One need not look far to find a major source of trouble in America; drugs. I'm not necessarily talking about illicit toxins such as cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, LSD, methamphetamine or the like, but 22 million people in this country addicted to such chemicals is definitely horrible and is the cause of innumerable other social problems. However, there is another group of drugs and their manufacturers that is causing a whole other set of situations. The legal drug industry is one of the most lucrative in the world, which is why it continues to grow and Americans' insurance costs have skyrocketed in recent years. In fact, pharmaceutical companies make so much money off duping the government and citizens of this country that they have easily been able to pay the more than $1.5 billion in fines for Medicaid and other fraud since 2001. This isn't even mentioning the hundreds of millions, if not billions, that have been paid to settle suits from consumers. Then there is the ongoing story of pharmaceutical salesman pressuring and even paying doctors to prescribe their drugs over others' or for an off-label use. The trend of using one drug for some other purpose is an attempt for these companies to earn even more money. It is not a sincere effort to help Americans live better lives. In many cases, the side effects from the drugs can even worsen their condition. This ploy has spilled over into the field of drug addiction, claiming drugs already on the market might help to treat one addiction or another. The announcement by the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) came just one week before Oregon showed that methadone, a drug used to supposedly treat heroin addiction, has become the state's most deadly drug with 103 deaths in 2002. Now the major drug companies have convinced the federal government to spend even more money on ineffective measures. Drugs being studied by NIDA include antidepressants, which have been banned for adolescents in the United Kingdom because of their link to suicidal ideation, and stimulants, which are themselves in the same classification as cocaine in the Controlled Substances Act and are responsible for getting millions of kids in the United States physically addicted to drugs.
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Inpatient Rehab