Shown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by pseudoname on November 28, 2005, at 9:58:08
Greg Critser, author of "Generation Rx", will be on the 'Diane Rehm Show' on National Public Radio in a few minutes (11/28/05 at 11:00 ET) to talk about his book. It's about "how Americans have become the largest consumers of pharmaceuticals in the world and how pills are transforming our bodies and culture."
It's a live, call-in show. 1-800-433-8850 or email questions at http://www.wamu.org/dr/contact.html
The shows are archived and later available online for free. I think you can listen live online, too: http://www.wamu.org/dr/index.html
(Sorry for the last-minute notice.)
(A very badhaircut sort of post....)
Posted by pseudoname on November 28, 2005, at 11:02:59
In reply to on radio NOW – ''Generation Rx'', posted by pseudoname on November 28, 2005, at 9:58:08
Might be a fine book, but on the show Critser didn't say anything we haven't heard / read / Babbled before. Oh well.
Posted by ed_uk on November 28, 2005, at 13:43:52
In reply to on radio NOW – ''Generation Rx'', posted by pseudoname on November 28, 2005, at 9:58:08
Hi PN
It all sounds very un-original!
Ed
Posted by med_empowered on November 28, 2005, at 16:20:52
In reply to Re: on radio NOW – ''Generation Rx'' » pseudoname, posted by ed_uk on November 28, 2005, at 13:43:52
OK, I live in the US. I've grown up here all my life. Since I've always been lucky enough to have access to decent health care, I guess I have filled my share of RXs, until recently when my views on the whole "a pill for what ails you" concept began to change. But I'm wondering..is it really just the US? Also, it seems like the US rate of pill consumption is probably driven in part by *inadequate* health care and *lack* of comprehensive health care--it seems that in other countries, even if the system kind of sucks (ex: UK, Canada), patients might do better over the long-haul because of an emphasis on *preventive* care rather than *acute* care...the US health care system is inordinately expensive, and pill consumption is high, but that seems to be due in part to the "penny wise, pound foolish" approach of focusing on fixing problems when they arise, rather than preventing them from popping up in the first place.
Finally...there's inequality. Several studies show that social inequality, in the form of gaping chasms between the "haves" and the "have nots" and so forth, tends to lead to a poorer health outcome for *everyone*...and not all of the problems are directly due to things like access to health care (the same trend is observed where there's Nationalized healthcare...its just somewhat less pronounced). So, while I think this guy has a valid point--pill consumption is pretty high in the US--he's kind of missing the whole picture by narrowly focusing in on the influences of Big Pharma, etc. When you're talking about psychiatric treatment, this gap between the haves and have nots becomes even more apparent. (Minorities are more likely to be dx'd "schizophrenic" than affluent whites; lower-class/lower-middle class and minority children are more likely to be referred for treatment for "ADHD" or "conduct disorder"...tranquilizer prescriptions are higher in areas of the country with the highest rates of poverty, etc.) It seems like talking about the effects of class on health (or class in general) makes one suspect in the US...recognizing that social class does, in fact, exist and impact people in their daily lives in the USA means rejecting the Horatio Algier myth and the myth of American egalitarianism/meritocracy. Its about as bad as proclaiming one's love of socialism.
Posted by ed_uk on November 28, 2005, at 16:40:49
In reply to Is it just the US?, posted by med_empowered on November 28, 2005, at 16:20:52
>Is it just the US?
No - but it does seem to be a lot more pronounced in the US. IMO, pharmaceutical advertising plays a big role.
Ed
Posted by med_empowered on November 28, 2005, at 17:36:05
In reply to Re: Is it just the US? » med_empowered, posted by ed_uk on November 28, 2005, at 16:40:49
yeah, you're probably right. If you look back at the old ads aimed at docs, you can kind of see that even those were misleading, but still pretty effective (ex: a Miltown+anticholinergic compound for depression that, although never proven clinically, was available and RX'd from the 50s to the 90s). I read an interesting article about psych drugs..it pointed out how, early on, drugs were shown as supporting ongoing therapy (and therefore being under the control of the doc and a part of his/her "treatment"). These days, you dont see docs in ads that much anymore; I kind of wonder if Big Pharma is making "true" medicine a thing of the past by pushing the power of pills over the power of people and good patient management.
Posted by Phillipa on November 28, 2005, at 22:04:02
In reply to Re: Is it just the US?, posted by med_empowered on November 28, 2005, at 17:36:05
What would you like your pen to say? zyprexa. Clipboard for prozac. Everything in the pdocs office is advertisement for the pharmacitical companies. Fondly, Phillipa
Posted by ed_uk on November 30, 2005, at 15:41:45
In reply to Re: Is it just the US?, posted by Phillipa on November 28, 2005, at 22:04:02
>What would you like your pen to say?
The reps bring pens to work. I've got a Lipitor pen. I think I used to have a Zyprexa pen to but I lost it.
ed xx
This is the end of the thread.
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