Throughout the XX century, the western pharmaceutical industry was organized in order to monopolize the sale of medicines in the planet. The strategy was to replace all non-patentable natural medicines with patentable synthetic medicines!
Thus the 'drug barons' were born; legalized, protected and sheltered by the sanitary authorities of the West.

This was a macabre plan, orchestrated by powerful and unscrupulous pharmaceutical industrialists, whose goal was to manipulate medical therapies anywhere in the world, making mankind depend on patented synthetics.

Proof of this last previous is that practically all the sanitary governmental systems of the western world - even in countries with great herbal tradition- exert the same inexplicable bureaucratic barriers against herbal remedies traditionally used by its people. With it, only the great monopolies benefits. As it shows: Venezuela .

This conspiracy was so successful that the substitution and elimination of practically all herbal remedies in almost all pharmacopeias and governmental institutes of health of the world was obtained at the beginning of the XX century .

The Echinacea case

A clear example is the Echinacea, flower that was used during 500 years by North American natives, to treat among other ailments, affections of the immune system and uterine fibromatosis. Its effectiveness is compared to the one of the best known synthetic medicine but.... without its harmful collateral effects.

Echinacea was part of the North American pharmacopeia until the beginning of the 20 century 20, time at which it was eliminated, by the influences of the industry, to be replaced by synthesized drugs that we know and use today. The excuse was the arrival of antibiotics, which was an absurd argument because these do nothing against the virus, whereas the Echinacea - by its immune stimulant properties - generates a strong antiviral action by the own body. (1)

The Aspirin dossier

A similar situation happened with the elimination of the white willow, also known as "natural aspirin". It was the first aspirin of the world, but devoid of the secondary effects of acetyl salicylic acid. The fact is that the chemical industry saw the possibility of 'acetilizing' the salicylic acid molecule to generate a patentable synthetic aspirin: the acetylsalicylic acid and as a result, was born one of the great pharmacological monsters of the world.

It is important to emphasize that the natural aspirin continues to be a better product than its synthetic counterpart: it does not cause gastric ulcers or gastrointestinal bleeding, in addition, stays longer time in the blood plasma, because of the natural transformation of salicylates in saligenine and afterwards in salicylic acid. Metabolism occurs in two phases, between the intestines and the liver, allowing for a better advantage on behalf of the organism, in contrast to blood peaks that normally happen with the synthetics.

In short, an excellent natural medicine, without secondary effects, was replaced by one synthesized but patentable molecule -with significant secondary effects- only to satisfy the economic voracity of the great Pharmaceutical industry!

The case of estrogens

Another sad example is that of synthetic estrogens. In the middle of the last century, it was determined that hormonal substitution could benefit women in the menopause phase by means of Hormonal Replacement Therapy. This was an extraordinary discovery of science medical...unfortunately shady. The reason: in order to make this wonderful therapy, the industry promoted the use of ominous estrogen, either synthetic or originating from pregnant mares, because both groups were absolutely patentable as far as synthesis mechanism.

Deplorably equine hormones were used... as if the women of the world had equine origin or as if identical natural molecules could not be synthesized. This is really questionable, since the industry preferred to generate new molecules, similar to estrogens, with strong secondary effects, instead of simply making an identical natural molecule, without side effects. The reason was economic: the right to a patent.

It is important -in this sad story- to give a great recognition to the North American Physicians Association, who during the ' 50 ' was fervently against equine or synthetic estrogenic therapy, denouncing the damages that this could cause; nevertheless and lamentably, the 'lobby' of the pharmaceutical industry had more power than the medical associations vis-à-vis the sanitary authorities in North America, with the lamentable imposition of the aforementioned drugs, even over the physicians veto.

From that moment on, the "epidemic" of hysterectomies began everywhere in the world, particularly in those countries subject to the 'influence' of synthetic estrogen use. The ominous result was an increase in the incidence of uterus neck cancer, breast cancer, neoplasias and uterine fibromatosis at the end of the last century and, even, nowadays. (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

Something similar happened with natural progesterone which has been displaced by progestin's (synthetic progesterones) which generate other complications. (8)

Curiously the same company owner of the Aspirin® trademark was also the owner of the Heroin® trademark, to which it had to resign, in 1919, as a result of the Treaty of Versailles, which listed the settlements to be paid by Germany when it lost World War I. (9)

Insofar as Venezuela is concerned we have that the last Official Pharmacopeia published dates from 1942. It contains abundant medicinal plants, described for medical use, as they were the first choice of physicians in the first half of the last century. Pity that there are very few of those -physicians- still present to validate it.