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You've got to remember that the medical industry is still a business that needs to make its money from somewhere. Why sell a cure once to a person, when you can sell treatment over a period of time?
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Many cancers are curable. Many Many diseases are not only cured but some have been eradicated (eg Smallpox).
Work is still in progress for other diseases.
Work is still in progress for other diseases.
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The most common mental illnesses are affective disorders, treatments of which have experienced several transitions since the 50s when the monoamine-oxidase (MAO) inhibitors were discovered. Each new class of drug was extolled for its improvements, but each time, evidence to the contrary has also been shown. For instance, currently the type of medication most frequently prescribed is selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) which are actually only slightly better than placebos in treating depression (Turner et al., 2008). Knowledge of their mark-up price could make them harder to swallow if withdrawal symptoms were not so severe. Increased risk of suicide by the millions of adolescents and children currently taking these SSRIs (Olfson et al., 2006) is a fact intentionally withheld by drug companies (Ramchandani, 2004). The influence of pharmaceutical companies is an increasing concern regarding current prescription practices and the outcomes of clinical trials (Lexchin, 1993), i.e. research. At the same time, mental disorders can be such truly debilitating diseases that some become desperate in their search for relief, and public approval sends a clear message to today’s youth that pharmaceutical drugs are a viable and accepted means of resolve.
Lexchin, J. (1993). Interactions between physicians and the pharmaceutical industry: What does the literature say? Canadian Medical Association Journal, 149 (10), 1401-1407.
Olfson, M., Marcus, S.C., & Shaffer, D. (2006). Antidepressant drug therapy and suicide in severely depressed children and adults: A case-control study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 63, 865-872.
Ramachandani, P. (2004). A question of balance: How safe are the medicines that are prescribed to children? Nature, 430, 401-402.
Turner, E.H., Matthews, A.M., Linardatos, E., Tell, R.A., et al. (2008). Selective publication of antidepressant trials and its influence on apparent efficacy. New England Journal of Medicine, 358, 252-260.
The original Capitalism myth has been co-opted, the free market chances of achieving the American Dream is inverted for purposes of power and greed and is then fed back to us in the guise of the original belief system this country was founded on.
The memory that the pilgrimages to Plymouth Rock were in escape of an imperialist power structure makes it harder to swallow. The #Occupy movement displays an awakening to the possibility that something is wrong with the newly established order.
Lexchin, J. (1993). Interactions between physicians and the pharmaceutical industry: What does the literature say? Canadian Medical Association Journal, 149 (10), 1401-1407.
Olfson, M., Marcus, S.C., & Shaffer, D. (2006). Antidepressant drug therapy and suicide in severely depressed children and adults: A case-control study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 63, 865-872.
Ramachandani, P. (2004). A question of balance: How safe are the medicines that are prescribed to children? Nature, 430, 401-402.
Turner, E.H., Matthews, A.M., Linardatos, E., Tell, R.A., et al. (2008). Selective publication of antidepressant trials and its influence on apparent efficacy. New England Journal of Medicine, 358, 252-260.
The original Capitalism myth has been co-opted, the free market chances of achieving the American Dream is inverted for purposes of power and greed and is then fed back to us in the guise of the original belief system this country was founded on.
The memory that the pilgrimages to Plymouth Rock were in escape of an imperialist power structure makes it harder to swallow. The #Occupy movement displays an awakening to the possibility that something is wrong with the newly established order.