Welcome to the current edition of i2P (Information to Pharmacists) E-Magazine dated Monday 29 October 2018.
Since our last edition the Organic Consumer’s Association have reported an update on the Monsanto verdict:
“When the judge in the Monsanto Roundup trial signaled she might overturn the jury’s verdict, we expected the worst.
In the end, Judge Suzanne Bolanos slashed the amount of money the jury said Monsanto should pay its victim, Dewayne “Lee” Johnson, from $289 million to $78 million.
That may not sound like much of a win, but there was good news in her decision: The jury’s guilty verdict in favor of Johnson, and against Monsanto, was upheld..
What Monsanto really wanted was for Bolanos to throw out the jury’s unanimous decision that Monsanto’s wildly profitable flagship weedkiller caused Johnson’s cancer, and that Monsanto knew all along that Roundup is a carcinogen.
That didn’t happen.
That was good news for everyone who’s ever fought to get Roundup off the market, and for everyone who’s ever wanted Monsanto to be held accountable for its crimes.
It was not great news for Johnson, but better news than those of us rooting for him expected.
Who, besides Monsanto’s lawyers, didn’t think the decision handed down by Bolanos on Monday, October 22 was good news?
Monsanto’s new owner, Bayer.
Let’s do the math.
There are thousands of lawsuits, similar to Johnson’s, alleging Roundup causes cancer.
News reports put the number at between 8,000 – 9,000 such lawsuits currently pending in U.S. courts.
Bayer shareholders quickly did the math.
According to one report: Ian Hilliker, an analyst at Jefferies LLC in London, estimated in a note to clients that based on a class action lawsuit involving 8,700 plaintiffs believed to have cancer as a result of glyphosate exposure, Monsanto’s liability could reach $800 billion dollars.
To put this in perspective, the original Bayer-Monsanto buyout offer was $57 billion dollars.
Clearly, this no longer looks like an “asset” to Bayer and its stockholders.
Indeed. One German analyst tweeted that Bayer’s acquisition may have precipitated the “largest destruction of market capitalisation in German stock market history.”
The analyst estimated that Bayer’s losses so far stand at about 57.7 billion Euros ($65.8 billion in U.S. dollars) so far.”
This decision is a landmark one because it has tilted the scales of justice towards the affected consumers and open the door for action against other chemical manufacturers e.g drug manufacturers
October 17 2018 was a momentous day in Canada because cannabis was legalised in that country.
Canada is only the second country to go down this pathway to date.
Many other countries, including Australia, have been fiddling with part-legalisation and an array of confusing and obstructive legislation, hampering the orderly development of a useful medical treatment substance that has a broad spectrum in treatment potential while remaining relatively cheap.
At least two Australian companies are registered in Canada to develop the market and take advantage of acquiring “know how” in advance of a time that Australia will be forced to follow suit.
Interestingly, the black market in Canada is not expecting its market share to drop in size, because the legal variety is being priced up by manufacturers and government is adding its percentage on top of that.
This will probably also occur in Australia, despite political announcements that legalisation will shut down black market suppliers.
Meanwhile, Australia is missing out on a lucrative market that creates employment at many levels, and provides relief for many chronic illnesses at an economical price.
In fact, medical cannabis is predicted to make Australia’s PBS bill much more affordable when the politicians get around to creating decent health policies that are not interfered with by global drug companies.
Brain cancer has become one of the biggest killers of the most vulnerable groups in our community and that is represented by the very young.
It is not surprising to i2P that Robert Kennedy’s “Children’s Health Defence” group has now found a correlation between the rise of cancer in young children with the increase in vaccine use.
Some vaccines have come on to the market containing live organisms already known to be carcinogenic, as well as a range of chemicals known to cause cancer.
Even the Monsanto toxic herbicide “Roundup” has been found in gelatin-stabilised vaccines, introduced through the food chain of the animals processed for gelatin manufacture.
The Kennedy report is found as item #1 in our regular “Safe Vaccine Debate” column.
This should have been a preventable tragedy in Australia had our politicians not generated flawed public health vaccination policies that have damaged so many people – young and old.
Once the general public becomes fully aware of this distressing issue they will react.
The population in general is starting to revolt in response to the cynical and generally bad behaviour of politicians, as illustrated in the recent by-election in ex-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s seat of Wentworth – a seat now occupied by independent Kerryn Phelps, a previous president of the Australian Medical Association.
This is the first time ever that Wentworth has left the control of the Liberal Party.
As class actions begin to accumulate a range of successful legal actions against manufacturers like Monsanto, it is almost certain that the vaccine industry will be targeted.
It is outrageous that this type of manufacturer cannot be sued for damages because they are protected by legislation.
The tide will turn, but unfortunately it has not been quick enough to prevent the autism epidemic and now the cancer epidemic.
Our lead article for this edition continues to draw together and update nearly 40 years of i2P investigation into pharmacy clinical services, plus the delivery of all pharmacy services conveniently to the growing ageing population and the time-poor population.
This identifies the paradigm shift required in community pharmacy culture – the need for a core expansion into clinical services and a substantial reverse directional traffic follow into outreach activities involving vulnerable patients and consumers needing the convenience of having goods and services flowing into their private homes.
All market segments that comprise an active marketplace have clearly identified leading products and services.
Such products and services are defined as “key items” in i2P terminology.
One of the major “key items” in a Pharmacy-in-the-Home (PIH) program is a pre-packaged, nutritious, pre-cooked, (or uncooked), frozen meal.
This single product, and the logistics to deliver at the right time and in the right quantities at the right price will enable a person confined in their home to sustain health and wellbeing through the intake of nutrient dense healthy food that actually tastes good.
This service is a major entry point to making the PIH program actually work by providing a nucleus activity that not only pays for itself, but financially supports other add-on goods and services. PIH has the ability to provide a universal service to an entire community catchment and link in with other provider services collaboratively.
Read: A Key Marketing Entry Point For a Pharmacy-in-the-Home (PIH) Program
Poor sleep hygiene seems to be the starting point for a range of chronic illness that can include sleep apnea, type 2 diabetes, heart failure, respiratory disorders and even cancer.
And if you add to the mix, contaminated food, water and air, you have a recipe for health disaster.
Good sleep patterns may not completely avoid some of the damage caused by the above, but it can certainly dramatically slow down the progression of illness and create a better lifestyle outlook.
Read: The Risks of Irregular Sleep
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. Cannabis tech: Blockchain For Global Supply Chain Management Of Cannabis 2. Business News Australia: Canada’s marijuana legalisation a boon for Aussie companies 3. Ganjapreneur: Study Reveals 21 New Cannabinoids
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. Robert Kennedy’s Children’s Health Defence: Looking Back, Looking Forward: Cancer and Vaccines 2. Dr Judy Wileyman Report: Newsletter 212 Vaccination Choice: The Reason why Governments are Suppressing the Science 3. AVN: October is Vaccine Injury Awareness Month
The contamination of drinking water with toxic fluorides is just one of the environmental hazards that can affect health and wellbeing.
Fluorine is a halide chemical and appears in the Periodic Table along with bromine, iodine and chlorine.
They are all adverse for human health except for iodine, which is a central component of the thyroid hormone controlling metabolism.
In the body, fluoride displaces iodine which produces a range of symptoms that include fatigue and poor sleep patterns.
Tooth enamel can be hardened by using fluoride paints or supplements by those convinced of their need to use fluoride.
Why then do we contaminate entire populations?
Yet another example of poor public health policy.
Read: OMNS – Five MORE Fluoride-Condemning Studies Published
The recent legal action against Monsanto in the US has opened the door to similar action against drug companies that employ similar marketing tactics to Monsanto.
“the jury found unanimously that Monsanto’s glyphosate-based Roundup weed killer caused Mr. Johnson to develop Non Hodgkin Lymphoma, and that Monsanto failed to warn of this severe health hazard.
Importantly, the jury also found that Monsanto acted with malice, oppression or fraud and should be punished for its conduct.”
Slowly, the world is tilting the justice balance.
Read: Medical drugs: too big to fail
Learning the lessons from history sounds easy, but it is often difficult to apply.
Mainly because the elements of a problem, while similar to a past problem, remain “hidden” due to a changed context or a time lapse since the original experience was “front and centre” in your consciousness”.
This is why good managers always take time out to reflect on any tenacious problem and think through their process of problem solving.
Read: Prepare For The Future By Learning From Your Past
And we conclude our offering for this edition by publishing media releases from two pharmacy leadership organisations:
ASMI – ASMI Media Releases – 1. Cough Medicine 2. 2018 Diamond Award Winners
We hope that you enjoy our current content and please utilise the comments panel at the foot of each article.
Neil Johnston
Editor, i2P E-Magazine
Monday 29 October 2018