Last week news agencies across the country reported on a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study that found some Americans don’t sleep enough.

The study, based on phone interviews, said that 50-70 million Americans may be tired at work or school. The fatigue, the study says, could be a result of family and work stress or caffeine intake. The insignificant CDC report was released in conjunction with the pharmaceutical and sleep industry sponsored Sleep Awareness Week.

Reports like this are not uncommon. The news media, working in tandem with industry-sponsored health awareness organizations, have created and pushed countless maladies onto the public. This tag-team duo is a winning combination, as the billion-dollar pharmaceutical business grows and news media gain a few more interested viewers.

Ailments that once were the badge of growing older like erectile dysfunction, or a sign of youth such as being distracted or feeling alienated are now serious diseases that require the newest drugs to correct. And now we are to believe feeling sleepy during the day because we stayed up late doing work is an unusual or newsworthy occurrence.

Not many would argue that sometimes people don’t get enough rest. However, when drug companies fund research and health promotions like Sleep Awareness Week to convince the public they are ill and need medical intervention, someone needs to blow the whistle.

Our whistle blowers are failing to investigate this “disease mongering” and they are becoming a driving force behind the selling of sickness.

The CDC says Americans are tired and need intervention while the drug companies sponsor a week-long extravaganza promoting sleep products and aides, and the media become the complacent platform that makes it all possible.

That’s enough to make anyone sick.