A survey this month found that almost three quarters of doctors believe in miracles. Somehow I doubt that this news is all that reasurring to a patient, even if they are themselves religious. We want doctors to have faith in the medicines they give us, but we would prefer that this confidence came from the scientific proof of its efficacy rather than through keeping their fingers crossed and hoping for divine intervention. There is a problem though. Being a doctor is not a very happy career for those who demand that medicines are thoroughly tested, safe and beneficial to patients. Maybe this is why those who believe in miracles end up dominating the medical profession.

It has occasionally been observed that when doctors go on strike, the death rate drops significantly.

To find out whether the industrial action was affecting deaths in the country, the Jerusalem Post interviewed non-profit making Jewish burial societies, which perform funerals for the vast majority of Israelis. Hananya Shahor, the veteran director of Jerusalems Kehilat Yerushalayim burial society said, "The number of funerals we have performed has fallen drastically." Meir Adler, manager of the Shamgar Funeral Parlour, which buries most other residents of Jerusalem, declared with much more certainty: "There definitely is a connection between the doctors sanctions and fewer deaths. We saw the same thing in 1983 when the Israel Medical Association applied sanctions for four and a half months."

For those who think in black and white: no I am not saying that doctors only do harm, after all, if they never helped anyone there wouldn't be any apparent miracles now would there? You should see a doctor if you really feel you need to, but it is a good thing that you can check for yourself what the possible side-effects may be of whatever drug they administer to you. Sound fair?

After a series of prescription-medication scares in recent years, consumers are receiving a flood of safety information about the drugs they take -- so much that it risks scaring some people.Too much information about drug safety -- disseminated through media, online alerts from consumer watchdog groups and even by the Food and Drug Administration itself -- might overwhelm patients and raise undue alarm, some medical professionals caution. A Pfizer Inc. survey of 300 medical professionals in March found that 89% of respondents were at least somewhat concerned that patients might stop their medications if potentially negative safety information was released to the public too early.

Let's hope these professionals don't succeed in having this information taken away from us. Some of us like to weigh up risks, but we are probably in the minority anyway to judge by the wreck society is in. If people eat GM crops, never mind smoking and generally unhealthy lifestyles, it is not that likely many will worry much about what's in the magic pills their faith healer doles out. If you do check it out, you can try to make an educated choice.

Financial pressures and incentives put upon the medical profession by corporate bullies are the biggest threat to drug safety. Doctors are bribed to sell certain brands and practices such as paying doctors per vaccine shot encourage coercion to maximise uptake.

Critics, including prominent cancer and kidney doctors, say the payments give physicians an incentive to prescribe the medicines at levels that might increase patients risks of heart attacks or strokes.

Sometimes the drug company conspires to lie to the doctors.

In her lawsuit, Gleason charges she was sexually harassed and, eventually, fired because she refused to follow orders to market the drug for all purposes, such as telling docs the drug could be used in lower-cost, 100mg doses to treat candidemia. The FDA, though, had not approved Mycamine for that use or dosage. As an example, she cites a June 2007 club luncheon at which a presentation was being made and she refused her supervisor's instructions to discuss an unapproved clinical study article.However, her supervisor, Tom Long, allegedly proceeded to discuss the article. In violation of FDA rules, Mr. Long represented to the physicians who were present at the luncheon that Mycamine 100mg is being used at Tampa General Hospital and Jackson Memorial, two large hospitals in Tampa Regionals sales territory, according to the lawsuit. Mr. Long falsely told the physicians present at the luncheon that, with regard to Mycamine, no one questions the 100 mg anymore, its a given.

In the above case a drug was being pushed for uses other than those it was approved for. But the corruption often starts at an earlier stage in the process. There are side effects for some drugs that you simply cannot discover, unless you find out the hard way.

There's a common assumption that when a drug makes it to market, it has run a rigorous gantlet of testing and proper disclosure. Testing, yes. Disclosure - not necessarily.Findings from many clinical studies assessing prescription drugs never see light of day. That skews the basic scientific record that every patient, physician and researcher needs to judge whether treatments cause more harm than good. There is no easy way to discover how much knowledge we've been missing, raising the possibility that we may be taking medications that are less effective than we've been led to believe or may have undisclosed side effects."

As the medical industry is run for private profit these problems are inevitable. Given that medicine has such a profound impact upon our lives and upon society itself, there is good reason to prioritise strict controls, wiping out the growing mafia-like corruption by Big Pharma. It is hoping for a miracle if anyone expect's this to be tackled under a democracy in which corporations pull political strings.