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Big Pharma conspiracy theories are conspiracy theories which claim that the medical community in general and pharmaceutical companies in particular, especially large corporations, operate for sinister purposes and against the public good, that they conceal effective treatments, or even cause and worsen a wide range of diseases for the purpose of profitability, or for other nefarious reasons. Some theories have included the claim that natural alternative remedies to health problems are being suppressed, the claim that drugs for the treatment of HIV/AIDS are ineffective and harmful, the claim that a cure for all cancers has been discovered but hidden from the public, claims that COVID-19 vaccines are ineffective, and that alternative cures are available for COVID-19. In each case the conspiracy theorists have blamed pharmaceutical companies' search for profits. A range of authors have shown these claims to be false, though some of these authors nevertheless maintain that other criticisms of the pharmaceutical industry are legitimate.
Ubhejane is a South African herbal medicine marketed as a treatment for HIV/AIDS, reportedly the most popular alternative medicine treatment for the disease in South Africa. It was invented by former truck driver Zeblon Gwala, who has claimed that he got the idea for it in a dream. Gwala advises his patients to take ubhejane instead of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs), saying that while both ubhejane and ARVs work, ubhejane, unlike ARVs, does not have side effects. The price at which ubhejane was sold has been reported variously at $25 and $50 US dollars.
References
- 1 2 Steinberg, Jonny (June 17, 2009). "AIDS Denial: A Lethal Delusion". New Scientist.
- 1 2 "Anti-AIDS vitamin advertising banned". Nature. June 18, 2008.
- ↑ Rasnick, David William (1978). Affinity labeling of metalloendoproteases (electronic thesis or dissertation). OCLC 638449874 . Retrieved 28 October 2013.
- ↑ Rasnick, David William (2011). The Chromosomal Imbalance Theory of Cancer: The Autocatalyzed Progression of Aneuploidy is Carcinogenesis. CRC Press. ISBN 9781578087372.
- 1 2 Schoofs, Mark (July 4, 2000). "Debating The Obvious". Village Voice.
- ↑ Rice, Xan (June 13, 2008). "South African court bans trials of vitamin treatments for Aids". The Guardian.
- ↑ "South African court bans AIDS vitamin trials". Reuters. June 13, 2008.
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