“Some of the best organic farmers and gardeners say we don’t grow food, we grow soil…we feed the soil, the soil feeds us.” –Gene Rosow
We know the importance of planting trees, conserving water, going organic…but there’s another crucial element to think about. Yes, we’re talking dirt. The health and availability of our soil affects the health and availability of our food.
And as filmmaker Gene Rosow depicts in his Sundance award-winning documentary Dirt!, we are quickly putting it at risk through industrial agriculture, pesticides, monocrops and urban development. In his interview with Kathleen, Gene explains why taking care of our soil is so important and what we can do to help create change. (Hint: Organizing a community screening of Dirt! is a good place to start).
Listen to Gene’s interview (he dishes on Sundance too):
Listen to Kathleen’s monologue about making simple changes in our own lives that can add up to big changes in the market and for our earth.
There is so much I love about this video. James shares a very personal side of himself and the aspects
of his childhood that led to the most creative elements in his filmmaking.
He also describes some of the specific steps he took to get
to where he wanted to go in life… connecting the dots between his thoughts, his
actions and his results. And it was fun and inspiring to listen to it unfold.
In some ways, it allowed you to see how his entire life and career led to Avatar. But what most surprised me, is that he also humbly discussed
what he learned about mutual respect in the work arena.
This wasn’t the James Cameron I expected. And that’s the beauty of the TED
presentations.
Yes, I worked for pharma as a legal drug pusher for ten
years—not something I'm proud of, but a necessary part of this story. And it's because of the BS I saw happen behind the scenes, that I finally got the
courage to walk away and make three films on this topic
including Side Effects starring Katherine Heigl.
The films were my personal effort (or penance?) to show the public
that at best, they and their physicians are only getting partial information
about the drugs they see on TV and pop each morning.This is an industry where good marketing trumps
good science and that puts patients' lives at risk.
Most of us don’t want to believe that because we think the FDA has our back. Right? But as uncovered in Money Talks, that assumption is dead wrong (no pun intended, however, the Vioxx example does add special meaning to this phrase).
This has nothing to do with any kind of conspiracy theory—yes, I can read your mind—just the plain and simple fact that the FDA is financially dependent on payments from the pharmaceutical industry. And when money changes hands, the decision making (i.e. drug approval) process gets...complicated. It raises the question of exactly who the FDA is working for. (See David Graham M.D.
But enough about them, darn it.
OK, so all of the above is part of the ugly, must-know underbelly of the pharmaceutical industry. But in spite of my work on this subject, something kept nagging at me...
It started as a whisper, but soon began to thunder in my ears, heart, and mind. An undeniable and uncomfortable realization that this is less about them and more about us (i.e. me). Us and our desire to live, eat and drink any way we gosh darn please and then turn to a pill for a quick fix. Us and our habit of handing our health and our healthcare over to others (doctors, health insurers, pharma). Us and our utter lack of curiosity—blindly accepting anything our physicians tell us (or hand us) or impulsively succumbing to the rosy ads on our television screens.
The pharmaceutical industry isn't creating our problems, it's just capitalizing on them.
And that is a heady and inspiring notion. Because it puts a big part of our health where it should be—back in our hands, where we get to own it. It's a concept that led me full circle...from pills to prevention and the launch of 'Prevention not Prescriptions' Tuesdays.
We need to get rid of prevention's bad rap as boring. Hell no! Prevention is bold, empowering and even sexy. It looks good, it feels good...it even tastes good.
The best way to take on Big Pharma is to take better care of ourselves. Aspiring to a time when pills play a lesser and more appropriate role in our lives. A time when you get to rely on the very best and only person that has your best interest in mind. You.
Some of you may already be on top of this one, but we recently started hearing some buzz about the new film, “Ingredients”. And after watching the trailer (above), we know why.
There are so many fantastic quotes about the way we should be eating in those five minutes of footage, that we’re slating it as a must-see film (even before we’ve watched it!).
Here’s one line from the film that really struck a chord with us…“It’s a painfully obvious truth. You can pay the doctor, or pay the farmer.”
It really doesn’t get said any better than that when it comes to reinvigorating our food system and encouraging people to invest in their communities and health.
So “Ingredients” is next on our viewing list. If you’re interested in seeing it, you can buy the DVD online, or if you want to help grow the local food movement in your area, you can organize a community screening of the film.
And if you've seen “Ingredients” we'd love your comments below.
This entry has been posted as part of Food Renegade’s Fight Back Friday.
In order to understand the full impact the pharmaceutical industry has over our health care system, it is critical to know the multiple layers of influence:
1. Direct to Physician Promotion: There are 90-100,000 pharmaceutical sales reps pounding the pavement (having almost 1 million conversations per day) trying to coerce physicians to write more prescriptions of their drugs. Are these reps nurses or pharmacists? Do they possess any kind of science background? Typical reps are hired for their Ken and Barbie appearances and have more experience wining and dining and leading cheerleading squads than any form of medical experience. These reps are compensated and evaluated solely on their ability to sell more pills. Providing physicians with "free samples" of the newest drugs on the market is another effective marketing tool.Additionally over 70 percent of physician CME credits (continuing medical education) are funded by the pharmaceutical industry. Doctors are also employed by the industry as speakers, ghost writers of landmark studies, and consultants. All of this leads to an incredible conflict of interest with the medical community. (See "Side Effects" starring Katherine Heigl. Based on my decade selling pills.)
2. Direct to Consumer Advertising: Our television sets, magazines, radio stations, and increasingly the internet are bombarded with beautiful and effective drug ads. "Effective" meaning they drive sales of the newest, most expensive, and often least proven drugs on the market. We as consumers are marching into our doctors’ offices in record numbers and demanding the latest and greatest pills on the market. These ads paint a beautiful Norman Rockwell life on the screen. They do a wonderful job of convincing us that we too can be this happy, this sexy, this beautiful if only we would take this pill. Overall, it is estimated that $30 billion dollars per year is spent on the marketing and advertising of prescription drugs (which is twice as much as what is spent on research and development). Who pays for this? We do in the form of exorbitant drug pricing.
3. Pharma Funding of the FDA: Due to PDUFA (Prescription Drug User Fee Act), the FDA is currently on the payroll of the drug industry. This act allows companies to pay fees to the FDA for speedy approval of their drugs, thus a large amount of the FDA funding comes directly from Big Pharma. This creates a significant conflict of interest as was bore out in the Vioxx debacle and puts into question whether the FDA can adequately be a watchdog of pharma and protect the American public. Following is a quote from Jerome Hoffman MD of UCLA from my documentary "Money Talks: Profits Before Patient Safety": "We have to have the clout and the influence and the organization to make it so that they can’t blithely go along making the FDA be something that has been widely and famously called a servant of the drug industry. We have to make it so the FDA is a servant to us."
4. Pharma Funding of the Research: Right now, 70 percent of all new drug research is funded by the pharmaceutical industry and 30 percent is government funded. With industry funding comes great control over the outcome of the data.Furthermore, study conclusions are often written by physicians hired by the drug company and published in major medical journals that take millions in drug advertising funds. These journals also receive funds for providing hundreds of thousands of "reprints" of favorable studies for the industry to distribute to physicians. But the reality is that the researchers themselves become financially beholden to the pharma company in question...their livelihoods depend on their ability to land the next big contract. This clouds their ability to deliver anything other than the results the company is seeking.Following is another great quote from Jerome Hoffman MD of UCLA: "Suffice it to say that when drug companies set the research agenda, do the research, design the research, have tremendous influence over the people who get to write it up, and in fact, have tremendous influence over the journals that publish it, then it’s not surprising that so much of what we think we know is tremendously distorted."
5. Largest Lobbying Group on Capitol Hill:Pharma has shown that another cost effective use of their money is to dominate Capitol Hill in order to get their way regarding key legislation. They are a large and powerful lobbying group who "reward" lawmakers if they vote in their favor. These rewards include, you guessed it, high paying jobs as lobbyists and consultants. A recent example of this is in regard to the Medicare’s prescription drug bill. See the excellent feature by 60 Minutes on this issue (link below).
Given the above, where can doctors and patients go to get unbiased information regarding prescription medication? Good question. One interim option is a division of Consumer Reports that shares 'best in class' as reviewed by an independent (from pharma money) body. In the meantime, we have dangerous drugs making their way to the market and a growing crisis in the attainability of affordable health care. All the while the pharma industry is pocketing enormous profits often at the expense of public health.
The information in this entry has been pared down in an effort to provide a concise summary. Following are additional resources: "Money Talks: Profits Before Patient Safety" (you can now watch the entire film free online.)
"Side Effects" (Based on my decade selling pills. Starring Katherine Heigl and now available on DVD from Warner Bros.)
This has been the year of films (and books) about our broken food system. But one not to be missed is “King Corn” by filmmakers Curt Ellis and Ian Cheney.
If you liked The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan (who is also interviewed in "King Corn"), you'll love this film. These guys took what Pollan uncovered about corn to the big screen.
The film follows Curt and Ian (and their corn) on a crazy journey—from farm fields in Iowa through our industrialized food system and onto our kitchen tables. And what we get is a charming little film about what's wrong with how we farm and what we eat today (you guessed it...CORN!).
For more on this fantastic documentary and how corn became the backbone of our diets (and expanding waistlines), listen to Kathleen’s interview with Curt Ellis.
This entry has been posted as part of Food Renegade’s Fight Back Friday.
By now, many of you have heard the name John Kopchinski, the former drug rep who blew the lid on Pfizer’s “appalling” sales tactics for the pain drug Bextra. Because of John and other whistleblowers, Pfizer will now pay $2.3 billion (the largest pharma settlement ever for misleading marketing) for illegally promoting Bextra and other medicines for unapproved uses.
"At Pfizer I was expected to increase profits at all costs, even when sales meant endangering lives."
These words should shock you. But unfortunately, they’re not new…
Kathleen has been sharing a similar message since she walked away from big pharma several years ago and went on to make three films on these exact issues, including Side Effectsstarring Katherine Heigl and Money Talks: Profits Before Patient Safety. (In fact, in Side Effects, Katherine Heigl plays the very whistleblower we’re seeing play out right now in the headlines. The film is "fiction", but closely based on Kathleen’s decade pushing pills for big pharma.)
Our team knows first-hand what it’s like to take on big pharma (and the cold sweats that can come with the territory), but the more the industry’s dark side can be brought to light, the better off we all are.
Help shed some light on this issue and encourage family and friends to think twice and ask great questions before popping that next pill. Please check out and share these related resources:
Catch our Side Effects leading lady in The Ugly Truth this weekend
If you’re looking for something to do this weekend or just need a good laugh, don’t miss Katherine Heigl (our leading lady in Side Effects) and Gerard Butler in The Ugly Truth. The film opens nationwide on Friday, July 24.
Yes, it’s a romantic comedy, but guys, we promise it’s more on the saucy side (rated R even!). So check out the trailer above and if you’re up for it, find out the ‘ugly truth’ about what makes men and women tick.
Once it’s over, if you’re needing some more Katherine Heigl, there’s always Side Effects on DVD…still at a store near you.
And if you want to know what it's really like to work with Katherine Heigl (the ugly truth?), here's my Huffington Post piece.
We have some movie news that our “Side Effects”/Katherine Heigl fans won’t want to miss.
Universal Pictures recently announced they’re taking on the drug industry with “Pharm Girl”, an upcoming comedy starring Reese Witherspoon. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the project centers on a woman who gets a job at a pharma powerhouse but begins to see the underbelly of the industry as she rises through the company's ranks.
Universal should give Kathleen a call, don’t you think? Not only does the plot of “Pharm Girl” ring true to her own experience pushing pills for a decade, but it’s also similar to the story behind her debut film “Side Effects” starring Katherine Heigl (closely based on her life in the pharmaceutical industry).
Want to see these films? You're going to have to wait a while before “Pharm Girl” hits the theaters (they’re still in development). But in the meantime, you can grab your popcorn and watch "Side Effects", which exploded in the press and was released on DVD earlier this year by Warner Bros.
And we’re dying to know what you think…which blonde bombshell will make the better ‘Pharm Girl’?
Also, for a little insider info, read here to find out what Kathleen thought about working with Katherine Heigl.
I admit it. I'm a bit late to belly up to the Henry David Thoreau bar. Yes, of course I saw hundreds of his biting quotes throughout the years and read his name emblazoned on everything from elementary schools to road signs to Cocker Spaniel collars. But had I ever lost myself in Walden or Civil Disobedience or Life Without Principal? Did I truly understand the magnificence of his writing, his impact, or the man himself? Hell no.
They say the teacher appears when the student is ready. By the time my path had crossed old Henry, it was like I had been waiting for him my entire life. I wasn't just ready, I was starved. I lingered on and savored every word. In a blasted and unfortunate sort of way, he makes sense to me...
"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation."
Why? Because they are selling their lives, their genius, their integrity to make a buck. Been there, done that for a decade with Big Pharma. Ten years of tortuous, soul sucking "quiet desperation".
I'm a filmmaker, writer, and talk radio host. After a decade of schlepping drugs for big pharma, I finally got the ovaries to walk away from my career as a pill pusher and share what I knew on the big screen. I wrote and directed the feature film Side Effects (starring Katherine Heigl) as well as...(Read full bio)
The making of Side Effects starring Katherine Heigl
