Modern pharmaceuticals have undeniably saved lives. Antibiotics, vaccines, insulin—these are triumphs of human ingenuity. But somewhere along the way, the mission drifted from curing disease to maximizing shareholder value. The pharmaceutical industry isn’t a benevolent guardian of health; it’s a trillion-dollar business where sickness is more profitable than wellness.

Consider insulin, a life-saving drug discovered over a century ago. Its inventors sold the patent for $1, believing no one should profit from such a vital medication. Today, insulin costs hundreds of dollars per vial in the U.S., forcing diabetics to ration doses with deadly consequences. The same drug, produced by the same companies, costs a fraction of the price elsewhere. This isn’t about supply chains or innovation costs—it’s about unregulated price gouging.

But price is just the surface. The deeper issue is how pharmaceutical companies shape not just what drugs we take, but how we think about health itself. In The Truth About the Drug Companies, former New England Journal of Medicine editor Marcia Angell exposes how Big Pharma manipulates medical research, education, and practice. Clinical trials are often designed, conducted, and published in ways that favor the sponsor’s product. Negative results get buried. “Scientific” studies become marketing tools.

This isn’t hypothetical. The opioid crisis, which has killed over half a million people in the U.S. alone, was fueled by Purdue Pharma’s aggressive promotion of OxyContin. The company downplayed addiction risks, bribed doctors with speaking fees and luxury trips, and flooded communities with pills. Internal documents revealed they knew the dangers—but profits came first. In Taoist terms, this is the imbalance of excess—pushing beyond natural limits until systems collapse.

Even when drugs aren’t addictive, overprescription is rampant. Antibiotics are handed out for viral infections, contributing to the rise of antibiotic-resistant “superbugs.” Antidepressants are prescribed without adequate consideration of non-pharmaceutical therapies, despite studies showing that exercise, therapy, and social connection can be equally or more effective for many people. In Anatomy of an Epidemic, journalist Robert Whitaker argues that long-term outcomes for psychiatric disorders have worsened in the modern pharmaceutical era, partly due to medication overuse.

The marketing machine is relentless. Direct-to-consumer (DTC) pharmaceutical advertising—legal only in the U.S. and New Zealand—turns complex health issues into slick, 30-second sales pitches. “Ask your doctor if [insert drug here] is right for you,” whispers the soothing voiceover, accompanied by images of happy people kayaking, while the side effects scroll past like the fine print on a bad contract: “May cause nausea, suicidal thoughts, or spontaneous combustion.”

But the real manipulation happens behind the scenes. Pharmaceutical companies fund medical schools, sponsor continuing education for doctors, and lobby governments to influence healthcare policy. As Ben Goldacre documents in Bad Pharma, this creates a system where treatment guidelines often reflect corporate interests more than scientific consensus. When doctors are trained with industry-funded
materials, prescribing habits shift—not always in the patient’s best interest.

Globally, the consequences are stark. Life-saving drugs remain inaccessible to millions in low-income countries because they’re priced for profit, not public health. The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa was exacerbated by pharmaceutical companies fighting to block generic antiretroviral drugs, prioritizing patents over people. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed similar dynamics, with vaccine nationalism and corporate control over distribution perpetuating global inequities.

And it’s not just about drugs for the sick. The pharmaceutical industry excels at creating markets where none existed. Conditions like “social anxiety disorder” were popularized not by medical discovery, but by marketing campaigns designed to sell SSRIs. Men’s aging became “low testosterone,” menopause became a “deficiency,” and even normal human sadness was rebranded as a disorder needing pharmaceutical intervention. In The Loss of Sadness, Allan Horwitz and Jerome Wakefield argue that this pathologization of normal emotions leads to overdiagnosis and overtreatment.

Health is not just the absence of disease. It’s balance—harmony within the body, mind, and environment. Taoist medicine, like many traditional healing systems, emphasizes prevention, lifestyle, and holistic care over interventionist cures. Pharmaceuticals have their place, but they are tools, not solutions. The goal isn’t to eliminate drugs, but to
restore proportionality, ensuring that medicine serves life rather than dominating it.

Consider Cuba’s healthcare system, which despite limited resources, achieves health outcomes comparable to wealthy nations. The focus is on primary care, prevention, and community-based health—not pharmaceutical dominance. Or the World Health Organization’s Essential Medicines List, which identifies the most critical drugs for public health, emphasizing access, efficacy, and affordability over profit potential.

The antidote to pharmaceutical overreach isn’t more drugs—it’s structural reform. Transparency in research, public funding for drug development, and robust regulation of marketing practices are essential. But deeper still, we need a cultural shift: from treating health as a commodity to understanding it as a collective good.

Therefore, under Folklaw:

Pharmaceutical development, marketing, and distribution shall be strictly regulated to prioritize public health over corporate profit. All drug pricing will be subject to public oversight, with life-saving medications provided at cost.

Direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising will be banned. Clinical trials must be independently conducted and publicly funded to eliminate conflicts of interest, with mandatory publication of all results, positive or negative.

Patents on essential medicines will be limited, with compulsory licensing to ensure global access. Doctors will be prohibited from receiving financial incentives from pharmaceutical companies, and medical education will be free from corporate influence.

Public investment will support non-pharmaceutical health interventions, emphasizing prevention, holistic care, and community well-being.