March 8, 2008.
They Said They Wanted to Put Pharmaceuticals in the Drinking Water,
But I Didn't Think They Would ReallyDo It

That's what some of my cardiology colleagues were quoted as saying about statins for cholesterol lowering, but a recent investigatory report showed that we not only have statins like Lipitor in our drinking water, but also antidepressants like Prozac, mood stabilizing drugs, antibiotics, and much much more. In fact, they had trouble finding any US city that didn't have multiple prescription drugs in the drinking water. You see when you go to the bathroom your prescription drugs go down the toilet and water purification doesn't necessarily remove them from the drinking supply. The article went on to say "Recent laboratory research has found that small amounts of medication have affected human embryonic kidney cells, human blood cells and human breast cancer cells. The cancer cells proliferated too quickly; the kidney cells grew too slowly; and the blood cells showed biological activity associated with inflammation. Also, pharmaceuticals in waterways are damaging wildlife... Notably, male fish are being feminized, creating egg yolk proteins, a process usually restricted to females. Pharmaceuticals also are affecting sentinel species at the foundation of the pyramid of life — such as earth worms in the wild and zooplankton in the laboratory. 'It brings a question to people's minds that if the fish were affected ... might there be a potential problem for humans?" EPA research biologist Vickie Wilson told the AP. "It could be that the fish are just exquisitely sensitive because of their physiology or something. We haven't gotten far enough along.'"

In my prior posts on statins I said "put that stuff in your own damn drinking water", but I guess I was too late. Oh, well.



My book 'Before You Take That Pill: Why the Drug Industry May be Bad for Your Health: Risks and Side Effects You Won't Find on the Label of Commonly Prescribed Drugs, Vitamins, and Supplements' is now available at amazon and at local Borders and Barnes and Noble book stores.

Doug Bremner, MD, is a physician
and researcher in Atlanta GA
and author of Before You Take That Pill: Why the Drug Industry May be
Bad for Your Health: Risks and Side Effects You Won't Find on the Label of Commonly Prescribed
Drugs, Vitamins and Supplements






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