The drug problem in America is on the rise, and believe it or not, it is not due to drugs like cocaine or heroin.
In fact, the drug problem we face today is much more dangerous.
Incidents of drug overdoses are not limited to just cocaine and other illicit substances. Many stem from taking too much legal and readily available prescription drugs.
All you need is a doctor with a shady moral character and willing to accept drug company incentives, or often times a doctor who is just feeling pressured by drug representatives.
That is not to say that all doctors are susceptible to this kind of behaviour, but in a day and age where there’s a pill for everything that ails you, there’s at least one “pusher” in almost every medical facility.
Push and Pull Marketing
Regardless of whether or not a particular medication is addictive, there are 2 prevalent methods of promotion that pharmaceutical companies have been using to improve their “bottom line.”
The push method is where pharmaceutical representatives attempt to encourage doctors to push or prescribe certain medications.
In turn, doctors are sometimes offered incentives, free samples or rebates for patients during the initial sales phase of the drugs. Trusted household names such as Johnson and Johnson and Purdue have been involved in lawsuits regarding the darker side of this ethically questionable behaviour.
Pull marketing is more prevalent to the public eye. Pull marketing is where pharmaceutical companies encourage potential customers to ask their doctors for drugs by name.
We have all seen some type of prescription drug commercial on televisions asking us to approach our doctors about some miracle drug that will cure sleep deficiency, improve erectile dysfunction or some other ailment that in all reality is much more likely related to environment, exercise or diet rather than a lack of a prescription.
Young students studying medicine are sometimes even given free textbooks by pharmaceutical companies looking to influence future prescribing doctors.
Critics think that if the pharmaceutical companies were really trying to educate these students, a monetary donation to the University for research purposes would be far more effective than distributing pill propaganda.
Addictive Legal Drugs
In a 2010 update, USA Today reported that deaths from opiate related prescription drug addiction had surpassed deaths from illegal drugs.
Codeine, Vicodin, Oxycontin, Demerol, Percocet, Ritalin and Amphetamines all play a role in this vicious circle of addiction. Methadone, which is used to wean addicts off of heroin and other opiates, has been responsible for its own share of overdose deaths
This dangerous new occurrence was brought to my attention a few years back when I was at work doing renovations at a local Sydney establishment. An electrician’s apprentice named Eddie Buchanan was working on the same job site.
After getting to know Eddie a little bit, I found out that he was an aspiring filmmaker working on a documentary, and was looking for music for the score. Being a songwriter, he gave me a rough copy of the film and asked me to send him some music to consider.
The documentary was named “Cottonland,” and dealt with the events relating to Glace Bay and surrounding communities, where a Coal mine closure and industry decline had sent the region into an economic tumble.
Oxycontin prescription drug addiction became a real problem in the community and prescriptions for it had been made rampantly available. The street value of the drug made the little old lady down the road with an active prescription into a regular street pharmacy in the jobless community.
Eddie was a recovering addict himself, who lost his family and ultimately his way of life due to the effects of addiction. His history with the subculture allowed him to obtain footage of actual addicts in action, who were previously unreceptive to being put on film.
Who is to Blame for Prescription Drug Addiction?
Unfortunately, the problem in Glace Bay wasn’t an isolated instance. The documentary was a success and won several different awards. Canada has since made their doctors a little more accountable for the prescriptions they write, although there are still those that abuse the system.
In my opinion, the blame can only be placed on the industry giants who are reaping enormous profits from these drugs. They provide the money and lobbyists who pressure government officials to allow them to thrive by promoting their business, and demonizing alternatives.
The funding, support and transformation of the science discussed in medical schools makes young, impressionable doctors biased toward pharmaceutical treatments and against all other forms of treatment.
The ethics involved in promoting addictive drugs is on a much worse level than your local drug dealer, in the sense that these folks know exactly what they’re doing and already have the type of money and power that a street peddler is trying to attain.
The fines that pharmaceutical companies incur are mere pennies in the well compared to the profits they reap from addicted patients. With government support, accountability is rarely heard of at an effective level.
References:
–>http://www.medcrunch.net/pull-push-pharma-marketing/
–>http://www.forums.pharma-mkting.com/showthread.php?t=501
–>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117876649138598177.html
–>http://www.michaelshouse.com/prescription-drug-addiction/highly-addictive-prescription-drugs.html
–>http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/108576/20110203/protests-against-addictive-prescription-drugs-could-cost-pharma-companies.htm
Jim Melvin is a musician, a Chef and is also a self-termed “Politically loaded, independent conspiracy theorist.” Jim plays for the politically loaded Royal Kush Band. Jim has 23 post(s) at Top Secret Writers
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