The American pharmaceutical industry is a multi-billion juggernaut, unparalleled in its marketing prowess. No other commercial enterprise, not even Tech, comes close to creating a need for its products.

For drug companies, if there isn’t an illness that needs “treatment,” they create one, or more precisely, resort to “disease mongering,” where drug companies deliberately enlarge the market for a product by convincing people that they’re sick and need their product.

Does anyone remember the RLS (restless leg syndrome) ads of the early 2000’s?

The United States currently has an opioid abuse problem. Many are pointing the finger at the pharmaceutical industry’s insatiable greed at the expense of public health and safety.

A good number of watchdog groups are saying much of today’s opioid epidemic stems from the aggressive marketing tactics used by pharmaceutical companies over the past two decades. According to the New Yorker, companies such as Endo Pharmaceuticals, Purdue Pharma and Johnson & Johnson centered their marketing campaigns on the use of opioids as all-purpose pain treatment medications, downplaying their addictive nature.

But did you know one of the other side effects of opioid abuse is OIC (opioid-induced constipation)?

Unless you live in a cave or have sworn off TV altogether, you no doubt have seen the ads for Movantik.

You know, the ones featuring Frank, a construction worker who is prescribed opioids after suffering a really bad back injury and whose daily pill popping has caused him to get “backed up, big time.” It’s only after he sees his doctor who asks him “how long have you been holding this in” that he finally gets the relief (release) he needs. Yep, she prescribes Movantik!

Drug companies are notorious for pushing harmful products and paying hefty fines after being caught by regulators. To them, what usually amounts to a slap on the wrist is just the cost of doing business. The big bucks are still there to be made.

It is a well-known fact that abusing painkillers can lead to addiction … and constipation. But at least with Movantik, that “number two” problem is now solved!

American drug makers…solving problems that they helped create. Genius!

With their direct role in the opioid crisis, it seems as if America’s legal drug dealers have the consumer both coming … and going.

Photo | youtube.com