Big pharma invents new diseases to lengthen patents.
Andriote 12 [John-Manuel; He is the author of Victory Deferred and has specialized in HIV/AIDS reporting since 1986. His research materials, correspondence, and recorded interviews are part of a special collection curated by the Smithsonian; 4/3/2012; The Atlantic; “Legal Drug-Pushing: How Disease Mongers Keep Us All Doped Up”; https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/04/legal-drug-pushing-how-disease-mongers-keep-us-all-doped-up/255247/]//KaviWaRu
Changing the metrics for diagnosing a disease is one reliable technique. Dr. Adriane Fugh-Berman, associate professor of pharmacology and director of the industry watchdog group PharmedOut.org at Georgetown University School of Medicine, pointed to how the numbers used to diagnose diabetes and high cholesterol have been lowered over time. "The very numbers we use have been reduced to the point of absurdity," she said. "120/80 was considered normal blood pressure; now it's considered 'pre-hypertension.'"
Entirely new diseases can be, and have been, invented to extend a manufacturer's patent on a highly profitable drug. Fugh-Berman said Eli Lilly stood to lose a lot of profits once the patent expired on its hugely popular antidepressant Prozac. "So they positioned this new condition, PMDD (Pre-Menstrual Dysphoric Disorder), and then went to physicians and the FDA with their highly paid experts who said PMDD is a tragic disease, and they got approved for Sarafem, the same drug. It's an on-label use for a repackaged drug; they created the disease and then got a drug re-approved that was going off patent."