Tag Archives: drugs

Business/Economics, Technology, U.S.

It’s official, the people of the United States are Crazy! 1 in 5 on mental health drugs!!!

Medco Health Solutions Inc., says the use of drugs, in the U.S., for psychiatric and behavioral disorders rose 22% from 2001 to 2010!

But that’s an overall percentage, the numbers get worse, and more revealing, when you look at specific drugs, conditions, gender and age groups.

1 out of 4 U.S. women are using mental health drugs, the majority are women older than 45.  But there is a alarming trend of increased use among men and and young adults.

More than 20% of U.S. adults used drugs for conditions like anxiety and depression, in 2010.  The study saw a big increase in the use of drugs to control ADHD, especially in adults!

There was a 150% increase in the use of ADHD drugs among people aged 20 to 44 between 2001 and 2010, and a doubling among women in the 45-to-65 group!  I wounder if this has anything to do with the fact that many ADHD drugs are related to ‘speed’?

ADHD drug use in the over 65 age group increased about 30% for men and women between 2001 and 2010!  Are ADHD meds being used to treat memory problems typically associated with old people?  Can you say incompetent doctors grasping at straws?

The Medco study was based on the number of prescriptions issued between 2001 and 2010.





Business/Economics, U.S.

Dumb Americans! Study says people think new unproven drugs are safer than tried & true older drugs!

Fact: New prescription drugs have a really bad track record regarding safety and effectiveness.

Fact:  Most U.S. citizens think new prescription drugs are safer, and more effective than proven older drugs.

Researchers at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, and the Veterans Administration Outcomes Group, asked people about the difference between benefits and risks of new medications, and old medications.

In one study people were asked about taking a heart disease drug.  41% of those that were not told about side effects picked the newer but less effective drug.  Yet when they were told about the side effects, 71% picked the older more effective drug with less side effects.

In the other study people had to choose between an old heartburn drug, and a new heartburn drug.  The older drug had the better track record, yet only 34% picked the older safer drug when not told about the track records of both drugs.  When told about the safety record of both drugs 53% picked the older drug.

The conclusion of the U.S. studies is that if people don’t know the track record, or side effects of a drug, they automatically assume the newer drug is safer and better!

Also, the studies show that four out of ten U.S. citizens think an FDA approval means the drug is “extremely effective”!  One in four think the FDA would never approve a drug that has bad side effects!  Fact: The FDA constantly approves drugs that have not been fully proven, and have extremely bad side effects!  Look how many approved drugs being advertised today have stated “may cause death” as a side effect!

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Drug companies pay Idaho doctors big bucks

A ProPublica report shows more than 1,000 Idaho doctors were paid by 12 drug companies, to the tune of more than $2 million within the last year.  The Idaho Board of Medicine sees no harm in it.

Some of those payments were in the form of free meals (a Boise doctor got $607 worth) in exchange for attending seminars that pushed new drugs.  Others made money giving the talks at those seminars.  A Sun Valley psychiatrist made more than $100,000 for giving such talks.

The ProPublica.org report is part of their ongoing investigation into how Corporate America, and possibly your doctor, are ripping everyone off. Many people, who’ve left comments on the ProPublica story, expressed surprise to learn their personal doctor was on the list.

Beginning in 2013, drug companies are supposed to publicly report who they gave money to.

 

U.S.

United Police States of America: TSA, local cops working for drug dealers, you sure the U.S. is safer now than before 9/11/2001?

Three Transportation Security Administration officers in Florida and New York airports, along with two New York police officers, have been arrested for taking bribes from prescription drug dealers.

The bribes were in the form of cash and gift cards.  The TSA officers, and the New York cops, face charges of conspiring to distribute, and possessing with intent to distribute oxycodone.  Altogether 20 people were arrested.

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

Corporate Incompetence: Google knew those Canadian Pharmacy adds were illegal, ran them anyway

Google has agreed to pay $500 million in fines, for running illegal Canadian pharmacy adds.

The U.S. Department of Justice, said it is illegal to mail prescription drugs from outside the country.  Many of the Canadian online pharmacies did not require a prescription either.

Google officials admit they knew what they were doing could get them into trouble, so they set up a fund to pay any fines, if they were caught.

Business/Economics, U.S.

Dumb Americans: Most old people, on U.S. Medicare, don’t realize how much they actually pay out of their own pocket

A new survey shows that most U.S. citizens on Medicare don’t realize just how much they’re paying out of their own pocket.

The study looked at “specialty tier” drugs under the Part D prescription drug plan.  Specialty tier drugs are mainly expensive name brand drugs.

At least half the people surveyed thought only a co-pay was required. Specialty tier drugs require a co-insurance, not just a co-pay.  Also, most people greatly underestimated how much they would have to fork up out of their own pockets, even with the specialty tier coverage.

The study was conducted by NERA Economic Consulting.

 

Idaho, U.S.

Evil Cops: Idaho officials rig forensic lab results, thousands of drug convictions now questioned! How many innocent people went to prison?

After an internal investigation, the Idaho State Police (ISP) discovered that technicians working at the ISP Region 5 Forensics Lab in Pocatello, Idaho, may have tampered with illegal drugs testing.

The ISP actually conducted the investigation some time ago, and is only now going public.  Three lab technicians were put on leave, but then they resigned in June.

ISP documents show that the lab techs were concealing illegal drugs in the Region 5 Lab.  Testing done at that lab was used as evidence in drug related cases.  One lab tech is said to have kept a box of drugs stashed above the ceiling tiles.

The illegal conduct of the lab techs now raise questions about drug convictions going back to 2003.

International, U.S.

No more open borders in Europe, no thanks to the U.S. & European wars in the Middle East & North Africa

Denmark announced that starting July 5, no more open borders.  They blame drug trafficking and illegal immigrants.

Since the U.S. led invasion of Afghanistan drug trafficking has skyrocketed across Central Asia and into Europe.  Many of the drugs come from U.S. occupied Afghanistan.

The NATO attacks on Libya have greatly increased what European governments are calling illegal immigration (most of whom are actually war refugees, no thanks to the European/U.S./NATO war on Libya).

Denmark is not the first EU member to close its borders.  France and Italy closed their borders with each other, for the same reasons as Denmark.  In the case of France and Italy, French officials discovered that Italy was giving refugees (I mean illegal immigrants), mainly from Tunis and Libya, EU visas then putting them on trains bound for France.

Other EU members are complaining about the violation of the European Union’s “open borders” policy, but Denmark claims their border closure will not affect commerce.

Idaho, Opinion, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Idaho drug & prostitution crimes up

The Idaho State Police released the 2010 crime stats, and surprisingly the number of most types of crimes, statewide, went down, including violent crime.

But there was an increase in “crimes against society”, of which drug and prostitution crimes made up the most.  Crimes Against Society include drug crimes, prostitution, pornography crimes, weapons crimes and gambling crimes.

There was a 7.3% increase in overall Crimes Against Society in 2010, with drug crimes seeing a 8% increase, and prostitution seeing a 54.5% increase.

The top three drug crimes in Idaho are: Possessing/Concealing, Using/Consuming and Distributing/Selling, in that order.

Idaho saw not only an increase in adults being arrested for drug crimes, but juveniles as well.  There doesn’t seem to be a favorite drug, based on confiscation numbers.  Some numbers went down while others went up.

The ISP report doesn’t give much more information on prostitution crimes, other than demographic information (more men arrested than women).

I’m wondering if the increase in drug crimes, and prostitution, are a reflection of the bad economic situation in Idaho?  Crime reports don’t normally deal with the “why” of a crime, the Law doesn’t usually care about that.

For a detailed PDF of the report go to the Idaho State Police web site.

 

 

International, U.S.

War on Drugs officially a failure

“Political leaders and public figures should have the courage to articulate publicly what many of them acknowledge privately: that the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that repressive strategies will not solve the drug problem, and that the war on drugs has not, and cannot, be won.”-Drug Policy report

The Global Commission on Drug Policy has declared the War on Drugs a failure.  The 19 member commission includes former U.S. Secretary of State George Schultz, and former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker.

Anti drug policies are to blame for the failure, especially in the United States.  The report points out that while huge efforts are made to stop drug trafficking, most people who end up in prison are the users of drugs, not the sellers.  The report said studies show that users “do no harm to others.”  So why is so much time and money being spent to put them in jail?

The Global Commission on Drug Policy wants anti-drug policies to focus on health and human rights issues, and even consider making some illegal drugs legal.