Pushing Western medicine with fear in India

If you sleep less than six hours a night, you're increasing your risk of developing or dying from heart disease by 48 percent. At least, that's what U.S.-based pharmaceutical giant Abbott would have 1.2 billion people in India believe.

But doctors say the grim message, which appeared in a newspaper ad in India earlier this year, is baseless.

In fact, they worry Abbott's marketing campaign may be the bigger threat, scaring healthy people into buying potentially harmful sleeping pills they don't need -- such as the company's own drug Zolfresh.

Pushing Western medicine with fear in India | Reuters