Tamoxifen: Questionable Medicine

THE EARLY BLUNDER In the early 1940’s a drug was developed for the prevention of miscarriages and pregnancy complications. Against the advice of its creator, Sir Charles Dodd, Big Pharma went all out to promote the use of this drug as the answer to miscarriages and pregnancy complications. Known commonly as DES, (diethylstilboestrol) this drug was the first non-steroidal estrogen drug. Over the ensuing years, the drug was given to between four and six million American and European women and 10,000 Australian women and it took 30 years of disastrous results before Big Pharma came around to acknowledging there was a problem with the drug. Meanwhile mothers found themselves faced with a 50% greater risk of developing breast cancer. In addition, the children of these mothers showed, as much as twenty years later, a high evidence of reproductive abnormalities, miscarriages, vaginal cancer, testicular cancer, sterility, and immune dysfunction. The accumulation of horror stories surrounding this drug finally induced the producers to remove it from the market.

REVAMPING A FAILED PRODUCT Never to be inhibited by this tragic turn, Big Pharma soon found a new garbage drug to foist off on women under the guise of helping them. Tamoxifen, developed out of the DES research became the darling of the pharmaceutical industry. Heavily promoted as an effective preventive of breast cancer and its recurrence, it is today used by more women with breast cancer than any other prescription drug. And to the delight of Big Pharma, it generates a half billion dollars in revenue annually. Of absolutely no consequence, in the profit picture, is the fact that after another 30 years of use, Tamoxifen can point to only minimal benefits within the ocean of negative indicators associated with this drug. The side effects can be horrific and lethal:

In spite of this, the pharmaceutical industry continues to strenuously push forward with its unconscionable marketing programs. The National Cancer Institute, a prime recipient of Big Pharma grants, enthusiastically endorses this faulty product. This in spite of a September 2000 study in the Lancet reporting that the drug Tamoxifen increased the risk of endometrial cancer! The study found that women taking Tamoxifen for two to five years had twice the risk of developing cancer as women who had never taken it. The study further found that women who had taken the drug for more than five years had seven times the risk.

RISKS WELL KNOWN These findings are really nothing new. In 1996 an international consortium of scientists published a review identifying Tamoxifen as a human carcinogen which will increase a woman’s risk of developing uterine cancer. These findings did little to deter the pharmaceutical researchers from shrugging it all off by declaring that such cancers are easily treatable. What they failed to consider though is that breast cancer patients who develop uterine cancer while using Tamoxifen are very likely to develop a fast moving, lethal form of this cancer that is extemely difficult to treat effectively.

THE DRUG DOES HAVE SOME VALUE – BUT IS IT WORTH IT?Tamoxifen is not without its benefits. It has in fact helped many women avoid breast cancer. But do the risks outweigh the benefits? Big Pharma and those it pays and supports say yes. Many others say no. So what are the alternatives?

CANCER CURES KEPT WELL HIDDEN – BUT THEY CAN BE FOUND The use of a known carcinogen as a cancer suppressant seems to exceed the bounds of reason and without considering profit motive. is very difficult to explain. The profit motive also comes into focus prominently when we learn that there are more than 300 alternative treatments for cancer that in fact, safely and effectively destroy cancer without destroying healthy cells. These treatments are being vigorously suppressed.

But natural substances used for the cure and control of cancer are roundly ignored, their proponents subjected to ridicule, abuse, harassment. threats, and sometimes accusations of criminal conduct. Natural substances can’t be patented. No profit in that. Still, it’s possible to find courageous professionals who are dedicated to the concept of cure as opposed to management. We’re blessed with these folks, our Alternative Physicians. They’re around. The good ones keep a low profile. You just need to know where to look. One easy way of getting in touch with a competent alternative provider is to visit LeQuadrillage Family Health & Wellness Center and consult their linked directories. Unbiased health and wellness information is available here without cost or obligation. Nothing is sold directly here and your confidence in us is our most treasured asset.