Big Pharma Deceit: How Rockefeller and Carnegie Rewrote Medicine
Introduction: A Curious Cure-All?
Most people assume that modern medicine evolved through honest scientific progress. However, a closer look reveals a very different story. In the early 1900s, John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie launched a so-called reform that would transform healthcare forever. While many hailed their involvement as philanthropic, others now view it as the beginning of Big Pharma deceit.
The Flexner Report: Big Pharma deceit?
In 1910, Abraham Flexner, under commission from the Carnegie Foundation and with Rockefeller’s backing, released a report that evaluated medical schools across North America. He criticised many institutions, especially those offering natural or holistic education. As a result, more than half of the medical schools closed their doors – not due to public safety concerns, but because they didn’t align with the new pharmaceutical model.
Rockefeller-funded schools focused solely on allopathic medicine. This shift wasn’t accidental. It helped steer education towards drug-based solutions, sidelining centuries-old healing traditions. In truth, the Flexner Report didn’t just raise standards – it cleared the field for Big Pharma deceit to take hold.
Big Pharma Deceit in Medical Education
Before this industrial intrusion, homeopathy, naturopathy, and herbal medicine were well respected. However, medical students were soon being trained to distrust those disciplines. Rockefeller’s money flowed only to institutions that embraced petrochemical drug development – conveniently matching his own investments.
Universities adopted a narrow view of medicine. Teachers drilled into students that pharmaceutical solutions were modern and effective, while natural treatments were outdated. This manufactured shift cemented Big Pharma deceit into the very foundations of medical training.
Controlling the Narrative: Big Pharma deceit
Beyond medical schools, Rockefeller and Carnegie began influencing public opinion through media and medical journals. They funded scientific research and publication outlets, promoting the benefits of pharmaceuticals while undermining traditional healing methods. Journalists and academics, knowingly or not, became mouthpieces for this campaign.
As expected, the public started seeing natural medicine as primitive. At the same time, patented drugs were promoted as miracles. This well-crafted message helped spread Big Pharma deceit far and wide, shaping health policy and public attitudes for generations.
The Business Model Behind It All
So why go to such lengths? The answer lies in profit. Patents gave companies exclusive rights to sell synthetic medicines, while plants and herbs offered no such protection. Rockefeller’s chemical companies produced the drugs. His foundation funded the schools that taught doctors to prescribe them. And the media reinforced it all.
This wasn’t about curing people. It created a health system where the patient became a lifelong customer. Through this, Big Pharma deceit evolved into a finely tuned profit engine masquerading as modern progress.
The Silencing of Holistic Health
Communities once relied on herbalists, midwives, and diet-based therapies. These weren’t dangerous or fringe; they were rooted in generational wisdom. But within a few decades, authorities labelled them pseudoscientific.
Regulatory bodies – many tied to pharmaceutical interests – blocked these practitioners from gaining licences or research grants. Doctors received minimal training in nutrition or lifestyle. As a result, Big Pharma deceit eliminated competition and reduced patient choice.
The Lingering Effects Today
Even now, mainstream healthcare often dismisses non-pharmaceutical approaches. Patients face long-term prescriptions for symptoms, rarely getting to the root of the problem. Natural practitioners still struggle for legitimacy, despite growing public interest.
However, people are waking up. They’re questioning whether a system built on repeat prescriptions really serves their health. More are turning back to herbal medicine, clean diets, and energy therapies – once considered fringe, now seen as vital. This awakening directly challenges Big Pharma deceit, which relies on ignorance and fear to survive.
Conclusion: Time to Reclaim Health
Modern medicine has achieved a lot. But let’s be clear – it didn’t develop in a vacuum. Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Flexner laid the foundations for a system that favoured profit over prevention. By funding certain schools, shaping public opinion, and shutting out alternatives, they ensured pharmaceutical dominance for over a century.
Understanding this history allows us to make better choices today. If we want healthcare that truly serves people, not profits, we must recognise and resist Big Pharma deceit in all its forms.
