Free Republic

<p>The number of retirement-age Americans taking at least three psychiatric drugs more than doubled between 2004 and 2013, even though almost half of them had no mental health diagnosis on record, researchers reported on Monday.</p> <p>The new analysis, based on data from doctors’ office visits, suggests that inappropriate prescribing to older people is more common than previously thought. Office visits are a close, if not exact, estimate of underlying patient numbers. The paper appears in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.</p>

Developed by Pfizer, pregabalin, marketed under the brand name Lyrica, is a 3-substituted analogue of gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) and a compound related to Pfizer's hugely successful antiepileptic drug gabapentin (Neurontin). In July 2004, Pfizer secured Europe-wide approval for Lyrica (pregabalin) for use in the management of peripheral neuropathic pain as well as an adjunctive therapy in the treatment of partial epileptic seizures. Subsequently in December 2004 the company gained FDA approval for use of Lyrica (pregabalin) in neuropathic pain associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy and postherpetic neuralgia; making it the first FDA-approved treatment for both of these neuropathic pain...