The September 2002 edition of the National Post BUSINESS magazine reported how pharmaceutical companies target doctors by monitoring their prescription activity and wooing them with pharma-gifts like free-lunches, clocks, pens, mouse pads, trips, cash and World Series tickets.

Canadians spent $15.5 billion on prescription pills in 2001, a drop in the bucket compared to the $156 billion spent by USA consumers.

Prescribing docs typically scribble brand-name drugs rather than generic equivalents, even though generics usually offer the same relief at half the price.

The following is an excerpt from the article entitled TRIUMPH OF THE PILL: A STORY OF HEALTH, WEALTH AND STEALTH by Karen Van Kampen:

The future will transport medicine cabinets from our bathrooms to inside our bodies. In this scenario, individually programmed capsules are implanted under the skin. To automatically dispense your meds, they are equipped with minuscule perforations that are surrounded by artificial muscle made of soft plastic. Once sensors detect what the body needs, the muscle retracts, exposing the holes that release the meds into the bloodstream. When the dosage is met, the muscle closes over the perforations. Empty capsules are surgically removed to make way for new implants. Named "smart pills" for knowing when and how much drugs to dispense, they could go commercial within the next decade. One smart drug, PS-341, convinces cancer cells to commit suicide and stops them from dividing and attacking organs. Pharma-technology might also make needles a thing of the past. Scientists are researching "dry powder injection." Future instructions for use: Load a handheld device with powder, aim at your arm and, using pressurized helium, shoot through your skin into the bloodstream, with the "speed of a supersonic jet."

Go to 14.Scientific Experimentation and VERI-CHIP IS THE MARK