don't take drugs....they are bad for you

[ecojeanne]

but Indie...in earlier threads we discussed the fact that pharma lies to the FDA to get drugs approved like vioxx and many other cases of documents with wrong information given to the FDA for approval....so you're in the medical field....

[shh!]

I did two psychology rotations as a student, LW. One on a university hospital ward & the other as a summer physician's assistant at a high-security psychiatric facility. There were no secret drug experiments going on.
.

When I did my psych rotation, we often had to refuse to give the meds to the patients because they wanted them before they were scheduled.

Lilwing, for the record, patients in a mental hospital WANT to be well. It is pretty rare that they refuse their meds, but if they refuse them it is illegal to force them to take it. the only exception is for a violent patient, who is given every opportunity to calm themselves down before they are given the "cocktail".

[Dasein]

Is it at all possible that Pharma companies can be a help AND a hindrance all at the same time?

[shh!]

I think the biggest problem is with physicians over-prescribing.

[misombra]

i think the problem is that i am not medicated enough.

[starbuck]

i think the problem is that i am not medicated enough.

You can have some of mine. I got lots of good meds.

Mmmm, Xanax. Like candy, only calmer.

[shh!]

I have meds that have long-since expired. I don't know how to get rid of them - if you flush them, they end up in the water we drink, and the pharmacy won't take them back.

[Dasein]

I think the biggest problem is with physicians over-prescribing.

They never give me enough opioids

I think you are right. I notice that my GP will have a visit from a Pharma rep who has left packets of Zoloft for instance and then if I complain about something its like.."take this Zoloft for a week and see how you go". When the doctor suspected I had Irritable Bowel Syndrome she wanted to put me on anti depressants..

[starbuck]

LOL, Dasein. I had a psycho-pharmacologist here in NYC who prescribed Xanax to me at the drop of a hat. Loads and loads of it. I'm actually surprised I didn't end up with an addiction to it.

And he always said he felt like they should put anti-depressants in the NYC water. He was a little scary.

[shh!]

Dasein - Yeah, that's not uncommon (along with anti-anxiety meds). Sometimes they use anticholenergics, too.

My step-son was just told to take Immodium.

EDIT - Starbuck, I have expired Xanax that was prescribed for panic attacks. I'm kind of sorry I didn't use them up before they expired.

[ecojeanne]

this is an interesting article...now whether you can say for sure healthy food is ultimately the cause...nobody truly knows yet...i believe it...genetics...well there was a study done that also suggested that healthy food can alter so called genetic predisposition...who knows...heres the article anyway:

The Bush administration's handouts to pharmaceutical companies just keep on coming. First, it was the Medicare discount drug card scam which turned out to be a system that guaranteed pharmaceutical industry profits thanks to sky-high prices of prescription drugs (the discounts were nonexistent). Next, it was the initiation of an anti-terror drug research program where the government would spend billions of dollars buying and stockpiling expensive drugs and vaccines to counter biological weapons. And now, it's the announcement that President Bush wants to mandate the mental health screening of the entire U.S. population.
Why is this a handout to drug companies? Because these so-called mental health "disorders" are often fictitious diseases (like ADHD) that can easily be attributed to nearly anyone. And once a person is labeled "diseased," they can be put on expensive prescription drugs to alter their brain chemistry. Make no mistake: this sweeping "public health" initiative is really just a clever way to dope up half the population with expensive prescription drugs that alter brain chemistry. It's a devious plan. And it's an invasion of personal privacy.

It's all made even worse by the sad fact that antidepressant drugs, which will no doubt be prescribed in large quantities under this initiative, are now proven to cause a 400% increase in the risk of a patient committing suicide. They also provoke patients to engage in violent acts against others. These antidepressants alter brain chemistry in dangerous ways and should probably be banned, not unleashed on the entire population.

The fact is, people don't need prescription drugs to deal with mental health problems in the first place. What they need is good nutrition that includes cod liver oil or other sources of vitamin D (a vitamin D deficiency is one of the most common causes of mental instability), a daily dose of natural sunlight on their skin (sunshine cures depression, and lack of sunshine is strongly correlated with clinical depression in the medical literature), regular physical exercise (strength training, jogging, swimming or other forms of physical exercise powerfully alter brain chemistry in an uplifting way), and of course the consumption of superior nutritional supplements made with brain-boosting medicinal herbs, organic whole foods, or superfoods.

That's how you solve depression, dementia, schizophrenia and other mental disorders. And you can eliminate ADHD practically overnight by taking children off foods loaded with added sugars or refined carbohydrates and putting them on whole foods, organic foods and select nutritional supplements. See, mental health problems are not caused by a lack of prescription drugs: they're caused by a lack of nutrition, sunlight and healthy physical activity. If you want the entire country to experience outstanding mental health, you've got to get the people to make healthy lifestyle choices and keep them far away from prescription drugs

But of course actually enhancing the mental health of patients was never the goal of Bush's program. The intent, it seems, is to generate billions of dollars in profits for Big Pharma while keeping the population in a zombie-like state of mind where they will support more military action against Iraq, or, at least, not question authority when Ashcroft passes the second version of the Patriot Act that makes it a federal crime to not take your medications...

[shh!]

Could you please post a link to your source when you quote something?

[anachronistic]

I did two psychology rotations as a student, LW. One on a university hospital ward & the other as a summer physician's assistant at a high-security psychiatric facility. There were no secret drug experiments going on.

Now, I have heard of less-than-ethical things happening in Africa, with HIV drugs. Lack of informed consent. However, even in the US, many patients are *willing* to take new drugs before they are adequately tested. In fact, these groups *lobby* the gov't to release these drugs early, on whats called 'fast tracking'. Its buyer beware, in these cases.

No company wants to produce a drug that kills ppl. Bad for sales, you know.

But, even still, any drug that wants to make it to market in the US/Canada/Urp has to submit a *very* detailed amount of pre-clinical & clinical data that is extensively reviewed by the FDA (or equivalent) and external reviewers.

Well, at least I was right, in that it is all about the money.

[anachronistic]

Could you please post a link to your source when you quote something?

I found 2 refs:

[url]www.naturalnews.com/001481.html[/url]

[url]www.friendsoffreedominternational.org/articles.php?offset=2125&command[/url] =showall

[starbuck]

But of course actually enhancing the mental health of patients was never the goal of Bush's program. The intent, it seems, is to generate billions of dollars in profits for Big Pharma while keeping the population in a zombie-like state of mind where they will support more military action against Iraq, or, at least, not question authority when Ashcroft passes the second version of the Patriot Act that makes it a federal crime to not take your medications...

Um, John Ashcroft has been out of office since 2005.