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Re: Is this the road Elvis started on?Medication Help!

Posted by jwill on June 4, 1999, at 12:58:16

In reply to Re: Is this the road Elvis started on?Medication Help!, posted by JohnL on June 3, 1999, at 4:14:43

Your question hits home on some big subjective issues to which there is no provable right answer. I can relate to your diagnoses - multiple phobias, dysthymia, major depression, ADD, and others. After some years on medications (Prozac, Ritalin, Klonipin currently), I often wonder if, given that I'll probably need medication for the rest of my life, and, given that it works only partially, will the situation ultimately spiral into ever-increasing use of medication to the point of such dependency and overuse, it ends up being a danger. I think that the medications prescribed today are better than alternatives used before them, such as alcohol, etc. In the 1800's, and before, alcoholism was far more common than it is now, and was more often fatal. On the other hand, there are so many instances of drugs being declared illegal because they are "too good". Dexedrine, for example, is difficult to get in the U.S., and it has been officially dubbed, addictive. Other drugs/medications, such as quaaludes, opiates, marijuana, and hundreds of others have been declared illegal in the U.S., as immoral (punishable by criminal penalties). It is well documented that pharmaceuticals companies have poured billions of dollars into lobbying and lawsuits to have drugs outlawed. It is less well documented, in almost all cases, as to whether or not the outlawed medicine was indeed, or was not, of greater detriment than help. Certainly, however, there is a nearly infinite amount of wealth to be gained by making a competing drug hard to get. (Note "Partnership for a Drug-Free America" is funded (approx. 90%) by Anhauser-Busch and big tobacco companies). I'm not saying that all drug restrictions are bad, or even most of them. Certainly, there is a need to regulate "medications". It is just unfortunate, and something we all must watch, that the huge potential for monetary gain in pharmaceuticals marketing has, does, and always will drastically alter the medications available, as well as public opinion concerning these medications through the media, in a way that does not correlate with consumer/patient welfare or truth, but does correlate well with profits.
Sorry to run on for so long. I guess I am just saying that Canada is better geared to helping people with medical problems than is the U.S.

One last thought: When a patent on a medication expires, and anyone can make it,or, when a highly effective treatment really is found, what is a poor pharmaceuticals firm to do about the drastic shift in demand away from its own products?


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Psycho-Babble Medication | Framed

poster:jwill thread:6987
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990601/msgs/7063.html