medications... needed or a money spinner? (Full Version)

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SaintAllie -> medications... needed or a money spinner? (7/29/2007 10:44:20 PM)

I haven't started a post before.. I'm more of a chatroom person, than a forums person ( although that is changing).

Something came up today in chat , (not sure if it has been covered already or not), regarding the number of people taking medications for one thing or another ( often things like sleep meds), a small poll of who was where in the world ,seemed to establish that a lot of people on medications were in the US.. ( not a scientific poll by any means). There was a faction of ppl that thought this may be due to illness and a faction that thought people were more encouraged to take meds by large corporations that make a lot of money off them..

just interested in peoples thoughts.. :)

kind regards Allie




mistoferin -> RE: medications... needed or a money spinner? (7/29/2007 10:55:14 PM)

Personally, I believe that a very high percentage of the medications prescribed in this country are being taken by people who have nothing wrong with them....other than life is easier if you take a few pills. Big pharmaceutical companies push it to the docs who push it to the patients. The drug companies are making money, the docs are making money and the patients are smiling cause they are pumped full of happy pills. I know lots of folks won't agree....but I really do think there is a lot more of that going on than many people realize.



nyrisa -> RE: medications... needed or a money spinner? (7/29/2007 11:31:47 PM)

I don't think that the majority of people who are proscribed medications would be well served by stopping all of them. I think most of the medications are prescribed in good faith to try to improve symptoms that were troubling the patient. What can easily happen is that fewer drugs, or older/cheaper drugs could manage a lot of these people just as well as the front line designer brands of newest drugs.

A lot of the problem rests on miscommunication between doctor and patient. The doctor must listen and examine carefully to prescribe the right med or treatment. The patient must listen carefully to understand what can be expected from the treatment, either improvement or side effects, and whether the side effects will be mild and temporary, or possibly dangerous.

Often side effects are common and mild in the first weeks of med use, and gradually resolve as the body adjusts. If the patient has no bad side effects, and the symptoms are helped a little but not resolved, then the next step is to increase the dosage of the medication, for better effect, as long as the side effects do not worsen. Very often, after several adjustments, the patient is satisfied with the way he feels, and no more changes need be made.

Other times, the patient may be overly freaked out by side effects, too anxious to allow time for the body to adapt, or to impatient to see improvements, so a different med may be tried, then another one, then another, and you get on a merry go round of having a patient who is always having something bad happen due to medication but never seems to have his problem improved. In this respect, there is room for lots of improvement in the way medication is used for best safety and most benefit.



ElectraGlide -> RE: medications... needed or a money spinner? (7/29/2007 11:53:56 PM)

I know people that walk into emergency rooms and fake a back injury to get pain pills. They have a bad addiction. They had family members tell that hospital or emergency room, they are faking and not give them to them. They only end up on that computer at that hospital as, do not give. So they drive an hour away and find another hospital emergency room and get them.
A family member of mine gets Vikoden, I think that is how it is spelled, and sells the whole jar for 5 bucks a pill to one person, no quanity discount either.



mistoferin -> RE: medications... needed or a money spinner? (7/29/2007 11:56:22 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: ElectraGlide
A family member of mine gets Vikoden, I think that is how it is spelled, and sells the whole jar for 5 bucks a pill to one person, no quanity discount either.


Dang, and to think that I flush them down the toilet when I get them!



ElectraGlide -> RE: medications... needed or a money spinner? (7/30/2007 12:04:11 AM)

I never used a pain killer, I quit drugs in 1989. My dentist prescribed a pain killer for a root canal, I turned it down, because the worst of the dental work was done, and I endured the pain that long. I was afraid of getting addicted. Prescription drug abuse is huge. You flushed some money down the toilet, but it is the right thing to do, instead of adding to the drug abuse problem out there.



ownedgirlie -> RE: medications... needed or a money spinner? (7/30/2007 12:04:21 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: mistoferin

Personally, I believe that a very high percentage of the medications prescribed in this country are being taken by people who have nothing wrong with them....other than life is easier if you take a few pills. Big pharmaceutical companies push it to the docs who push it to the patients. The drug companies are making money, the docs are making money and the patients are smiling cause they are pumped full of happy pills. I know lots of folks won't agree....but I really do think there is a lot more of that going on than many people realize.


Unfortunately, I agree with this.  Thankfully my doctor doesn't like doling out drugs (rat bastard, even when I've asked, lol) and I am on no meds presently.  Well, except for Midol at the moment [&:]




SusanofO -> RE: medications... needed or a money spinner? (7/30/2007 12:24:00 AM)

I've been taking anti-depressants for over 25 years, and I do definitely need them (without them, I can become suicidal). However, my grandfather lived to be over 92, and I really don't think he ever went to the doctor, not even for an annual physical or anything. He died of colon cancer, but he was 92 when he died. 

I think he was partly blessed wsith good genes, and partly, he basically ignored minor ailmets" like colds, as far as taking drugs beyond aspirin for them - but both he and my grandmother were big on "home cures". He drank 7-Up, for instance, if he got a stomach ache - he didn't take a prescrioption drug. That's what he gave me if I got a stomach ache while I was at at his house, too (and amazingly, it worked for me). I remember my grandma was always making chicken soup, if I or my sisters had a cold, and we were staying at my grand-parent's house (it seemed to make us feel better, too). 

I think Pharmacueticals marketing is definitely a big profit-making enterprise. For one thing, look at the comparison between the prices charged for the same exact meds, manufactured by the same company, in different countries. There are huge price differences for many drugs.

I remember that "Purple Pill" marketing campaign for the drug Nexium. It was just everywhere - in magazines, on TV : "Ask your doctor about Nexium". Ditto for some of the the new ADHD and Bi-polar drugs.

Pharmacuetical companies really seem to know how to push their products. Some of them might be "new and improved" versions of old products, or completely new innovations - and others might be kind of un-necessary, IMO.  But, one thing is for sure: For some kinds of ailments, people here in the U.S. don't lack for choice, as far as prescription drugs (as long as they can afford them, that is).

- Susan



popeye1250 -> RE: medications... needed or a money spinner? (7/30/2007 12:45:54 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: SaintAllie

I haven't started a post before.. I'm more of a chatroom person, than a forums person ( although that is changing).

Something came up today in chat , (not sure if it has been covered already or not), regarding the number of people taking medications for one thing or another ( often things like sleep meds), a small poll of who was where in the world ,seemed to establish that a lot of people on medications were in the US.. ( not a scientific poll by any means). There was a faction of ppl that thought this may be due to illness and a faction that thought people were more encouraged to take meds by large corporations that make a lot of money off them..

just interested in peoples thoughts.. :)

kind regards Allie




I take lithium and a few other things and anti-inflamatories for arthritis.
I have pain medicine (Vicidin) but it's there for pain, not recreational purposes.
And anyone who thinks big pharma isn't in the business to make *money* has rocks in their head.
They really push those "statin" drugs for cholesterol but I've read articles that say that most people who get heart attacks and strokes don't have high cholesterol.
I think there's a lot of people who are on unneccessary drugs.



SugarMyChurro -> RE: medications... needed or a money spinner? (7/30/2007 12:54:32 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: mistoferin
Personally, I believe that a very high percentage of the medications prescribed in this country are being taken by people who have nothing wrong with them....other than life is easier if you take a few pills.


I agree very strongly with mistoferin here.

Sure, some people really need their meds, but others are just drifting on medication highs. The fact that we have so many TV commercials about meds should be some indication of who these many pills are directed at:

CONSUMERS, of course!



SusanofO -> RE: medications... needed or a money spinner? (7/30/2007 12:56:52 AM)

I think this is an intriguing topic.

I agree with you about pushing the statin drugs, Popeye. My brother-in-law has been on about 4 different ones (and I think his doc may change his prescription at times, based on which Pharm company is pushing what drug it at him that month, for lowering patients' cholesteral.) I was a Marketing Management major in college - and my opinion is that Pharmacueticals marketing is definitely a huge, profit-making enterprise, just like any other business.

To me, that doesn't always mean everything they market is un-necessary. It just means some of it might be, and probably is (my opinion). I sometimes think we may reach the point where people won't be able to deal with a case of the sniffles without a prescription drug.

On the other hand, if you can afford a remedy that might make your life easier for a few days, or help a cold clear up faster, why not take it? Too bad not everyone has the same kind of health insurance coverage to allow truly "equal access" to common prescription meds.

I do definitely sometimes get concerned when I read horror stories about drugs that have not been tested properly before they are marketed. In my opinion it's a relatively rare occurrence, but it happens (as with Prozac, for instance, and Phen-Phen (the weight loss drug). When that happens, people can actually die as a consequence.

Pharmacutical companies: What can you do? Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em, hehe.

- Susan



popeye1250 -> RE: medications... needed or a money spinner? (7/30/2007 1:11:26 AM)

Susan, I think big pharma makes more money than the oil companies.
Charro, you are correct.
Susan, did you hear about that big robbery in Omaha last night?
They stole a whole truckload of Viagra!
The Police are looking for a gang of hardened criminals!



SugarMyChurro -> RE: medications... needed or a money spinner? (7/30/2007 1:19:55 AM)

Funny!

But hey, you know what's missing from this conversation? The discussion about drug prejudice. Obviously, there are two categories of drugs: legal and illegal.

The question is: why?



popeye1250 -> RE: medications... needed or a money spinner? (7/30/2007 1:31:18 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: SugarMyChurro

Funny!

But hey, you know what's missing from this conversation? The discussion about drug prejudice. Obviously, there are two categories of drugs: legal and illegal.

The question is: why?


Churro, no "prejudice" they're illegal.
You trying to draw a paralell to something?



SugarMyChurro -> RE: medications... needed or a money spinner? (7/30/2007 1:47:40 AM)

I am just saying that people consume what they like - making it illegal just drives up the price and busies the justice system with bullshit it can't handle and was never intended to.

That any drugs are illegal is drug prejudice.



SaintAllie -> RE: medications... needed or a money spinner? (7/30/2007 2:24:00 AM)


The purpose of my post was to ascertain the perceptions of people that use current legal drugs via prescriptions.

Illegal drugs are an entirely different debate.

I'm not saying don't debate them, I am saying start another thread and perhaps link it to here, if you feel it is necessary, this conversation is not about illegal drugs.

regards Allie



Level -> RE: medications... needed or a money spinner? (7/30/2007 3:00:16 AM)

There is a huge problem here (and elsewhere) with the so called "prescription cocktail", docs doling out Xanex, Vicodin, and Larcet; we have several "pain clinics" that have popped up, and the parking lots are packed. I've lost not only my best friend, but several others to this crap.
 
As for statins, yep, the pharma comps and docs pimp those things out. Dr. Michael Debakey, a brilliant cardiovascular surgeon, has stated that at least half of all the patients he sees for heart disease have absolutely  normal cholesterol, and the evidence is growing that cholesterol has little or no link to heart illness. Ah, don't get me started.....
 
To the OP: yes, lots of drugs being handed out here, sure, some of it's needed, but plenty of it is not, IMO.



SugarMyChurro -> RE: medications... needed or a money spinner? (7/30/2007 3:53:28 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: SaintAllie
Illegal drugs are an entirely different debate.
I'm not saying don't debate them...


Okay.

But...

...it's really a very arbitrary distinction you're making. Self-medicating is the problem. Getting your drugs from the pusherman or a licensed doctor seems quite arbitrary to me. The title of this thread and the manner in which you framed the issue would seem to suggest a viewpoint that is at least a little suspicious of the established rationale for this area of discussion.



PsyVamp -> RE: medications... needed or a money spinner? (7/30/2007 4:01:48 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: mistoferin
quote:

ORIGINAL: ElectraGlide
A family member of mine gets Vikoden, I think that is how it is spelled, and sells the whole jar for 5 bucks a pill to one person, no quanity discount either.

Dang, and to think that I flush them down the toilet when I get them!


When I get dental work done, like root canals.. something usually happens to cause an infection, no matter what dentist I go to.  I usually have him prescribe an antibiotic and 5 tablets of Vicoden.  There has only been one time that the scripts weren't filled.  I only get the 5 because there is only one-two days where the pain is bad before the antibiotic kicks in.  After that, I don't need them.

I also had a family member addicted to 'script drugs.  She went to different doctors and pharmacies to get meds and even picked up some in Mexico on cruises or on the internet.  Its not a laughing matter, these people are addicts just like any other addict.  Just because a doctor gives the medication, doesn't make it any less of an addiction.

Psy



SaintAllie -> RE: medications... needed or a money spinner? (7/30/2007 4:46:49 AM)

 Arbitrary?

Well no, not really..I feel you just want to discuss illegal drugs.. expanding it into " self medication' is a red herring.. having a go at the title of this thread and the way I phrased things is also of self interest to you.

If this goes off topic.. so be it.....that's the nature of forums :)

regards Allie




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