Drugging America: The drug industry exposed

[Guest guest]

http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/omkara/2011/mar/27/dark-secrets-drug-industry-exposed/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4bYng7X7Kk & feature=player_embedded

Drugging America: The drug industry exposed

Sunday, March 27, 2011 - Omkara

World by Adam Helfer

Washington D.C., March 27, 2011 –

Pharmaceuticals are a $650 plus billion dollar a year industry.

For years the most profitable business in the U.S. has been the

pharmaceutical corporations, which routinely top the annual

fortune 500 list. Doctor prescribed drugs support an industry

which out-earns the GNP of many nations.

A core attribute to big Pharma’s overwhelming ‘success’ lays

in the liaison between the corporations and the ‘symptoms

management’ health care industry: The pharmaceutical

representative. The men and women we see meeting with

physicians, walking into offices with gifts of lunch for the

staff, meeting with the doctor while you wait for our

appointment.

Gwen Olsen was a top level

pharmaceutical rep for some of the biggest in the industry:

& , Syntex Labs, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Abbott

Laboratories and Forest Laboratories.

Through some chilling wake up calls in her tenure, and the

tragic drug-related death of her niece, Gwen

has dedicated her life to making people aware of the dangers of

prescription drugs and how the drug industry manipulates doctors

into prescribing, and over prescribing, their drugs.

She is exposing the dark, deep-rooted deception and corruption

that is prevalent in this industry.

Gwen Olsens words are powerful. Her message absolutely

frightening. Below is a transcript of our conversation as well

as a video of Gwen speaking out, including her appearance on a CBS

Evening News Eye On Your Children

news segment.

Adam Omkara: So you went into the industry with an

altruistic mindset and you wanted to help people. When was it

made apparent to you that the industry wasn’t based on that

altruism, or even healing?

Gwen: Well, it was on the 2nd stage interview

with the regional manager. He asked me why I wanted to get into

the pharmaceutical industry. I said ‘well I really want to help

people, that’s what I want to do’.

He kind of laughed, smiled, and said “Well, I’m not so sure

about that. If altruism is what motivates you, then you better

join the peace corp." Then he smiled, turned around to his desk

and started working on his calculator. He said “however, if

money is what motivates you, let me tell you how you can retire

a millionaire from this job young lady.”

He went into delineating my benefits, stock options, and it all

turned into a big blur for me. I saw dollar signs. It sounded

pretty good to a 26 year old. So, that’s how initially I was

told it wasn’t altruistic.

Adam Omkara: And you said you were

actually trained to misinform people- Can you elaborate on

that?

Gwen: Well, initially when you start

pharmaceutical sales training you are taken into the home office

for a sort of ‘indoctrination’ that’s 2-6 weeks of intensive

training. That’s where the industry turns representatives into

psychological profilers and people pleasers. The reps learn how

to be people analyzers, so they know how to best influence

people. We were taught in training sessions called ‘knee to

knees’ and ‘toe to toes’ where you have a line of reps that play

the doctor and opposing lines that play the rep position.

You have to learn verbatim the company’s position and their

marketing lines- you can’t even vary from that. You practice and

practice until it flows naturally and doesn’t sound rehearsed.

I started recognizing really that I was being trained to divert

doctor’s attention away from his/her concerns. So, I was

learning to misinform and disinform- to counter the doctor’s

valid concerns. I wasn’t trained to say “this drug is bad for

that patient” or “watch out for this drug’s interaction with

that one." Any information perceived as a negative was always

being candy coated.

In fact many times we would be called into a meeting when a new

sales piece was being introduced. Managers would ask us

questions on what aspects of the piece we received the most

objections on. What were the parts that raised the most concern?

After we gave the marketing department that feedback, the next

period they would come up with a different layout that had

manipulated and minimized the objectionable data. So, it was a

constant set of circumstances where I began to see that I wasn’t

allowed to give good information and I wasn’t given good

information to share.

The industry knows that many of their drugs aren’t safe and

that they don’t heal people. In fact, some drugs are designed to

make symptoms worse later on.

When I started becoming pro-active and began to ask too many

critically intelligent questions, management objected and

discouraged me. I was frequently met with answers such as “We do

it that way because we can", or "We sell more pills that way.”

It was apparent my inquiries were not welcomed!

It was almost like being in the military, in fact, many of my

ex-managers had been in the military. Many are hired because

they have great work ethics and they don’t ask a lot of

questions. Military personnel are used to working on a ‘need to

know’ basis.

Adam Omkara: How did you come to an

awakening towards the industry. Did it all hit you all of the

sudden, or was it a slow process?

Gwen: I realized early on I was in a position

where I could harm people; In a position where I could literally

take lives. My grand realization arrived when I started

promoting a specific new drug.

I went to a national sales meeting for this new drug launch and

was told the wonders on how it was going to help people. We

immediately were sent out into our individual territories to get

support for the new drug with key prescribing physicians.

Drug reps are given profiles of all the physicians in the

territory on what their ‘writing habits’ are, i.e. their general

personality, their prescribing habits like whether they are high

volume prescribers or early adopters, or late adopters/skeptics.

Reps have all this information available before making a sales

call so that they know how to approach the doctor and can

develop a sales strategy.

So there was one doctor in my territory that was profiled as a

“late adopter/skeptic.” That meant he was going to be difficult

for me to get him to prescribe my new drug.

The marketing plan developed at launch emphasized to the sales

force that as a last ditch effort, if a doctor didn’t want to

write prescriptions for the new product, then the rep was to ask

for just one patient- the most difficult patient that the doctor

had. The theory was that if the drug worked for them, then the

doctor would be more likely to use it in his broader practice

later.

I did my presentation and the doctor told me his policy was he

didn’t prescribe a new drug until it’s been on the market for at

least a year. He had been burned on new drugs before.

However, with some hesitation he agreed to try it in his most

difficult patient who had failed all other therapies and I left

him samples.

Some time later I got a call from my district manager. I was

being sent out to gather information for an Adverse Drug

Reaction (ADR) report, as there has been a death in my territory

from our new drug and it was a patient of that doctor. And guess

what- it was his mother! She had gone into renal failure and

died from complications in dialysis. I was devastated!

After I went to get the ADR info, it took me almost 6 months to

work up the nerve to go see that man again and look him in the

eye. I was acutely aware that it had been my over-zealous and

persistent marketing of the product that had influenced him to

do something against his better judgment and, as a consequence,

his own mother had paid with her life!

I’ll never forget his angry, terse remark to me, “Well, I see

you all put a lot more effort into your marketing plan than you

did your drug research and development!” What could I say to him

after that?

That was my very first clue as a young rep that my job had

serious ramifications.

Once this happened more and more things started falling into

place. So with that awareness I began to see the job and

industry with new eyes…

Adam Omkara: And no one seems to questions this? Why

don’t you think there is more of this awakening or

questioning? Representatives, psychiatrists, doctors,

managers? Is there some desensitization process that comes

into play that’s very effective? Where does the disconnect

come into play and how is it sustained?

Gwen: Yes, there is definitely a

desensitization process. A re-programming if

you will. The indoctrination is usually done at the home office

during the initial training and is similar to how they do boot

camp in the military. They tear you down physically and

psychologically, reps are kept up late nights studying for

exams, preparing presentations, filming videos, deprived of

sleep, deprived of good nutrition, required to dress to the

nines and constantly compete with one another as they are being

watched and evaluated in the corporate fish bowl.

It’s a very psychologically grueling, but effective grooming

environment.

Then when they release you back into your sales territory, you

have this false sense of bravado feeling like you’re someone

special who is going to go out and help the world. It’s

literally a brainwashing process.

What they are effectively doing is trying to weed out the

mavericks and break the weak ones. The one’s who can’t handle

the job long term and, therefore, will be a wasted investment.

Adam Omkara: Do you know if the same basic training

policy is upheld for other companies?

Gwen: I worked for five different companies

and it happened in every single one. And I was no flunkee who

lost my job and then started bashing the industry. I was the

best of the best and performed at the top 3% in each company

that I worked for full time.

Usually, as soon as a rep starts asking too many questions or

makes unnecessary waves with management they are easily

dispensed of and told there are plenty more eligible people

behind them waiting to take their job. The only reason I was

tolerated was because of how valuable I was to them.

I always made my district and managers look good at the bottom

line.

Adam Omkara: And what about the psychiatrists and that

industry? Do they not question?

Gwen: You really want me to be honest? The

pharmaceutical industry makes so much fun of the psychiatric

profession that it’s not even funny. They actually refer to

psychiatrists as ‘drug whores.’ The reason they call them that

is because they have no loyalty to any one company or product,

it’s whoever is paying them at the time.

I was told in the initial training I received to sell

antipsychotic drugs that most psychiatrists got into the field

of psychiatry in order to figure out why they were so screwed

up. There were definitely some very odd birds! So yeah, they

were not held in very high regard. My colleagues and I looked

down on them as though they were a ‘lower class’

quasi-physician. Because we knew that they didn’t do anything

scientifically, it was all subjective diagnosis in nature,

dependent on third-party observation of symptoms.

So they were easy to sell drugs to. Most psychiatrists are so

ego-driven they would literally recommend anything when given

the appropriate sales pitch!

In this day and age, most psychiatrists don’t use talk therapy

anymore- just 15 minute appointments, what are your symptoms,

try this and come back in a month. You’re lucky if you can get

counseling these days (under coverage) and children rarely get

it.

So, you can see there is a huge incentive to continue the

psychopharmacologic-based treatment paradigm. Because if this

huge house of cards actually implodes there will be all these

doctors that have no way to practice in psychiatry anymore.

Without drug therapy, how would they practice?

Parents Beware: Children have become the largest

demographic for the Pharmaceutical Industry.

Adam Omkara: So what are you working on now?

Gwen: I’m presently contributing to an

anthology of works, called “Drugging our Children: How

Profiteers are Pushing Antipsychotics on our Youngest,” coming

out this fall.

A Medco Health Solutions Report in 2009 showed children to be

the largest growth demographic for the pharmaceutical

industry. Prescriptions in kids grew at 4X the rate of the

general population. Antipsychotics were the #1 drug category in

both 2008 and 2009 making $14.6 billion each year.

Furthermore, there are 1100 people who enter the social

security disability rolls on a daily basis because of mental

illness. Of that number, 250 are kids.

Adam Omkara: Do you have a message for the parents?

Gwen: Yes, my campaign is one of informed

consent. I’m not anti-drugs, but I am anti- misinformation, and

parents have been sorely misinformed, if not straight out lied

to in many circumstances. My message is for parents to be

pro-active.

Stop taking people’s words for things- start doing your own due

diligence and research when it comes to drugging your kids.

Remember that it not only takes a village to raise a child, it

takes a village to protect one. We all have to do our part!

Adam Omkara: Thank you very much Gwen

Please visit Gwen’s website at www.gwenolsen.com

for more information.

Also, check out her first book: Confessions

of an Rx Drug Pusher.

Like Gwen on Facebook

This eye opening accurate information gives you a peek into an

industry that doesn’t want you or your family to be well. If

Gwen’s account does anything, please let it give you the

realization that you should take your own health into your own

hands. ‘Let thy food be thy medicine’, laugh, love, forgive,

move, and get plenty of rest. Do your own due diligence and

research, if you do get ill. Let this simple motto and plan keep

big Pharma from ever manipulating and profiting off you and your

loved one’s again.

Related Article: The Most Astonishing Health Disaster in the

20th Century

Adam is a Reiki Master, certified Health and

Lifestyle counselor, Intrinsic Coach, Licensed Massage

Therapist, 20 year practicing bramana initiated Bhakti Yogi,

Spiritual advisor, visionary, jock and veteran of the

“hardcore punk scene” all rolled into one. His clients have

included celebrities, politicians, professional athletes,

and professional sport team owners. Adam is the founder of Omkara World and produced the

mind/body fitness DVD “Intelligent Fitness."

Adam also fuels daily motivation and inspiration with

his empowering “Namaste

Message a Day” program which has everyone from students

to celebrities joining.

For a 7 day free trial of Namaste messages

sent to your cell phone: Text OMKARA to

37619

Click Here for Latest Project: Got

OM?

Follow

Adam on Twitter Friend

Adam on Facebook

[Guest guest]

http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/omkara/2011/mar/27/dark-secrets-drug-industry-exposed/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4bYng7X7Kk & feature=player_embedded

Drugging America: The drug industry exposed

Sunday, March 27, 2011 - Omkara

World by Adam Helfer

Washington D.C., March 27, 2011 –

Pharmaceuticals are a $650 plus billion dollar a year industry.

For years the most profitable business in the U.S. has been the

pharmaceutical corporations, which routinely top the annual

fortune 500 list. Doctor prescribed drugs support an industry

which out-earns the GNP of many nations.

A core attribute to big Pharma’s overwhelming ‘success’ lays

in the liaison between the corporations and the ‘symptoms

management’ health care industry: The pharmaceutical

representative. The men and women we see meeting with

physicians, walking into offices with gifts of lunch for the

staff, meeting with the doctor while you wait for our

appointment.

Gwen Olsen was a top level

pharmaceutical rep for some of the biggest in the industry:

& , Syntex Labs, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Abbott

Laboratories and Forest Laboratories.

Through some chilling wake up calls in her tenure, and the

tragic drug-related death of her niece, Gwen

has dedicated her life to making people aware of the dangers of

prescription drugs and how the drug industry manipulates doctors

into prescribing, and over prescribing, their drugs.

She is exposing the dark, deep-rooted deception and corruption

that is prevalent in this industry.

Gwen Olsens words are powerful. Her message absolutely

frightening. Below is a transcript of our conversation as well

as a video of Gwen speaking out, including her appearance on a CBS

Evening News Eye On Your Children

news segment.

Adam Omkara: So you went into the industry with an

altruistic mindset and you wanted to help people. When was it

made apparent to you that the industry wasn’t based on that

altruism, or even healing?

Gwen: Well, it was on the 2nd stage interview

with the regional manager. He asked me why I wanted to get into

the pharmaceutical industry. I said ‘well I really want to help

people, that’s what I want to do’.

He kind of laughed, smiled, and said “Well, I’m not so sure

about that. If altruism is what motivates you, then you better

join the peace corp." Then he smiled, turned around to his desk

and started working on his calculator. He said “however, if

money is what motivates you, let me tell you how you can retire

a millionaire from this job young lady.”

He went into delineating my benefits, stock options, and it all

turned into a big blur for me. I saw dollar signs. It sounded

pretty good to a 26 year old. So, that’s how initially I was

told it wasn’t altruistic.

Adam Omkara: And you said you were

actually trained to misinform people- Can you elaborate on

that?

Gwen: Well, initially when you start

pharmaceutical sales training you are taken into the home office

for a sort of ‘indoctrination’ that’s 2-6 weeks of intensive

training. That’s where the industry turns representatives into

psychological profilers and people pleasers. The reps learn how

to be people analyzers, so they know how to best influence

people. We were taught in training sessions called ‘knee to

knees’ and ‘toe to toes’ where you have a line of reps that play

the doctor and opposing lines that play the rep position.

You have to learn verbatim the company’s position and their

marketing lines- you can’t even vary from that. You practice and

practice until it flows naturally and doesn’t sound rehearsed.

I started recognizing really that I was being trained to divert

doctor’s attention away from his/her concerns. So, I was

learning to misinform and disinform- to counter the doctor’s

valid concerns. I wasn’t trained to say “this drug is bad for

that patient” or “watch out for this drug’s interaction with

that one." Any information perceived as a negative was always

being candy coated.

In fact many times we would be called into a meeting when a new

sales piece was being introduced. Managers would ask us

questions on what aspects of the piece we received the most

objections on. What were the parts that raised the most concern?

After we gave the marketing department that feedback, the next

period they would come up with a different layout that had

manipulated and minimized the objectionable data. So, it was a

constant set of circumstances where I began to see that I wasn’t

allowed to give good information and I wasn’t given good

information to share.

The industry knows that many of their drugs aren’t safe and

that they don’t heal people. In fact, some drugs are designed to

make symptoms worse later on.

When I started becoming pro-active and began to ask too many

critically intelligent questions, management objected and

discouraged me. I was frequently met with answers such as “We do

it that way because we can", or "We sell more pills that way.”

It was apparent my inquiries were not welcomed!

It was almost like being in the military, in fact, many of my

ex-managers had been in the military. Many are hired because

they have great work ethics and they don’t ask a lot of

questions. Military personnel are used to working on a ‘need to

know’ basis.

Adam Omkara: How did you come to an

awakening towards the industry. Did it all hit you all of the

sudden, or was it a slow process?

Gwen: I realized early on I was in a position

where I could harm people; In a position where I could literally

take lives. My grand realization arrived when I started

promoting a specific new drug.

I went to a national sales meeting for this new drug launch and

was told the wonders on how it was going to help people. We

immediately were sent out into our individual territories to get

support for the new drug with key prescribing physicians.

Drug reps are given profiles of all the physicians in the

territory on what their ‘writing habits’ are, i.e. their general

personality, their prescribing habits like whether they are high

volume prescribers or early adopters, or late adopters/skeptics.

Reps have all this information available before making a sales

call so that they know how to approach the doctor and can

develop a sales strategy.

So there was one doctor in my territory that was profiled as a

“late adopter/skeptic.” That meant he was going to be difficult

for me to get him to prescribe my new drug.

The marketing plan developed at launch emphasized to the sales

force that as a last ditch effort, if a doctor didn’t want to

write prescriptions for the new product, then the rep was to ask

for just one patient- the most difficult patient that the doctor

had. The theory was that if the drug worked for them, then the

doctor would be more likely to use it in his broader practice

later.

I did my presentation and the doctor told me his policy was he

didn’t prescribe a new drug until it’s been on the market for at

least a year. He had been burned on new drugs before.

However, with some hesitation he agreed to try it in his most

difficult patient who had failed all other therapies and I left

him samples.

Some time later I got a call from my district manager. I was

being sent out to gather information for an Adverse Drug

Reaction (ADR) report, as there has been a death in my territory

from our new drug and it was a patient of that doctor. And guess

what- it was his mother! She had gone into renal failure and

died from complications in dialysis. I was devastated!

After I went to get the ADR info, it took me almost 6 months to

work up the nerve to go see that man again and look him in the

eye. I was acutely aware that it had been my over-zealous and

persistent marketing of the product that had influenced him to

do something against his better judgment and, as a consequence,

his own mother had paid with her life!

I’ll never forget his angry, terse remark to me, “Well, I see

you all put a lot more effort into your marketing plan than you

did your drug research and development!” What could I say to him

after that?

That was my very first clue as a young rep that my job had

serious ramifications.

Once this happened more and more things started falling into

place. So with that awareness I began to see the job and

industry with new eyes…

Adam Omkara: And no one seems to questions this? Why

don’t you think there is more of this awakening or

questioning? Representatives, psychiatrists, doctors,

managers? Is there some desensitization process that comes

into play that’s very effective? Where does the disconnect

come into play and how is it sustained?

Gwen: Yes, there is definitely a

desensitization process. A re-programming if

you will. The indoctrination is usually done at the home office

during the initial training and is similar to how they do boot

camp in the military. They tear you down physically and

psychologically, reps are kept up late nights studying for

exams, preparing presentations, filming videos, deprived of

sleep, deprived of good nutrition, required to dress to the

nines and constantly compete with one another as they are being

watched and evaluated in the corporate fish bowl.

It’s a very psychologically grueling, but effective grooming

environment.

Then when they release you back into your sales territory, you

have this false sense of bravado feeling like you’re someone

special who is going to go out and help the world. It’s

literally a brainwashing process.

What they are effectively doing is trying to weed out the

mavericks and break the weak ones. The one’s who can’t handle

the job long term and, therefore, will be a wasted investment.

Adam Omkara: Do you know if the same basic training

policy is upheld for other companies?

Gwen: I worked for five different companies

and it happened in every single one. And I was no flunkee who

lost my job and then started bashing the industry. I was the

best of the best and performed at the top 3% in each company

that I worked for full time.

Usually, as soon as a rep starts asking too many questions or

makes unnecessary waves with management they are easily

dispensed of and told there are plenty more eligible people

behind them waiting to take their job. The only reason I was

tolerated was because of how valuable I was to them.

I always made my district and managers look good at the bottom

line.

Adam Omkara: And what about the psychiatrists and that

industry? Do they not question?

Gwen: You really want me to be honest? The

pharmaceutical industry makes so much fun of the psychiatric

profession that it’s not even funny. They actually refer to

psychiatrists as ‘drug whores.’ The reason they call them that

is because they have no loyalty to any one company or product,

it’s whoever is paying them at the time.

I was told in the initial training I received to sell

antipsychotic drugs that most psychiatrists got into the field

of psychiatry in order to figure out why they were so screwed

up. There were definitely some very odd birds! So yeah, they

were not held in very high regard. My colleagues and I looked

down on them as though they were a ‘lower class’

quasi-physician. Because we knew that they didn’t do anything

scientifically, it was all subjective diagnosis in nature,

dependent on third-party observation of symptoms.

So they were easy to sell drugs to. Most psychiatrists are so

ego-driven they would literally recommend anything when given

the appropriate sales pitch!

In this day and age, most psychiatrists don’t use talk therapy

anymore- just 15 minute appointments, what are your symptoms,

try this and come back in a month. You’re lucky if you can get

counseling these days (under coverage) and children rarely get

it.

So, you can see there is a huge incentive to continue the

psychopharmacologic-based treatment paradigm. Because if this

huge house of cards actually implodes there will be all these

doctors that have no way to practice in psychiatry anymore.

Without drug therapy, how would they practice?

Parents Beware: Children have become the largest

demographic for the Pharmaceutical Industry.

Adam Omkara: So what are you working on now?

Gwen: I’m presently contributing to an

anthology of works, called “Drugging our Children: How

Profiteers are Pushing Antipsychotics on our Youngest,” coming

out this fall.

A Medco Health Solutions Report in 2009 showed children to be

the largest growth demographic for the pharmaceutical

industry. Prescriptions in kids grew at 4X the rate of the

general population. Antipsychotics were the #1 drug category in

both 2008 and 2009 making $14.6 billion each year.

Furthermore, there are 1100 people who enter the social

security disability rolls on a daily basis because of mental

illness. Of that number, 250 are kids.

Adam Omkara: Do you have a message for the parents?

Gwen: Yes, my campaign is one of informed

consent. I’m not anti-drugs, but I am anti- misinformation, and

parents have been sorely misinformed, if not straight out lied

to in many circumstances. My message is for parents to be

pro-active.

Stop taking people’s words for things- start doing your own due

diligence and research when it comes to drugging your kids.

Remember that it not only takes a village to raise a child, it

takes a village to protect one. We all have to do our part!

Adam Omkara: Thank you very much Gwen

Please visit Gwen’s website at www.gwenolsen.com

for more information.

Also, check out her first book: Confessions

of an Rx Drug Pusher.

Like Gwen on Facebook

This eye opening accurate information gives you a peek into an

industry that doesn’t want you or your family to be well. If

Gwen’s account does anything, please let it give you the

realization that you should take your own health into your own

hands. ‘Let thy food be thy medicine’, laugh, love, forgive,

move, and get plenty of rest. Do your own due diligence and

research, if you do get ill. Let this simple motto and plan keep

big Pharma from ever manipulating and profiting off you and your

loved one’s again.

Related Article: The Most Astonishing Health Disaster in the

20th Century

Adam is a Reiki Master, certified Health and

Lifestyle counselor, Intrinsic Coach, Licensed Massage

Therapist, 20 year practicing bramana initiated Bhakti Yogi,

Spiritual advisor, visionary, jock and veteran of the

“hardcore punk scene” all rolled into one. His clients have

included celebrities, politicians, professional athletes,

and professional sport team owners. Adam is the founder of Omkara World and produced the

mind/body fitness DVD “Intelligent Fitness."

Adam also fuels daily motivation and inspiration with

his empowering “Namaste

Message a Day” program which has everyone from students

to celebrities joining.

For a 7 day free trial of Namaste messages

sent to your cell phone: Text OMKARA to

37619

Click Here for Latest Project: Got

OM?

Follow

Adam on Twitter Friend

Adam on Facebook

[Guest guest]

http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/omkara/2011/mar/27/dark-secrets-drug-industry-exposed/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4bYng7X7Kk & feature=player_embedded

Drugging America: The drug industry exposed

Sunday, March 27, 2011 - Omkara

World by Adam Helfer

Washington D.C., March 27, 2011 –

Pharmaceuticals are a $650 plus billion dollar a year industry.

For years the most profitable business in the U.S. has been the

pharmaceutical corporations, which routinely top the annual

fortune 500 list. Doctor prescribed drugs support an industry

which out-earns the GNP of many nations.

A core attribute to big Pharma’s overwhelming ‘success’ lays

in the liaison between the corporations and the ‘symptoms

management’ health care industry: The pharmaceutical

representative. The men and women we see meeting with

physicians, walking into offices with gifts of lunch for the

staff, meeting with the doctor while you wait for our

appointment.

Gwen Olsen was a top level

pharmaceutical rep for some of the biggest in the industry:

& , Syntex Labs, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Abbott

Laboratories and Forest Laboratories.

Through some chilling wake up calls in her tenure, and the

tragic drug-related death of her niece, Gwen

has dedicated her life to making people aware of the dangers of

prescription drugs and how the drug industry manipulates doctors

into prescribing, and over prescribing, their drugs.

She is exposing the dark, deep-rooted deception and corruption

that is prevalent in this industry.

Gwen Olsens words are powerful. Her message absolutely

frightening. Below is a transcript of our conversation as well

as a video of Gwen speaking out, including her appearance on a CBS

Evening News Eye On Your Children

news segment.

Adam Omkara: So you went into the industry with an

altruistic mindset and you wanted to help people. When was it

made apparent to you that the industry wasn’t based on that

altruism, or even healing?

Gwen: Well, it was on the 2nd stage interview

with the regional manager. He asked me why I wanted to get into

the pharmaceutical industry. I said ‘well I really want to help

people, that’s what I want to do’.

He kind of laughed, smiled, and said “Well, I’m not so sure

about that. If altruism is what motivates you, then you better

join the peace corp." Then he smiled, turned around to his desk

and started working on his calculator. He said “however, if

money is what motivates you, let me tell you how you can retire

a millionaire from this job young lady.”

He went into delineating my benefits, stock options, and it all

turned into a big blur for me. I saw dollar signs. It sounded

pretty good to a 26 year old. So, that’s how initially I was

told it wasn’t altruistic.

Adam Omkara: And you said you were

actually trained to misinform people- Can you elaborate on

that?

Gwen: Well, initially when you start

pharmaceutical sales training you are taken into the home office

for a sort of ‘indoctrination’ that’s 2-6 weeks of intensive

training. That’s where the industry turns representatives into

psychological profilers and people pleasers. The reps learn how

to be people analyzers, so they know how to best influence

people. We were taught in training sessions called ‘knee to

knees’ and ‘toe to toes’ where you have a line of reps that play

the doctor and opposing lines that play the rep position.

You have to learn verbatim the company’s position and their

marketing lines- you can’t even vary from that. You practice and

practice until it flows naturally and doesn’t sound rehearsed.

I started recognizing really that I was being trained to divert

doctor’s attention away from his/her concerns. So, I was

learning to misinform and disinform- to counter the doctor’s

valid concerns. I wasn’t trained to say “this drug is bad for

that patient” or “watch out for this drug’s interaction with

that one." Any information perceived as a negative was always

being candy coated.

In fact many times we would be called into a meeting when a new

sales piece was being introduced. Managers would ask us

questions on what aspects of the piece we received the most

objections on. What were the parts that raised the most concern?

After we gave the marketing department that feedback, the next

period they would come up with a different layout that had

manipulated and minimized the objectionable data. So, it was a

constant set of circumstances where I began to see that I wasn’t

allowed to give good information and I wasn’t given good

information to share.

The industry knows that many of their drugs aren’t safe and

that they don’t heal people. In fact, some drugs are designed to

make symptoms worse later on.

When I started becoming pro-active and began to ask too many

critically intelligent questions, management objected and

discouraged me. I was frequently met with answers such as “We do

it that way because we can", or "We sell more pills that way.”

It was apparent my inquiries were not welcomed!

It was almost like being in the military, in fact, many of my

ex-managers had been in the military. Many are hired because

they have great work ethics and they don’t ask a lot of

questions. Military personnel are used to working on a ‘need to

know’ basis.

Adam Omkara: How did you come to an

awakening towards the industry. Did it all hit you all of the

sudden, or was it a slow process?

Gwen: I realized early on I was in a position

where I could harm people; In a position where I could literally

take lives. My grand realization arrived when I started

promoting a specific new drug.

I went to a national sales meeting for this new drug launch and

was told the wonders on how it was going to help people. We

immediately were sent out into our individual territories to get

support for the new drug with key prescribing physicians.

Drug reps are given profiles of all the physicians in the

territory on what their ‘writing habits’ are, i.e. their general

personality, their prescribing habits like whether they are high

volume prescribers or early adopters, or late adopters/skeptics.

Reps have all this information available before making a sales

call so that they know how to approach the doctor and can

develop a sales strategy.

So there was one doctor in my territory that was profiled as a

“late adopter/skeptic.” That meant he was going to be difficult

for me to get him to prescribe my new drug.

The marketing plan developed at launch emphasized to the sales

force that as a last ditch effort, if a doctor didn’t want to

write prescriptions for the new product, then the rep was to ask

for just one patient- the most difficult patient that the doctor

had. The theory was that if the drug worked for them, then the

doctor would be more likely to use it in his broader practice

later.

I did my presentation and the doctor told me his policy was he

didn’t prescribe a new drug until it’s been on the market for at

least a year. He had been burned on new drugs before.

However, with some hesitation he agreed to try it in his most

difficult patient who had failed all other therapies and I left

him samples.

Some time later I got a call from my district manager. I was

being sent out to gather information for an Adverse Drug

Reaction (ADR) report, as there has been a death in my territory

from our new drug and it was a patient of that doctor. And guess

what- it was his mother! She had gone into renal failure and

died from complications in dialysis. I was devastated!

After I went to get the ADR info, it took me almost 6 months to

work up the nerve to go see that man again and look him in the

eye. I was acutely aware that it had been my over-zealous and

persistent marketing of the product that had influenced him to

do something against his better judgment and, as a consequence,

his own mother had paid with her life!

I’ll never forget his angry, terse remark to me, “Well, I see

you all put a lot more effort into your marketing plan than you

did your drug research and development!” What could I say to him

after that?

That was my very first clue as a young rep that my job had

serious ramifications.

Once this happened more and more things started falling into

place. So with that awareness I began to see the job and

industry with new eyes…

Adam Omkara: And no one seems to questions this? Why

don’t you think there is more of this awakening or

questioning? Representatives, psychiatrists, doctors,

managers? Is there some desensitization process that comes

into play that’s very effective? Where does the disconnect

come into play and how is it sustained?

Gwen: Yes, there is definitely a

desensitization process. A re-programming if

you will. The indoctrination is usually done at the home office

during the initial training and is similar to how they do boot

camp in the military. They tear you down physically and

psychologically, reps are kept up late nights studying for

exams, preparing presentations, filming videos, deprived of

sleep, deprived of good nutrition, required to dress to the

nines and constantly compete with one another as they are being

watched and evaluated in the corporate fish bowl.

It’s a very psychologically grueling, but effective grooming

environment.

Then when they release you back into your sales territory, you

have this false sense of bravado feeling like you’re someone

special who is going to go out and help the world. It’s

literally a brainwashing process.

What they are effectively doing is trying to weed out the

mavericks and break the weak ones. The one’s who can’t handle

the job long term and, therefore, will be a wasted investment.

Adam Omkara: Do you know if the same basic training

policy is upheld for other companies?

Gwen: I worked for five different companies

and it happened in every single one. And I was no flunkee who

lost my job and then started bashing the industry. I was the

best of the best and performed at the top 3% in each company

that I worked for full time.

Usually, as soon as a rep starts asking too many questions or

makes unnecessary waves with management they are easily

dispensed of and told there are plenty more eligible people

behind them waiting to take their job. The only reason I was

tolerated was because of how valuable I was to them.

I always made my district and managers look good at the bottom

line.

Adam Omkara: And what about the psychiatrists and that

industry? Do they not question?

Gwen: You really want me to be honest? The

pharmaceutical industry makes so much fun of the psychiatric

profession that it’s not even funny. They actually refer to

psychiatrists as ‘drug whores.’ The reason they call them that

is because they have no loyalty to any one company or product,

it’s whoever is paying them at the time.

I was told in the initial training I received to sell

antipsychotic drugs that most psychiatrists got into the field

of psychiatry in order to figure out why they were so screwed

up. There were definitely some very odd birds! So yeah, they

were not held in very high regard. My colleagues and I looked

down on them as though they were a ‘lower class’

quasi-physician. Because we knew that they didn’t do anything

scientifically, it was all subjective diagnosis in nature,

dependent on third-party observation of symptoms.

So they were easy to sell drugs to. Most psychiatrists are so

ego-driven they would literally recommend anything when given

the appropriate sales pitch!

In this day and age, most psychiatrists don’t use talk therapy

anymore- just 15 minute appointments, what are your symptoms,

try this and come back in a month. You’re lucky if you can get

counseling these days (under coverage) and children rarely get

it.

So, you can see there is a huge incentive to continue the

psychopharmacologic-based treatment paradigm. Because if this

huge house of cards actually implodes there will be all these

doctors that have no way to practice in psychiatry anymore.

Without drug therapy, how would they practice?

Parents Beware: Children have become the largest

demographic for the Pharmaceutical Industry.

Adam Omkara: So what are you working on now?

Gwen: I’m presently contributing to an

anthology of works, called “Drugging our Children: How

Profiteers are Pushing Antipsychotics on our Youngest,” coming

out this fall.

A Medco Health Solutions Report in 2009 showed children to be

the largest growth demographic for the pharmaceutical

industry. Prescriptions in kids grew at 4X the rate of the

general population. Antipsychotics were the #1 drug category in

both 2008 and 2009 making $14.6 billion each year.

Furthermore, there are 1100 people who enter the social

security disability rolls on a daily basis because of mental

illness. Of that number, 250 are kids.

Adam Omkara: Do you have a message for the parents?

Gwen: Yes, my campaign is one of informed

consent. I’m not anti-drugs, but I am anti- misinformation, and

parents have been sorely misinformed, if not straight out lied

to in many circumstances. My message is for parents to be

pro-active.

Stop taking people’s words for things- start doing your own due

diligence and research when it comes to drugging your kids.

Remember that it not only takes a village to raise a child, it

takes a village to protect one. We all have to do our part!

Adam Omkara: Thank you very much Gwen

Please visit Gwen’s website at www.gwenolsen.com

for more information.

Also, check out her first book: Confessions

of an Rx Drug Pusher.

Like Gwen on Facebook

This eye opening accurate information gives you a peek into an

industry that doesn’t want you or your family to be well. If

Gwen’s account does anything, please let it give you the

realization that you should take your own health into your own

hands. ‘Let thy food be thy medicine’, laugh, love, forgive,

move, and get plenty of rest. Do your own due diligence and

research, if you do get ill. Let this simple motto and plan keep

big Pharma from ever manipulating and profiting off you and your

loved one’s again.

Related Article: The Most Astonishing Health Disaster in the

20th Century

Adam is a Reiki Master, certified Health and

Lifestyle counselor, Intrinsic Coach, Licensed Massage

Therapist, 20 year practicing bramana initiated Bhakti Yogi,

Spiritual advisor, visionary, jock and veteran of the

“hardcore punk scene” all rolled into one. His clients have

included celebrities, politicians, professional athletes,

and professional sport team owners. Adam is the founder of Omkara World and produced the

mind/body fitness DVD “Intelligent Fitness."

Adam also fuels daily motivation and inspiration with

his empowering “Namaste

Message a Day” program which has everyone from students

to celebrities joining.

For a 7 day free trial of Namaste messages

sent to your cell phone: Text OMKARA to

37619

Click Here for Latest Project: Got

OM?

Follow

Adam on Twitter Friend

Adam on Facebook

[Guest guest]

http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/omkara/2011/mar/27/dark-secrets-drug-industry-exposed/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4bYng7X7Kk & feature=player_embedded

Drugging America: The drug industry exposed

Sunday, March 27, 2011 - Omkara

World by Adam Helfer

Washington D.C., March 27, 2011 –

Pharmaceuticals are a $650 plus billion dollar a year industry.

For years the most profitable business in the U.S. has been the

pharmaceutical corporations, which routinely top the annual

fortune 500 list. Doctor prescribed drugs support an industry

which out-earns the GNP of many nations.

A core attribute to big Pharma’s overwhelming ‘success’ lays

in the liaison between the corporations and the ‘symptoms

management’ health care industry: The pharmaceutical

representative. The men and women we see meeting with

physicians, walking into offices with gifts of lunch for the

staff, meeting with the doctor while you wait for our

appointment.

Gwen Olsen was a top level

pharmaceutical rep for some of the biggest in the industry:

& , Syntex Labs, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Abbott

Laboratories and Forest Laboratories.

Through some chilling wake up calls in her tenure, and the

tragic drug-related death of her niece, Gwen

has dedicated her life to making people aware of the dangers of

prescription drugs and how the drug industry manipulates doctors

into prescribing, and over prescribing, their drugs.

She is exposing the dark, deep-rooted deception and corruption

that is prevalent in this industry.

Gwen Olsens words are powerful. Her message absolutely

frightening. Below is a transcript of our conversation as well

as a video of Gwen speaking out, including her appearance on a CBS

Evening News Eye On Your Children

news segment.

Adam Omkara: So you went into the industry with an

altruistic mindset and you wanted to help people. When was it

made apparent to you that the industry wasn’t based on that

altruism, or even healing?

Gwen: Well, it was on the 2nd stage interview

with the regional manager. He asked me why I wanted to get into

the pharmaceutical industry. I said ‘well I really want to help

people, that’s what I want to do’.

He kind of laughed, smiled, and said “Well, I’m not so sure

about that. If altruism is what motivates you, then you better

join the peace corp." Then he smiled, turned around to his desk

and started working on his calculator. He said “however, if

money is what motivates you, let me tell you how you can retire

a millionaire from this job young lady.”

He went into delineating my benefits, stock options, and it all

turned into a big blur for me. I saw dollar signs. It sounded

pretty good to a 26 year old. So, that’s how initially I was

told it wasn’t altruistic.

Adam Omkara: And you said you were

actually trained to misinform people- Can you elaborate on

that?

Gwen: Well, initially when you start

pharmaceutical sales training you are taken into the home office

for a sort of ‘indoctrination’ that’s 2-6 weeks of intensive

training. That’s where the industry turns representatives into

psychological profilers and people pleasers. The reps learn how

to be people analyzers, so they know how to best influence

people. We were taught in training sessions called ‘knee to

knees’ and ‘toe to toes’ where you have a line of reps that play

the doctor and opposing lines that play the rep position.

You have to learn verbatim the company’s position and their

marketing lines- you can’t even vary from that. You practice and

practice until it flows naturally and doesn’t sound rehearsed.

I started recognizing really that I was being trained to divert

doctor’s attention away from his/her concerns. So, I was

learning to misinform and disinform- to counter the doctor’s

valid concerns. I wasn’t trained to say “this drug is bad for

that patient” or “watch out for this drug’s interaction with

that one." Any information perceived as a negative was always

being candy coated.

In fact many times we would be called into a meeting when a new

sales piece was being introduced. Managers would ask us

questions on what aspects of the piece we received the most

objections on. What were the parts that raised the most concern?

After we gave the marketing department that feedback, the next

period they would come up with a different layout that had

manipulated and minimized the objectionable data. So, it was a

constant set of circumstances where I began to see that I wasn’t

allowed to give good information and I wasn’t given good

information to share.

The industry knows that many of their drugs aren’t safe and

that they don’t heal people. In fact, some drugs are designed to

make symptoms worse later on.

When I started becoming pro-active and began to ask too many

critically intelligent questions, management objected and

discouraged me. I was frequently met with answers such as “We do

it that way because we can", or "We sell more pills that way.”

It was apparent my inquiries were not welcomed!

It was almost like being in the military, in fact, many of my

ex-managers had been in the military. Many are hired because

they have great work ethics and they don’t ask a lot of

questions. Military personnel are used to working on a ‘need to

know’ basis.

Adam Omkara: How did you come to an

awakening towards the industry. Did it all hit you all of the

sudden, or was it a slow process?

Gwen: I realized early on I was in a position

where I could harm people; In a position where I could literally

take lives. My grand realization arrived when I started

promoting a specific new drug.

I went to a national sales meeting for this new drug launch and

was told the wonders on how it was going to help people. We

immediately were sent out into our individual territories to get

support for the new drug with key prescribing physicians.

Drug reps are given profiles of all the physicians in the

territory on what their ‘writing habits’ are, i.e. their general

personality, their prescribing habits like whether they are high

volume prescribers or early adopters, or late adopters/skeptics.

Reps have all this information available before making a sales

call so that they know how to approach the doctor and can

develop a sales strategy.

So there was one doctor in my territory that was profiled as a

“late adopter/skeptic.” That meant he was going to be difficult

for me to get him to prescribe my new drug.

The marketing plan developed at launch emphasized to the sales

force that as a last ditch effort, if a doctor didn’t want to

write prescriptions for the new product, then the rep was to ask

for just one patient- the most difficult patient that the doctor

had. The theory was that if the drug worked for them, then the

doctor would be more likely to use it in his broader practice

later.

I did my presentation and the doctor told me his policy was he

didn’t prescribe a new drug until it’s been on the market for at

least a year. He had been burned on new drugs before.

However, with some hesitation he agreed to try it in his most

difficult patient who had failed all other therapies and I left

him samples.

Some time later I got a call from my district manager. I was

being sent out to gather information for an Adverse Drug

Reaction (ADR) report, as there has been a death in my territory

from our new drug and it was a patient of that doctor. And guess

what- it was his mother! She had gone into renal failure and

died from complications in dialysis. I was devastated!

After I went to get the ADR info, it took me almost 6 months to

work up the nerve to go see that man again and look him in the

eye. I was acutely aware that it had been my over-zealous and

persistent marketing of the product that had influenced him to

do something against his better judgment and, as a consequence,

his own mother had paid with her life!

I’ll never forget his angry, terse remark to me, “Well, I see

you all put a lot more effort into your marketing plan than you

did your drug research and development!” What could I say to him

after that?

That was my very first clue as a young rep that my job had

serious ramifications.

Once this happened more and more things started falling into

place. So with that awareness I began to see the job and

industry with new eyes…

Adam Omkara: And no one seems to questions this? Why

don’t you think there is more of this awakening or

questioning? Representatives, psychiatrists, doctors,

managers? Is there some desensitization process that comes

into play that’s very effective? Where does the disconnect

come into play and how is it sustained?

Gwen: Yes, there is definitely a

desensitization process. A re-programming if

you will. The indoctrination is usually done at the home office

during the initial training and is similar to how they do boot

camp in the military. They tear you down physically and

psychologically, reps are kept up late nights studying for

exams, preparing presentations, filming videos, deprived of

sleep, deprived of good nutrition, required to dress to the

nines and constantly compete with one another as they are being

watched and evaluated in the corporate fish bowl.

It’s a very psychologically grueling, but effective grooming

environment.

Then when they release you back into your sales territory, you

have this false sense of bravado feeling like you’re someone

special who is going to go out and help the world. It’s

literally a brainwashing process.

What they are effectively doing is trying to weed out the

mavericks and break the weak ones. The one’s who can’t handle

the job long term and, therefore, will be a wasted investment.

Adam Omkara: Do you know if the same basic training

policy is upheld for other companies?

Gwen: I worked for five different companies

and it happened in every single one. And I was no flunkee who

lost my job and then started bashing the industry. I was the

best of the best and performed at the top 3% in each company

that I worked for full time.

Usually, as soon as a rep starts asking too many questions or

makes unnecessary waves with management they are easily

dispensed of and told there are plenty more eligible people

behind them waiting to take their job. The only reason I was

tolerated was because of how valuable I was to them.

I always made my district and managers look good at the bottom

line.

Adam Omkara: And what about the psychiatrists and that

industry? Do they not question?

Gwen: You really want me to be honest? The

pharmaceutical industry makes so much fun of the psychiatric

profession that it’s not even funny. They actually refer to

psychiatrists as ‘drug whores.’ The reason they call them that

is because they have no loyalty to any one company or product,

it’s whoever is paying them at the time.

I was told in the initial training I received to sell

antipsychotic drugs that most psychiatrists got into the field

of psychiatry in order to figure out why they were so screwed

up. There were definitely some very odd birds! So yeah, they

were not held in very high regard. My colleagues and I looked

down on them as though they were a ‘lower class’

quasi-physician. Because we knew that they didn’t do anything

scientifically, it was all subjective diagnosis in nature,

dependent on third-party observation of symptoms.

So they were easy to sell drugs to. Most psychiatrists are so

ego-driven they would literally recommend anything when given

the appropriate sales pitch!

In this day and age, most psychiatrists don’t use talk therapy

anymore- just 15 minute appointments, what are your symptoms,

try this and come back in a month. You’re lucky if you can get

counseling these days (under coverage) and children rarely get

it.

So, you can see there is a huge incentive to continue the

psychopharmacologic-based treatment paradigm. Because if this

huge house of cards actually implodes there will be all these

doctors that have no way to practice in psychiatry anymore.

Without drug therapy, how would they practice?

Parents Beware: Children have become the largest

demographic for the Pharmaceutical Industry.

Adam Omkara: So what are you working on now?

Gwen: I’m presently contributing to an

anthology of works, called “Drugging our Children: How

Profiteers are Pushing Antipsychotics on our Youngest,” coming

out this fall.

A Medco Health Solutions Report in 2009 showed children to be

the largest growth demographic for the pharmaceutical

industry. Prescriptions in kids grew at 4X the rate of the

general population. Antipsychotics were the #1 drug category in

both 2008 and 2009 making $14.6 billion each year.

Furthermore, there are 1100 people who enter the social

security disability rolls on a daily basis because of mental

illness. Of that number, 250 are kids.

Adam Omkara: Do you have a message for the parents?

Gwen: Yes, my campaign is one of informed

consent. I’m not anti-drugs, but I am anti- misinformation, and

parents have been sorely misinformed, if not straight out lied

to in many circumstances. My message is for parents to be

pro-active.

Stop taking people’s words for things- start doing your own due

diligence and research when it comes to drugging your kids.

Remember that it not only takes a village to raise a child, it

takes a village to protect one. We all have to do our part!

Adam Omkara: Thank you very much Gwen

Please visit Gwen’s website at www.gwenolsen.com

for more information.

Also, check out her first book: Confessions

of an Rx Drug Pusher.

Like Gwen on Facebook

This eye opening accurate information gives you a peek into an

industry that doesn’t want you or your family to be well. If

Gwen’s account does anything, please let it give you the

realization that you should take your own health into your own

hands. ‘Let thy food be thy medicine’, laugh, love, forgive,

move, and get plenty of rest. Do your own due diligence and

research, if you do get ill. Let this simple motto and plan keep

big Pharma from ever manipulating and profiting off you and your

loved one’s again.

Related Article: The Most Astonishing Health Disaster in the

20th Century

Adam is a Reiki Master, certified Health and

Lifestyle counselor, Intrinsic Coach, Licensed Massage

Therapist, 20 year practicing bramana initiated Bhakti Yogi,

Spiritual advisor, visionary, jock and veteran of the

“hardcore punk scene” all rolled into one. His clients have

included celebrities, politicians, professional athletes,

and professional sport team owners. Adam is the founder of Omkara World and produced the

mind/body fitness DVD “Intelligent Fitness."

Adam also fuels daily motivation and inspiration with

his empowering “Namaste

Message a Day” program which has everyone from students

to celebrities joining.

For a 7 day free trial of Namaste messages

sent to your cell phone: Text OMKARA to

37619

Click Here for Latest Project: Got

OM?

Follow

Adam on Twitter Friend

Adam on Facebook