EDITORIAL for Monday 10 December 2018

Welcome to the current edition of i2P (Information to Pharmacists) E-Magazine dated Monday 10th December 2018.
It is with regret that we announce that it will also be the last edition of this publication which has been published continuously since February 2000.
It has been a publication designed around thought leadership and advocacy for community pharmacy direction to provide timely information and ideas for incorporation into daily practice.
It has also been a “not for profit” publication to ensure that advertisers did not influence the content in any way – a problem that mainstream media has had to cope with and has failed miserably to resolve.

It is our hope that there will be some enthusiastic pharmacists somewhere who may feel inclined to pick up where we have left off and provide a balance and some insights against the constant barrage of propaganda designed as a Pharma marketing exercise in delivering distorted science designed to further the uptake of poor drugs and eliminate competition in any form that promotes alternatives to these poor drugs and corrupt practices.
The mechanism that drives these processes are euphemistically styled as lobbying and political donations.

i2P has been successful in identifying many of these negative activities and exposing their practices to our readers and while that has reduced some very poor behaviours, they simply re-appear in a different form.
Corruption at the highest level of our political system has ensured that these practices have had a level of protection that has acted to subvert normal democratic freedoms, so it needs to be fought vigorously to push back the ever rising tide.

Pharmacy political leaders are noticeably absent from this debate because they too are caught up in the propaganda network.
Until they are able to develop a level of independence and speak out honestly, they will never be effective leaders.
Only pressure from the “bottom up” through the asking of thoughtful questions can reverse the trend.

And for one last time let me illustrate just one example through the words of international investigative journalist, Jon Rappoport.

“Faking Medical Reality

Here is yet another way to do medical studies that guarantee a waterfall of lies will spread out far and wide.
Another way to make the studies look good when they aren’t.
Let’s say you went into a school to see if it was a good place for your child to acquire a real education.
And you were shown overall performance records of the students on standardized tests, and these records looked quite impressive.

Upon inquiring a little further, though, you came across an interesting point.
The head of the school believed that some students just didn’t perform well on tests-and so he had excused them from taking any exams.

Shocked, you said to him, “Your performance records are a sham. They don’t reflect the truth. You’ve stacked the deck.”

And he replied, “Not at all. I’ve merely kept statistics on those pupils who have the ability to take tests. That’s the important population. The others shouldn’t be tested at all. In this venue, they don’t count.”

Keep that analogy in mind as we proceed.

I want to alert you to a staggering medical practice in clinical trials of psychiatric drugs.
It’s called “placebo washout.”

Basically, it works this way.
Before a drug company starts to test the effectiveness of a new medicine they want to market, they bring together all the volunteers-and they give them a sugar pill.

They tell them, “We’re going to give you a sugar pill.”

After a ten-day period on the placebo, the researchers weed out the people who improved, got better, feel better.
They dump them from the ensuing clinical trial. Bye bye.
They don’t want these people around for the real clinical trial that is to follow.

Of course, they claim there are good reasons for this washout strategy.
But the fact is, eliminating these volunteers from the study makes it far more likely that the drug being tested will look good, when it shouldn’t.

First, in case you don’t believe placebo washout is a real and widespread practice, do a search for it at the NIH website.
It’s real.
They give everybody a sugar pill, and then they dismiss all those who got better on it.

Then they get down to the actual clinical trial.
They divide the remaining volunteers into two groups.
Those who will receive the drug, and those who will be given another placebo.

Nobody is told which group they’re going to be in.
That’s the whole point.
Blinding the study enables researchers to compare the number of people who get better on the drug with those who get better on the placebo.

You see, it’s common knowledge that some people will get better on anything.
That’s why they form the two groups.
They have to prove (to the FDA) the drug is performing better than the sugar pill.

General estimates vary on what percentage of people get better on placebos.
35-45%, some researchers say, is a rule of thumb.
Sometimes the % is higher.

But wait!
The researchers ALREADY kicked out the people who got better on the sugar pill during the 10-day preliminary washout!
What’s going on here?

Well, in the actual clinical trial, where half the people get the placebo and half get the medicine, some people who get the placebo-armed with the hope that they might be getting the medicine-will feel better, even though they’re only swallowing sugar pills.
And the researchers must show that more people who are getting the drug are feeling better than those who are getting the placebo.

That’s the whole reason for this type of clinical trial.

“See, 47 people who took the drug feel better. And only 22 people who took the sugar pill feel better. Therefore, the drug really works.”

Sure it works.
Because you already kicked out all the people who felt better on a placebo in the washout phase.

In effect, you did a screening.
You “cut out the competition.”

It’s like saying, “We have a great runner on our team. His times in the 100-meter dash are exceptional…there’s only one thing. In track meets, we insist he run only 80 meters and you have to imagine it’s 100.”

The FDA, which approves all drugs for public use, knows all about the placebo washout con job.
Researchers know this.
Shrinks know this.
Drug companies know this.
Even some medical reporters know this.
And yet, the practice goes on.

Placebo washout is on the order of saying, “Yes, we tested the new plane and it performs magnificently. Of course, we didn’t put it into the air. We rolled it across the runway.”

If there are any psychiatrists out there who are reading this, any researchers who want to defend placebo washout, I suggest we set up a debate with Dr. Peter Breggin, psychiatrist and author.
But I warn you.
Buckle up.
It’ll be a bumpy ride.

Placebo washout.
Rigging the game.
Stacking the deck.
The bigger the lie and the more obvious it is, the harder it is to believe that’s what’s you’re looking at.
Until you LOOK.

In my 30 years as a reporter, I’ve come across maybe 100 scandals that could cause a significant sector of the medical cartel to burst into flames and blow away in the wind.
This is one of those.
Of course, media, government, and drug corporations make sure such a thing never happens.
And when I say media, I’m including publications you’d think would love to watch a really good fire.
Turns out they have no stomach for it.

NOTE: In case you’re still a little shaky on this scam, let me lay it out this way:

A drug company has a new drug, Gx, for depression.
It’s not on the market yet.
For that they need FDA approval, and the approval rests on the results of a clinical trial the company is going to launch.

The company signs up 500 volunteers, all of whom meet mainstream criteria for a diagnosis of clinical depression.
The company brings together the 500 volunteers and administers them a sugar pill (placebo) for 10 days.
Everybody knows it’s a sugar pill.

After 10 days, the company discovers which of the 500 people responded well to the pill: placebo effect.
Let’s say 80 people did.
They feel better.
Boom.
They’re dumped from further consideration.
They’re gone.

Why?
Because chances are very good that, were they allowed on to the next phase, those among them who ended up with the sugar pill would have said, “Wow, I feel better. I feel less depressed.”

And THAT means the people who were given the actual drug, Gx, would be “up against stiffer competition” from the group who took the placebo.
After those 80 people were booted from the placebo washout phase, with 420 volunteers left, they were divided into 2 groups of 210 each, and then 210 got the drug, Gx, and 210 got a sugar pill. None of the volunteers knows what they’re getting.
This phase of the trial goes on for 6 weeks.
At the end of that period, the study is “unblinded,” and everyone knows who got which pill. Now, among the placebo group of 210, it turns out that 60 showed significant improvement, and among the group of 210 who got Gx, 85 showed improvement.

The researchers conclude, “Those on Gx performed significantly better than those on placebo. This drug is good.”

But had those original 80, who were kicked to the side of the road after the placebo washout phase, been included in this later phase, the conclusions of the researchers could have turned out quite badly for the drug and the drug company. Gx could have performed no better than the sugar pill. It could have done worse.

And this is called SCIENCE.”

And this is just the latest example of science manipulation that is promoted through medical groups and other front groups (like the Friends of Science in Medicine (FSM).
These groups also attack “threats” to the “party line” such as the recent FSM attack on Dr Judy Wilyman Ph D for giving evidence in a court of law that involved damaged children (by vaccines).
Judy Wilyman has provided excellent scientific evidence exposing poor medical and government vaccine policies.
That has attracted FSM propaganda as well as medical group propaganda which are blatant lies, and highly defamatory.
They have no place in the real scientific community.

So that is a wrap for now.

The lead article for this edition is really a farewell by the editor, giving some insights into a long career in pharmacy (63 years).
It is with regret that this edition of i2P will be the last.
It is hoped that somewhere out in pharmacyland there are some younger, more energetic pharmacists who can bridge the gaps created by i2P cessation in thought leadership and community pharmacy directions advocacy.
If anyone needs help to do this please do not hesitate to contact Neil Johnston directly.
Consideration would also be given to anyone who would like to take over the infrastructure of i2P – no strings attached.
Read: One Heck of a Ride!

Doctors have a legislated monopoly to provide gateway access to medical services.
With the explosion of information available from a range of sources, but primarily from the Internet, health literacy of patients has improved considerably.
This has not been factored in to the medical business model and so a “power imbalance” is created.
At that point patients begin to lie to their doctor or march with their feet seeking alternate sources for help.
Medical practitioners then respond by trying to politically impose legislated reduction to access alternate solutions and blame their patients for not adhering to the “party line”.
Governments have realised that health literate patients take responsibility for their own health and public expenditure reduces accordingly.
Pharmacists already provide health literacy services – they need to invest in them, and improve in their delivery.
Read: Live Patients Lie

Propaganda has become the new science.
Propaganda is a support mechanism for control of the human mind.
Propaganda is driving some very weird science that involves the essential nature of our humanity.
Our genes.
Medical cartels are driving the process that will treat the toxic side effects of the drugs, chemicals and agricultural industries (such as cancer) through permanent gene alteration.
Ethical concerns are “out of the window”.
The scientists and medical masters driving this science are simply criminals.
They must be stopped!
Read: Genetically Modified People: What Could go Wrong?

WHO has made a statement saying that cannabis should be decriminalised world-wide because existing laws cause health discrimination.
In Australia, patients are being actively discriminated against as police are instructed to enforce existing laws and close down “illegal” supplies, leaving critically ill people with no workable solutions for their health problems.
Flawed health policy generates bad laws and lowered community respect for policy and laws.
Yet again, Pharmacy is in a position to provide solutions very simply and simultaneously create opportunity for the profession to treat chronically ill patients efficiently and economically.
Pharmacy leaders need to be proactive in the regulatory area because other health professionals are actively competing to lock pharmacy out of any opportunity whatsoever.
Potential for pharmacists is found in the compounding of THC and CBD in specific ratios to match the best result for patients with chronic illness.
Further pharmacist potential also lies in using cannabinoids in harm minimisation programs involving opioid dependencies and as an adjunct for the management of pain.
Pharmacists also need to be active and have a voice in the regulation of these substances ensuring that maximum patient access can be obtained through the application of Schedule 3 of the Poison’s Act.
Read: Understanding Medical Cannabis – 1. Hikurangi: New Zealand Government amnesty allows illicit cannabis into legal industry 2. Civilized: Researchers Finally Discover the Genes that Produce THC and CBD in Cannabis 3. The Mercury News: Bay Area cannabis researchers claim breakthrough against chronic diseases

We often hear the expression “The science is settled,” however, science is a process.
The idea that “science” cannot consider new information contradicts the definition of science.
People who promote vaccination as an extreme medical ideology are involved in “scientism” – the manipulation of the science surrounding vaccines.
And it is certainly “unsettling” to hear the dishonest scientism claims that blare out in all forms of media.
“First do no harm” is the concept that underwrites all medical practice.
Australian vaccination policy is so poor and damaging, that it beggars belief that legislators can be so close to manufacturer sales objectives as to guarantee them a market through coercive legislation that involves simultaneous removal of patient choice.
The evidence supporting vaccine policy failure and its lack of safety is becoming so voluminous that it will eventually destroy the unnatural power alliance that desperately tries to hold it all together.
Read: The Safe Vaccine Debate – 1. The Australian:  US Food and Drug Administration lashes pharmaceutical giant CSL over lab practices  2. Dr Judy Wilyman Report: Newsletter #215 and Newsletter #216 3. Robert Kennedy’s Children’s Health Defence:  The CDC Claims the Flu Shot Reduces Mortality in the Elderly. But Where’s the Evidence?

Proverbs, wise sayings or careful thoughts are the literary “gems” that can provide a moral compass or underpin a solid culture.
They tend to have a sense of “universality” and for that reason can provide instant communication.
So borrowing these “gems” can stimulate our personal moral boundaries and can improve our own communications.
Read: Wisdom is Sunlight  Of the Soul

Marketing Focus is an ongoing conversation in the form of a series of essays discussing the wider business sector.
They are about thought leadership in topics of management and marketing, and the opportunity for pharmacists to adapt the messages delivered, back into their own pharmacy practice.
Read: Marketing Focus – 1. CHANGE 2. MARKETPLACE FORESIGHTS, INSIGHTS AND REFLECTIONS 3. CONFUSION – THE MARKET LEADER WINS – EVERY TIME 4. SOCIAL MEDIA IS ANTI-SOCIAL 5. BIG DATA – LITTLE RETURNS 6. A SERVICE TO CLIENTS – BETTER PROSPECTS  7. FIRED WITH ENTHUSIASM OR, BE FIRED, WITH ENTHUSIASM

And we conclude the offering for this edition with media releases from two pharmacy leadership organisations:

PSA – PSA Media Releases – 1. PSA calls for support to allow pharmacists to do more for public health 2. Victorian pharmacists recognised 3. PSA welcomes new SHPA leaders 4. PSA welcomes new Victorian Government 5. PSA awarded continued funding as national peak body for pharmacists  6. PSA welcomes new Victorian Health Minister 7.Pharmacy organisations join forces to promote Australian research

ASMI – ASMI Media Release – 2018 ASMI AGM elects new Board Director

A final note:
i2P has identified the need for a new version of the PBS with Health Literacy at its epicentre.
Health Literacy empowers patients to take control of their own health and public expenditure reduces accordingly.
Add to the mix a PBS Medical Cannabis segment under pharmacist control plus a minor ailment system plus a Self Care segment.
And to complete the deal independent prescribing rights for independent clinical pharmacists and dependent prescribing rights for community pharmacy owners and pharmacist employees.
That’s a future direction for community pharmacy.

A big thank you to all the loyal subscribers and to all authors, current and past.
The mix of perspectives that harnessed opinions from a range of authors has certainly provided some interesting content and solutions.
The team at i2P would also like to wish everyone involved with us a Happy and Safe Christmas for you and your family and may the New Year become an interesting and productive one for you.

Neil Johnston
Editor i2P E-Magazine
Monday 10 December 2018