Now that I'm back in the business of researching, writing, and editing articles and papers related to health and medicine for a while, here's a rant just for the pleasure of ranting, and to warn people of what Big Pharma is really like.
I spoke the other day to a family member who has been suffering for a while from a form of fibromyalgia that kept him in constant pain. After trying many medications, he was finally prescribed one called Lyrica. It seemed to help. But it had nasty side effects, so after a few months he tried to reduce the dosage so that he could stop taking it altogether. Voila -- much *worse* side effects. So he belatedly looked it up, and found innumerable "support groups" for people who had been prescribed this drug *without having been told beforehand 1) that it was addictive, and 2) that there is no known way to safely wean oneself from the drug once one has become addicted*. At this point, over 9 million people have been prescribed this drug, and thus become addicts. Now, do you want the kicker? It's expensive. A year's supply would cost over $6,000. But to make things "easier" for those poor people needing relief from their pain, the manufacturer of Lyrica offers a "special deal." Working in conjunction with health insurers and doctors (all of whom get a cash kickback for every dose prescribed), they have a program whereby people who have been newly prescribed this drug can be reimbursed all but $25 of the cost. For the first year. Then, of course, they're stuck (seemingly, at this point, for the rest of their lives) coughing up $6,000 per year to reduce their pain but experience side effects that include (according to the manufacturer's own website) dizziness, sleepiness, seizures, dry mouth, swelling of the hands and feet, blurred vision, weight gain, trouble concentrating, feeling "high," and risking life-threatening allergic reactions. Side effects caused by trying to stop taking the medicine include headaches, nausea, diarrhea, trouble sleeping, and again, seizures. And the manufacturer of this drug is benevolently offering it to new users for 240X less than it would normally cost. Their whole marketing plan is quite *literally* that of schoolyard drug pushers: "Try it...the first one's free." Now think about the income that its manufacturer Pfizer is deriving from a medication that costs them a few cents to manufacture -- $6,000 per person X 9,000,000 addicts = 54 billion dollars per year. Be warned, if any doctor ever tries to prescribe it for you.
