However, there is another kind of drug addiction that is for the most part not just ignored but in fact encouraged by policy makers, regulatory agencies, health institutions, health providers and even the public. This form of drug addiction is promoted by the pharmaceutical industry, abetted by health professionals especially doctors, supported by the educational system at all levels, and sustained by the business sector.

By means of a grossly under-regulated market of "over-the-counter" medicines, Filipinos have been conditioned to believe that for every possible ailment there is a chemical or pharmaceutical cure. On television, radio, and print, there is a constant barrage of claims that everything, from sniffles to cancer, can and should be relieved or prevented by some kind of pill or capsule. The result is that the so-called "ethical medicines" (or those that require a doctor's prescription) are overwhelmed by advertised preparations.

What is worse is that "truth in advertising" is nothing more than a myth. Most of the claims made in these ads are patently false while the rest consist of half-truths. In much of drug advertising these days, fact and fiction are indistinguishable.

One example is the TV ad for "Solmux," a cough expectorant. The scene features a well-known movie star who supposedly has a cough. As he takes the "Solmux" formulation, his upper body becomes transparent showing his respiratory tract down to the lungs full of green junk, representing phlegm. As "Solmux" begins to work the green junk magically dissolves and movie star suddenly gets to breath easily as he easily coughs out the phlegm. None of this actually occurs in real life but the advertisers do not seem to care.

The fact is that in order for the active ingredient in "Solmux" to work, the lung passages must be so saturated with the preparation that the person thus treated would likely drown in the stuff. This is what is shown by laboratory testing of the effect of the ingredient on viscosity or thickness of phlegm outside the body (in vitro tests). The fact is that many pharmacologists (doctors who specialize in the study of drugs) have known for some time now that the best expectorant is plain water (ensuring hydration of the patient).

There are many such advertisements urging public to take some pill or other to remedy their ills. For severe muscle pain, a popular boxer urges his fans to take the pain-killer "Alaxan." A radio ad that is aired in highly rated morning talk shows counsels listeners never to ignore simple coughs ("huwag dedmahin ang ubo") but to take "Tuseran" - another grossly ineffective cough preparation. All these ads end with an almost whispered warning that "if symptoms persist, consult your doctor."

The most blatant lies are ads that tout "nutritional supplements" with "no approved therapeutic claims." The ad for "Arthro" features an old man whose arthritic pains are miraculously relieved by the preparation.

Unfortunately, BFAD not only allows the advertising of over the counter (OTC) remedies but also neglects to police their marketing practices effectively. In fact, some OTC preparations contain ingredients that should be regulated. But worse is the fact that overuse of pills, capsules, and pharmaceuticals in general is encouraged.

Last Thursday's issue of "The Wall Street Journal" featured a column by a certain Roger Bate titled "Patent Absurdity" on a case now being heard in the High Court of India that would expand the basis for drug patents to be overturned. The Indian drug firm Natco Pharma has requested the court for a compulsory license to manufacture and export to Nepal two anti-cancer drugs developed and patented by Switzerland's Roche AG and the United States' Pfizer, Inc.

Predictably for a Wall Street Journal columnist, Mr. Bate echoes the claim of Big Pharma that if cases like these thrive, then profits for drug company "innovators" would come down and funds available for drug research would dry up. Presumably, these drug firms and their supporters believe that the world would suffer as a result of the loss of opportunities for science-based new medicines.

In addition, Big Pharma threatens the loss of foreign investments for countries who do not kow-tow to their interpretation of the international agreements on patents. The column cited the case of Abbott Laboratories' decision to cancel the launch of new products in Thailand when that country seized the company's patent for the anti-HIV drug, Kaletra. He also pointed to Novartis' cancellation of a 500 million dollar investment in India when the government cancelled its patent on the cancer medicine, Glivec.

It is this kind of arrogance that endears the Big Pharma companies to poor suffering people of the third world.