Study: 27% Believe Drug Companies Hiding Cancer Cure
Posted on June 27, 2005
Dr. Koop reports on a new study that indicates some Americans distrust the drug companies. According to the survey 27% of Americans believe that a cancer cure already exists but the health industry is hiding it. 41% believe that the surgical treatments used to cure cancer actually spread the disease. And 89% disagreed with the statement that "all you need to beat cancer is a positive attitude." Dr. Ray DuBois, director of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, Tenn, told Dr. Koop that drug companies are not hiding a cancer cure.
Most surprising, he said, was the widespread belief that the medical industry is hiding a cure. "It's just the reverse," DuBois said, noting that companies are trying to fast-track new drugs and treatments to get them to people as soon as possible.The survey results, said DuBois, probably mean that cancer centers should "beef up their public education efforts." He noted, "There are more misconceptions out there than some people realize."