Posted by garnet71 on February 27, 2009, at 22:41:13
In reply to Re: As a board, can we do anything about this? » bleauberry, posted by desolationrower on February 27, 2009, at 2:07:29
d/r, Concerning the tests, I respectfully disagree with you here. I'm not sure what you meant by 'tests', but I think everyone should, at the very least, get an expanded blood panel before starting on psych meds. There are just too many medical conditions that cause similar symptoms, which I'm sure you know. My insurance company had no problem paying thousands per year on meds that I ended up throwing in the garbage. The loss in productivity is a huge cost to society, not to mention the other peripheal social costs; for example, being a single mom and not being able to adequately take care of your child....funnels down to the school system, etc. Then there are the ER visits for all those with severe anxiety. Of course, no one could actually quantify the costs to facilitate an accurate cost/benefit analysis. But really-$1000 in tests vs. $300 in meds per month (for some), that may not be needed?
For children/teens, I also think its potentially dangerous to casually start them on antidepressents, especially.
poster:garnet71
thread:882093
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090223/msgs/882970.html