This report from 60 minutes looks at the swine flu epidemic of 1976 and the complications associated with the vaccine.  These neurological complications were know by the government but kept from the public.  This video raises concerns about the safety of the current vaccine and whether or not the government would be forthright about the H1N1 vaccine.

The video is in two parts:

Part 1

Part 2

In this great investigative report CBS News looks at the overestimation of H1N1 (swine flu) cases in the United States.  Other countries have already discredited the epidemic.  This is a lengthy video, but it is worth watching to the end where they discuss the total number of cases of “flu-like” symptoms that are H1N1 and what is even more surprising is the low number of cases that are not even flu.

This is an excerpt from the CBS morning show where Dr. Jennifer Ashton discusses a study that shows a link between ADHD medication and sudden cardiac death in children.

For years hormone replacement has been touted as having such wonderful effects on the body such as protecting the heart, preventing cancer and keeping brains sharp.  Two new studies in the journal Neurology have shown that hormone replacement not only doesn’t provide the aforementioned health benefits, but actually increases the incidence of cancer, increases the risk of stroke and shrinks the brains of women taking these hormones.

Dr. Constantine Lyketsos of the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in East Baltimore, Maryland feels strongly about the use of these medications as he was quoted as saying “This is extra-double-triple reason not to go on estrogen after 65!”

This is yet another example of drug companies misrepresenting the safety and benefits of their drugs.  There has been numerous accounts of this very same thing happening, but for some reason we forget about them and move on to the next wonder-drug that is only a wonder drug until it is found to harm or kill.  Taking medication is a serious thing and we have been led to believe that it is always safe.  The fact of the matter is that we don’t know the extended effects that medications have had on the body.  The chemistry of the body is so complicated that we have no idea the cascade of events that take place following administering a pill.

There is a time and place for medication, but it should not be taking so lightly and seen as  the first and only option.  There are other options, but unfortunately they are harder to find and not usually covered by insurance.   Luckily with the internet access to this information is much easier to come by.  Of course there are the snake oil salesmen peddling junk science, but there are also a world of therapies that have helped people all over the world with their conditions without the side effects associated with pharmaceuticals.