There are many prescription drugs out there. Some have really proven useful to cure diseases, conditions completely. Others have at least been able to arrest conditions or lessen the negative symptoms. Some prescription drugs have been "pushed" on patients that have little beneficial effects yet they are continued for years. Also some new medicines (read expensive) are "pushed" on and continued on patients even though they don't do anything better than an existing drug which is much cheaper (usually because the patent has expired). I especially hope to get comments from those in the medical profession on this.
Prescription drugs...the good, the bad and the ugly.
By American in Japan Follow Tue, 5 Apr 2011, 8:27pm 4,381 views 15 comments
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Saint George, UT
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If you see the movie "love and other drugs" (you have to discount all the stupid shit in there), that's how the drug companies push drugs. The fact that new meds don't always work better doesn't matter much of the time.
However, if a patient can't tolerate or won't respond to one medication, they might to another that is very similar.
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I have to see it!
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Saint George, UT
elliemae's website
I just saw an old "American Greed" episode about the drug Bextra. It describes the slime to a "t".
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Any others? Thanks Elliemae!
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My favorite example of a simple medical procedure that can cure conditions, and competes against some expensive drugs that are much less effective:
http://open.salon.com/blog/amytuteurmd/2008/12/15/the_grossest_medical_procedure_ever
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Bextra...looks bad. Was it really being pushed from 2001 - 2005?
http://www.drugs.com/bextra.html
BEXTRA TABLET; ORAL (10MG, 20MG)
Active Ingredient(s): VALDECOXIB
Applicant: GD SEARLE
Chemical Type: New molecular entity (NME)
Marketing status: Discontinued
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I am curious what some of you who work in the medical profession make of this Risk Proliferation Syndrome:
http://www.smashcancer.com/2010/08/18/most-pharmaceutical-drugs-are-worse-than-useless/
In *some* cases ineffective drugs are promoted and in worse cases drugs with harmful side effects.
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The bad (10 anyway):
http://www.alternet.org/story/153576/the_10_most_dangerous_meds_driving_america%27s_pill_crisis?page=entire
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Here's how it works
Drs prescribe effective drug x, available for $00.10 a tablet as a generic, for malady y.
New drug from megadrug company is introduced and megadrug's representatives show up at Drs' offices with trunks full of money and tickets to Thailand to a dirty digger resort with unlimited hookers - all paid for - to prescribe in place of drug x for malady y.
New drug is suddenly on the best seller list and every dr is writing scripts for it for malady y and taking extended vacations to Thailand.
Five years later, newspaper stories appear that it's killing thousands of people, have of whom don't have malady y but are prescribed the drug as a prophylactic course of treatment, anyway.
Victims form a class.
The victims' lawyers are approached by a shadowy figure with a trunk full of money.
Suit is dropped.
Rumors persist.
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Baltimore, MD
That's why it's always good to do the research yourself to see if there is an older generic drug that used to be the one that they would prescribe and ask for it by name. Of course, some of the time they simply stop making these though.
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American in Japan says
Not to defend big pharma which has some truly dispicable practices, but I would look just a tiny bit deeper into this than an article by a sociologist published on a website promoting alternative treatment for cancer. Probably not a totally fair and unbiased source.
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American in Japan says
Again big pharma is bad news, but this article is a big so what. Considering the amount of drug seekers 40k deaths per year is pretty good. Anyone who has ever dealt with the population knows they will get drugs of some kind somehow. Many of these pain killers are really a source of relief for many people. If none of them existed the drug seekers would find something else and all the legitimate users would just be out of luck.
Whoever wrote the article is on planet pluto if they think that further restricting (there are pretty strong restrictions and tracking now, doctors aren't handing them out with the lollypops) these types of drugs will slow down the druggies in any way shape or form.
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@bob2356
>"Whoever wrote the article is on planet pluto if they think that further restricting (there are pretty strong restrictions and tracking now, doctors aren't handing them out with the lollypops) these types of drugs will slow down the druggies in any way shape or form."
You have a point. I'll look for better articles.
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If you are interested in alternative therapies you should check out the water cure. www.watercure.com or www.watercure2.org. This doctor, Dr. Batman is on to something. If you google him you will find him decried as a quack. If you read the testimonies of folks that were on their death beds and recovered fully without drugs. You will see this has potential to help and very little chance of harming you. If you read the book it will explain to you how to get hydrated. For me personally it has eliminated my chronic ongoing sinus problems and sinus infections.
What did I do:
Eliminate flouride from my water, diet and toilitries/drugs. (keeps your body from being able to utilize iodine, a necessary nutrient)
Add unrefined sea salt, way more than you think.
Drink half my weight in ounces of water each day.
Add occasional supplementation of iodine and transdermal magnesium.
Eat more fruits and vegetables than I did before, but I did eat a decent amount before.
Oh and among the ailments that he says are helped by proper hydration is depression. Meanwhile people are given expensive addictive drugs like prozac and ablify and other SSRIs that are no better than placebo (google it). Yes I have witnessed first hand a friend's daughter with the addictiveness of abilify and zoloft. It was like a crack head trying to get off that drug after she developed tardive dysconesia (repetitive uncontrolled movements) . Think very very hard before trying these drugs. You can be helped with hydration and some fish oil supplements and there is no withdrawal from either.
Best of health to all and if you want any more tips on natural healing go to this forum www.earthclinic.com. People give their own success stories on what has helped them. It is pretty cool because they have natural cures for common ailments that doctors won't even tell you there is anything you can do or try! So awesome. Got helped with endomitriosis and fibrocystic breast disease! Oh and the site is free!
Oh and no the sea salt has not raised my blood pressure. In fact if you have high blood pressure this doc says you need more salt and water. My blood pressure is perfectly within the normal range.
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Has anyone read "Death By Prescription" by Ray Strand, MD?