[boycott]

I've been given prescriptions for pain pills before but I would never take them. I've known too many people to become addicted to them. I've known some people that have become so addicted that it basically ruined their lives.

Over prescribing doctors and drug companies should be held accountable. Some drugs appear just too addictive.

I was in a meeting the other day with three other people that I've only known for a short period of time. We got to talking and all three of us had been on Paxil at one time or another. A twenty-three year old woman, a forty-two year old man, and a 64 year old man had all been prescribed Paxil like it was candy.

It is shocking the percentage of the population that has been described anti-depressents like Paxil, Prozac, Zoloft, etc. Consider the entire USA market and you would be shocked at the percentage of people that have been prescribed these drugs. You also have to consider that a large percentage of the 250,000,000+ citizen of the USA wouldn't be part of the target market for such drugs, i.e., those under the age of 20.

The medical profession and the drug companies are very irresponsible when it comes to prescriptions.

[Hildy]

Anti-depressanst are not the same as a drug like Oxycontin.

[Hildy]

Anti-depressanst are not the same as a drug like Oxycontin.

[At _War_With_Liberals]

"The medical profession and the drug companies are very irresponsible when it comes to prescriptions."

Without a doubt.

[mvpel]

It is shocking the percentage of the population that has been described anti-depressents like Paxil, Prozac, Zoloft, etc.

This thread is about opioid analgesics, not selective seratonin reuptake inhibitors.

[NittanyLion]

drug companies should be held accountable

I guess you were totally in favor of suing Big Tobacco, huh?

[rockrr]

"It is shocking the percentage of the population that has been described anti-depressents like Paxil, Prozac, Zoloft, etc."

This single comment out of this thread is the most disquieting to me. (I assume you meant to say, "prescribed", yes?)

My 10 year old daughter lives with her mother, a chronically unhappy and manipulative person. Consequently, my daughter has days when she gets pretty bummed out. Her school has taken notice of her moods and declared her "Clinically Depressed". The school district wants to get her onto a Zoloft plan so she can be "balanced". Her mother is in favor because it deflects attention from the true causes of my daughters distress - her dysfunctional mom.

So I get to be the big bad meany obstructionist (feel free to add in any other appropriate adjectives....) because I refuse to go along with this sham.

I have a healthy respect for the consequences of drug use - legitimate & otherwise. Indiscriminate prescription or use goes against the grain for me.

[johnwayne]

Paxil, Prozac, Zoloft as you said are anti-depressants. I don't believe they are addictive, nor do they make the patient high. Pain killers make you high and some can be highly addictive. My point is, prescribing large doses of anti-depresants is not equivalent to prescribing large doses of pain killers.

[cavtrooper21]

This is starting to remind me of the movie "THX-1138"
Better living through better chemistry....

[A. Pole]

Some drugs appear just too addictive.

Coffee is also very addictive, influences mental process and is very pleasurable. So?

[OldPossum]

If you think these drugs are unhelpful or even unnecessary, then don't take them; no one is jamming them down your throat.

You don't have the right to tell others how they must conduct their lives or that your experiences with certain drugs therefore necessarily represent the experiences of others for whom these drugs are essential to their well-being.

It's true that some doctors do overprescribe, but is this an argument for taking away all doctors' prescription pads?