Doctors prescribe unnecessary medications
Antipsychotic drugs are usually given to people who do not need them.
Various tactics by pharmaceutical companies include bribes in the form of gifts and exotic excursions. These manufacturers have been accused of abusing a widespread class of drugs that have killed thousands of people.
For more than 20 years, doctors have prescribed powerful antipsychotic medications designed to treat schizophrenia and a wide range of other mental disorders such as depression, dementia, personality disorders, and even autism. However, much of the antipsychotic drugs used make them one of the most prescribed drugs, accounting for 5% of all drug costs in the United States and providing an annual revenue of $ 10 million.
According to Randall Stafford, a professor of medicine at Stanford, at best, drugs are useless against many of the conditions for which they are recommended and are associated with a number of side effects, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In the United States, adverse reactions to these drugs cost the health care system billions of dollars in follow-up treatment and job loss.
Thousands of patients or their relatives have filed lawsuits against drug manufacturers, with antipsychotics being one of the leading grounds for these lawsuits. As a result, companies have had to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in damages or are under investigation to distort research results, leading to the erroneous conclusion that drugs are effective for a wide range of diseases or safe to use.
Regulators are investigating questionable marketing tactics used by pharmaceutical companies and their representatives, encouraging doctors to prescribe antipsychotic medications unnecessarily. Incentives include various gifts, computer systems, and invitations to exotic travel. These marketing strategies are so compelling that many doctors do not even realize that they are prescribing drugs without a guarantee of their effectiveness and safety.
Prof. Stafford and his colleagues tracked the increase in unnecessarily prescribed antipsychotic drugs between 1995 and 2008 and found that their use in the United States almost tripled over that 13-year period, with 16.7 million prescriptions issued. Of these, 9 million were not intended, although there was no evidence that the drugs would help in 54% of the conditions.
From a financial point of view, the US health care system spent $ 6 billion on unnecessarily prescribed antipsychotic drugs in 2008, of which $ 5.4 billion has inconclusive evidence of efficacy and safety.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not only turned a blind eye to the abuse of antipsychotic drugs but has even broken down under pressure from pharmaceutical companies. In 1989, it approved the second generation of antipsychotics (called "atypical") to be used to treat schizophrenia. Seroquel, one of the most commonly prescribed antipsychotic medications in the United States for some forms of bipolar disorder and depression, has also been suggested for the treatment of anxiety and dementia. Although approved by the FDA, independent studies reveal that the risks of antipsychotics outweigh the benefits, even in schizophrenia. An American study found that these drugs have a significant effect on brain tissue. When researchers performed magnetic resonance imaging on 211 patients taking antipsychotics, they found consistent loss of gray and white matter over a seven-year period. According to the authors, the least doctors need to do is prescribe the lowest possible doses of these drugs.
Medications also increase the risk of blood clots. A team of researchers from the UK believes that atypical antipsychotics are particularly dangerous and increase the risk of deep vein thrombosis by 73%, compared to 28% with older antipsychotics. The risk is highest during the first two years of their use.
The FDA has recently stepped up its warning against the use of antipsychotics during pregnancy. Taking these drugs in the third month of pregnancy increases the risk of malformations in the newborn, including the inability to move.
Randall Stafford said: "Most people think that if a doctor has prescribed a medicine, it must be safe and effective. That's not true."
Mr. "What the doctors don't tell you"
Source: Lechitel.bg
Various tactics by pharmaceutical companies include bribes in the form of gifts and exotic excursions. These manufacturers have been accused of abusing a widespread class of drugs that have killed thousands of people.
For more than 20 years, doctors have prescribed powerful antipsychotic medications designed to treat schizophrenia and a wide range of other mental disorders such as depression, dementia, personality disorders, and even autism. However, much of the antipsychotic drugs used make them one of the most prescribed drugs, accounting for 5% of all drug costs in the United States and providing an annual revenue of $ 10 million.
According to Randall Stafford, a professor of medicine at Stanford, at best, drugs are useless against many of the conditions for which they are recommended and are associated with a number of side effects, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In the United States, adverse reactions to these drugs cost the health care system billions of dollars in follow-up treatment and job loss.
Thousands of patients or their relatives have filed lawsuits against drug manufacturers, with antipsychotics being one of the leading grounds for these lawsuits. As a result, companies have had to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in damages or are under investigation to distort research results, leading to the erroneous conclusion that drugs are effective for a wide range of diseases or safe to use.
Regulators are investigating questionable marketing tactics used by pharmaceutical companies and their representatives, encouraging doctors to prescribe antipsychotic medications unnecessarily. Incentives include various gifts, computer systems, and invitations to exotic travel. These marketing strategies are so compelling that many doctors do not even realize that they are prescribing drugs without a guarantee of their effectiveness and safety.
Prof. Stafford and his colleagues tracked the increase in unnecessarily prescribed antipsychotic drugs between 1995 and 2008 and found that their use in the United States almost tripled over that 13-year period, with 16.7 million prescriptions issued. Of these, 9 million were not intended, although there was no evidence that the drugs would help in 54% of the conditions.
From a financial point of view, the US health care system spent $ 6 billion on unnecessarily prescribed antipsychotic drugs in 2008, of which $ 5.4 billion has inconclusive evidence of efficacy and safety.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not only turned a blind eye to the abuse of antipsychotic drugs but has even broken down under pressure from pharmaceutical companies. In 1989, it approved the second generation of antipsychotics (called "atypical") to be used to treat schizophrenia. Seroquel, one of the most commonly prescribed antipsychotic medications in the United States for some forms of bipolar disorder and depression, has also been suggested for the treatment of anxiety and dementia. Although approved by the FDA, independent studies reveal that the risks of antipsychotics outweigh the benefits, even in schizophrenia. An American study found that these drugs have a significant effect on brain tissue. When researchers performed magnetic resonance imaging on 211 patients taking antipsychotics, they found consistent loss of gray and white matter over a seven-year period. According to the authors, the least doctors need to do is prescribe the lowest possible doses of these drugs.
Medications also increase the risk of blood clots. A team of researchers from the UK believes that atypical antipsychotics are particularly dangerous and increase the risk of deep vein thrombosis by 73%, compared to 28% with older antipsychotics. The risk is highest during the first two years of their use.
The FDA has recently stepped up its warning against the use of antipsychotics during pregnancy. Taking these drugs in the third month of pregnancy increases the risk of malformations in the newborn, including the inability to move.
Randall Stafford said: "Most people think that if a doctor has prescribed a medicine, it must be safe and effective. That's not true."
Mr. "What the doctors don't tell you"
Source: Lechitel.bg
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