Last night I watched a series of programs about Anthony Bourdain on Gusto TV. During one episode in particular he spoke honestly about his entry into the world drug abuse, heroin in particular. He sat with a group of recovering addicts in Greenwood, a small town in Massachusetts plagued with the problems associated with opioid abuse. A local doctor explained how doctors freely prescribed Oxycontin and other pain-killers for everyday problems like sports injuries, getting wisdom teeth removed and back pain because the drug companies assured the doctors the meds were not addictive. When patients can no longer get legal pain-killers, they resort to street drugs and heroin. It’s a problem no longer limited to big city slums. Small towns are now victims of big-city drug abuse problems.
Nearly very commercial aired during this hour-long show was by a major pharmaceutical company promoting an assortment of remedies for real or imagined ailments. ‘Just ask your doctor’, followed by an exhaustive list of qualifiers. If you’ve ever watched television in the United States (not U.S. stations in Canada with substituted Canadian commercials) you’ll know what I’m talking about. I’ve counted up to 13 drug ads in a commercial break with 15 commercials on American television. Just an observation.
Ahh,The Billion $$$$ fraud with Doctors and Drug Companies in collusion. Interesting Lynda.
I think the doctors are often victims of the drug companies as much as we are. It’s a tangled web. Thanks, Margaret.
I don’t even take vitamin supplements anymore. We’re so conditioned to think we need this stuff and it’s all marketing. We’re a society of “dope” addicts. Thanks for your thoughtful comments.
I agree, it is terrible that some doctors/drug companies don’t promote more healthy, preventative solutions but would rather shove a costly pill in your face. There seems to be a pill for everything these days. When advertisers for drug companies demonstrate on television or in magazines, how happy people are on these drugs, then quickly rhyme off the side effects like anal leakage😵 or thoughts of suicide or death….is that really a way of life or an alternative. Also, nothing drives me more crazy as when I hear a young mother stating her child has ADD (seems to be the… Read more »