Handing out prescriptions like candy

I tried convincing my parents for at least ten years that I had ADHD. My mom said it was an excuse for laziness but I really just couldn’t focus. So finally about five years ago, I drove myself to see Dr. Fox, my pediatrician of 17 years. I told him my situation, he asked me a few questions, and within minutes he was writing out a prescription for Adderall.

            He told me “scientifically diagnosing” ADD/ADHD is a long and expensive process. It consists of multiple visits with neurologists and psychiatrists and basically, it’s a pain in the ass.

            “This is what we’re gonna do,” he said. “We’re gonna do this thing backwards. I’m going to give you this prescription and you’re gonna take 20 mg twice a day, for two weeks. In two weeks, you’ll come back and talk to me and let me know how it worked. If it fixed your problems, then I’d say it proves your diagnosis for ADHD.”

            Well, that was easy. That was too easy.

            Doctors are handing out prescriptions like candy. You can’t concentrate? Here take this Adderall. You’re in pain? Here’s some Percocet. It’s a struggle for you to get out of bed in the morning? Well I’ll tell you one thing. It has NOTHING to do with the fact you’re on Facebook until 3 AM, nope, you sound depressed and you should be taking these anti-depressants.

I’m in no way trying to make a mockery of people with depression. Research supports the idea that most depressed people have reduced serotonin transmission. Low levels of a serotonin byproduct have been linked to a higher risk for suicide ((Harvard Medical School). Anti-depressants are made to replenish certain chemicals and neurons that the brain is lacking. The thing is doctors don’t feel the need to run these tests before giving you a prescription to treat something they’re not even really sure you have. The reason doctors prescribe without a proper diagnosis is because they claim you can’t have too much serotonin in the brain, so if you’re not clinically depressed, basically nothing will happen at all.

Except all the side effects.

Which includes risk of suicide.

Which is supposed to be exactly what it’s intended to avoid.

            In reality, prescription drugs haven’t existed long enough for us to know the long term effects of them. An 85 year old woman hasn’t been taking anti-depressants for 70 years so we really don’t know what happens to your body over that long period of time.

            So why are doctors handing out prescriptions left and right? Let’s pretend your back hurts so you pay a visit to your doctor. He writes you out a script for Vicodin and says that should do the trick. Your curiosity tells you to ask if there’s another route that doesn’t involve medication, maybe a chiropractor?

            Your doctor will laugh at you and make you feel like a fool for asking such a thing. Chiropractors are a scam. Think of them like a plumber. Sure, they’ll fix that leaky pipe, but they’ll loosen another one so you’ll have to pay them to come back when it breaks. Once you go to a chiropractor you’ll have to go at least once a week for the rest of your life. I’m telling you, just take the Vicodin and you’ll be feeling better in no time!

            Well, direct kickbacks to doctors are illegal, so drug companies and medical supply firms  have found increasingly creative ways to put money into doctors' pockets. They'll give doctors tickets to expensive sporting events and treat them to dinner at a five-star restaurant, or pay for tropical vacations disguised as educational seminars. That's right, some doctors are being bribed to write prescriptions. Most people will find it hard to believe doctors would do anything to harm you when their purpose is to help you, but in actuality prescription drugs are some of the most addictive substances on the planet. Prescription drug overdoses kill more Americans that cocaine and heroin combined. Yet, there were 250 million prescriptions written for pain killers in the last year? 30 million Americans are currently taking anti-depressants daily?

            To those reading this in disbelief, thinking there’s no way pharmaceutical companies could get away with inadvertently killing people, think about this. The global pharmaceuticals market is worth $300 billion per year. That’s a lot of money. Enough money to buy the cooperation and hushing of the government and media?

Looks like it.