Saturday, October 22, 2011

The Last Straw

When drug companies post information about a competitor can that possibly be informative or unbiased?  Of course not..is it legal? Sure it is.  Go ahead and slam the other company before it is readily available to the public. 


This is not by any means a new innovative practice.  It is done all the time...whether it involves dish detergents, air conditioners or drugs. What has gotten my dander up today is the article written by the Chantix legal team  or
more specifically the Legal Lawsuit team  slamming Cysticine.

Cysticine is another smoking cessation product, used in Europe for decades.  It is cheaper and is effective in most cases.  So far as I can see the adverse effects are not as dramatic as Chantix. 

Chantix has had the unfortunate reputation of being a mind or mood altering product causing ,in some cases suicide, and weird behavior.  In my case.....non stop vomiting, when taken as directed.  Did I stop smoking?  You bet I did.  I stopped eating, smoking and sleeping.

I gave this product three tries.  The first time it worked like a charm.  No side effects, no smoking.  I had my surgery and I lit up leaving the hospital parking lot.  Shame on me.  Outright pain or discomfort does this to me, I smoke.  Second and third time not so much success.....the vomiting and or feeling nauseous  ninety percent of my waking hours wasn't at all comfortable.  Lifestyle was hampered, I actually could not go grocery shopping  with this green feeling.

When I read about Cysticine I was newly encouraged that this may just be the ticket.  I have tried Zyban and patches etc having no effect whatsoever.  Hey, an addiction is an addiction....it is all the same, your brain tells your body you need this poison and come rain or shine you will get it.

Is it because Cysticine is made from trees grown only in southern Europe?  Does the FDA frown upon natural products?  You bet....they want to close down supplement manufacturers with a passion.  To me, this only indicates that this a viable product and we smokers are doomed to smoke and provide the tobacco companies with uninterrupted revenue, or keep the drug companies churning out 'puke pills' with abandon.

Let me reiterate....this is all legal.  Until enough smokers have taken a nose dive off of a bridge or gone mad in a McDonalds and shot up the clientele Chantix will be a valuable product.  They have generously included a warning on each packet....may cause psychosis...to avoid any further liability.

On the other hand...if I were to contact a pharmacy in Bulgaria via the internet and order Cysticine, I may just invite the local SWAT team to confiscate this product.

Actually, all I am asking is to be given the opportunity to make up my own mind and take the risks.  I do not want to be told by some entity that this is bad for me when in actuality it is a political issue.  Drug companies have deep, deep pockets having endless influence on our lawmakers. 

If, when and until this is resolved I will be supporting the tobacco companies , much to my dismay.  I am just flat out of will power I need assistance.

Got a beef?  Let me know.  There are enough out there to fill a library.  Until next time...be safe. RD

2 comments:

The Blog of Bee said...

The choice should be yours. The reality is that smoking will never be completely outlawed because the tobacco industry is a major source of finance for the country - any country. And neither should ti be - the individual must be allowed to make the choice. I chose to give up - cold turkey after 40+ years, after surgery. Before that I never tried any of the aids that are supposed to help one stop - Nicorette was a big thing - prescription only but now I see you can buy if over the counter - in Trinidad anyway - probably not in the UK. But then again I have a friendly pharmacist and can anything I want with or without a prescription, from antibiotics to hard core painkillers. I don't tale advantage.

I am amazed that companies when advertising are allowed to name the competition. I have seen that so much on US television. It's against the law in England. They can say things like 'another leading brand' and that's it. No mention of names.

Unfortunately we do get caught up in the red tape and politics whether we like ti or not. No matter who is governing, they all think they know what's best for us. Cheer up - your President's a smoker! And I love it!

The Blog of Bee said...

WHERE are you?? This comment from 2011 has just come into my box!