars. This caused it to develop an aggressive nature. Injuries from bombshells, projectile weapons, all made it necessary for quick, effective treatments with immediate results. It employed, sometimes unavoidably, aggressive tactics to deal with severe injury.
Since invasive procedures were required for tackling serious injuries and infections, during times of war, allopathy became necessary for soldiers. This is the main reason why allopathy grew popular and eastern medicine lost relevance during the 19th and 20th century.
Philosophies
Eastern medicine treats the body as a whole or a composite of interconnected parts which is why it is sometimes called holistic medicine. It considers emotions, external environments, lifestyle while assessing health concerns.
Eastern medicine tries to aid the body’s healing process, by enabling the immune system and other healing mechanisms to function more effectively.
Allopathy, on the other hand, tries to find localized solutions to specific problems, often resulting in side effects. This approach makes allopathy more likely to cure symptoms rather than the root cause.
Accessibility
Eastern medicinal concoctions required a variety herbs from different places, a long time to make, and significant knowledge of plants. This made it expensive and sometimes unavailable to the common population.
Taking into consideration lifestyle of individual consumers, herbal medicine was extremely personalized and difficult to prescribe. It required doctors with significant experience and knowledge.
Allopathic medicine, on the other hand, could be easily produced using simple chemical formulae and basic equipment.
The localized allopathic approach led to the development symptom oriented drugs. This meant anyone with a certain symptom could use the corresponding drug, which could then be mass produced.
Mass produced medicines laid the foundation for the growth of companies and industries. That is how Big Pharma came into existence. Let’s look into this industry and how it impacts modern medicine.
The Pharmaceutical Industry
Initially, the pharmaceutical industry, was a small industry in West Europe with scarcely any profits. It just existed to support allopathic doctors develop and stock their clinics.
Upon the arrival of early painkillers, allopathic medicine grew very popular and these companies grew bigger, which meant they would earn more from the small profit margin. This made them more successful and significant. Let’s look into how they impacted healthcare.
Long Term vs. Short Term Treatment
The pharmaceutical companies got greedy toward the end of the 19th century. They started to prioritize selling drugs with higher profit margins.
They were less interested in developing cures, so people would become dependent on symptom-alleviating drugs for a lifetime. Companies would sometimes go so far as to shut down studies exploring cures and promote those researching long term treatments instead.
Some modern examples of long term treatments include dialysis, chemotherapy, and insulin. Unlike short term courses of antibiotics these long term treatments can last for years, or even a lifetime.
Symptoms vs. Root Cause
In most cases, pills try to cure symptoms, not the underlying cause. Painkillers treat pain, not the condition causing it. Diethylpropions, make people thinner, but they don’t address the underlying problem of an unhealthy diet or diabetes. Aspirin treats clotting by making blood thinner without determining the cause of clotting.
This means people develop a long term dependence on a plethora of drugs to deal with a variety of symptoms, that could all simply be eliminated by addressing the root cause.
Mass Production
As mentioned in the approaches section, allopathic drugs were suitable for mass production.
One of the good things Big Pharma did, was produce affordable drugs in large quantities so they were available to all.
It exposed new cultures to allopathic medicine, allowing them access to antibiotics, which undoubtedly saved many lives. However, it discouraged the usage of other types of medicine.
Drug Monopolies & Blockbuster Drugs
Drug monopolies were the most successful business scheme in the pharmaceutical industry. However, they were only useful when someone had a ‘blockbuster drug’.
A blockbuster drug, is a drug that can make large profits with a minimum profit margin because it is a widely-used, essential product.
A drug monopoly occurs when only one drug company has access to the formula for a particular drug. This means that it can set high prices and make significant profits from the drug as the other companies have no access to it.
A drug monopoly is effective only with blockbuster drug so essential, that it succeeds despite being expensive. Let’s look into an example to understand this concept.
Case Study - Bayer’s Aspirin
Bayer was one of the largest pharmaceutical companies of the early 1900s. At this time, it had seven major competitors.
In 1905, a small American drug company had come up with the formula for aspirin. Bayer, realizing its potential, bought the patent off the American company.
Bayer sold aspirin as ‘the wonder drug’. The company set up its marketing base in the US. In just a few years, its profit from the drug reached billions of dollars. Aspirin was deemed a ‘blockbuster drug’. It was the first drug to receive the title.
5 years later, the World Health Organization (WHO) determined that aspirin should be an essential medicine, since it was so widely used. But Bayer continued to keep the patent for another 20 years, meaning he had a monopoly for 25 years, in spite the WHO adding aspirin to the essential medicines list. Bayer still holds most rights for this drug.
Aspirin also marked the alliance of the oil industry with the pharmaceutical industry, as it used petrochemicals for raw material. This was one of the most productive alliances for the companies in the history of Big Pharma.
Petrochemicals were cheaper and easier to obtain than the previously used plant and mineral extracts. This made the drug cheap and profitable.
Bayer’s alliance with the oil industry also gave him the political clout he needed to hold on to the patent and squeeze all the profits he could from the drug. They also helped him fund campaigns and establish a global market. This symbiotic relationship between the drug companies and oil industry has since grown and thrived.
Aspirin is just one example of the many drug monopolies throughout Big Pharma’s history. With their deep pockets and the support of the oil industry, pharmaceutical companies would strong-arm governments into waiving lawsuits and allowing addictive or unhealthy substances into drugs.
Their political power began to grow unchecked, eventually resulting in the birth of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The FDA
The FDA existed somewhat in the form of the Bureau of Chemistry in 1901. However, it was a part of the Department of Agriculture. It gained more independence in 1906, when US President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Federal Foods & Drugs Act. In May 1980, the FDA became a part of the Department of Health and Human Services, where it remains under till date.
It was established to regulate adulteration in food and to approve and regulate drugs for public use. It was more or less fair in it’s judgments, until 1989 when a major scandal ensued. Some FDA officials admitted to taking bribes. This led to a congressional investigation of the FDA, and most of the staff, including the commissioner was removed.
This was the first of many biased judgments that have sullied the reputation of the FDA. Undoubtedly, the FDA has done a lot of good for the general public, but let’s look into what could have prompted its corrupt decisions.
There have been allegations against the FDA for favoring a more expensive drug, in the presence of a cheaper alternative. It is believed that the FDA capitulated to pressure from the drug companies, who through effective lobbying, wield considerable influence in Congress.
The drug companies also pressure the FDA for shorter clinical trials, so drugs are often released before all the long-term side effects are known.
Despite some serious flaws in today’s healthcare system, we as individuals can avail of the advantages of the information age and educate ourselves about all available medical options.
A Brighter Future
Even though we live in a world dominated by allopathic medicine, society has finally become more open to other forms of medication. Clinics and studies that explore Eastern medicine are becoming more prevalent. So, educate yourself on all forms of medicine and see which one works best for you.
The world’s opinion will on what kind of medicine is ideal be constantly changing. All kinds of medicine will always have their weaknesses and their strong suits, and we need to use them to their best.
However, we must be careful about over-using drugs. In the past, when people have done this, it has caused super bugs. Super bugs are drug-resistant bacteria.
Finally, use a combination of both types of medicine so you can reap both their advantages. But more importantly, do what works best for you!
- The End
References:-
1 https://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/10/business/exposing-the-fda.html
2 https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/changes-science-law-and-regulatory-authorities/fdas-origin
3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_Food_and_Drug_Administration