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Conrad Murray? Nothing New

By On · Add Comment · In Conrad Murray, drugs, Michael Jackson, overdose, propofol

Immediately following the verdict in the Conrad Murray trial, I was asked my opinion on the outcome. I think my perspective is probably much different than most peoples’, but as far as the outcome is concerned, I think it is the obvious right one. No doubt, Murray operated outside the protocols of his profession–I mean it’s unfathomable to think his activities were the accepted standards of his specialty.

But I don’t see why what Conrad Murray was doing with Michael Jackson was so shocking. I am quite certain that his practice of providing Jackson with heavy-duty drugs (propofol), literally by acting as the drip-applier, is not uncommon. On the contrary, it’s simply an extreme version of what happens in western medicine every day. But it’s hard for people to understand some of these harsh realities.

To begin with, Michael Jackson was the biggest celebrity in the world.  Do not underestimate that power. If he wanted drugs, he was going to get them. Now my personality is such that I probably wouldn’t have done it, if I was in Murray’s position. With the kind of money and power Jackson had, using a drug of that magnitude will never end well, because there could be no limit, no potential end–not when you could raise the stakes well beyond most people’s morality threshold.

However, knowing what every doctor should know about his or her patients, it couldn’t have been too hard for Murray to see how far gone MJ was already. Plain and simple, the whole thing was a disaster waiting to happen.

So since I am certain that any person with enough money can get whatever they want at anytime, if it hadn’t been Conrad Murray, it would have been someone else. In fact, I know this to be a common rationalization among doctors when pushed to answer why they dispense drugs, even when knowing the drugs will be of questionable value (like prescribing antibiotics for a viral infection). I once asked one of my chiropractic college teachers, who was an MD, why this practice seemed so common among medical professionals, and she answered, “We give a prescription because that’s what the patient wants; we know they’ll just go down the street, otherwise.”

Exactly…and I’m not knocking it.  Like I said before, it wouldn’t be my style, but I totally understand.  Listen, when $150K is being waived in your face–per month!–I’m sure you’d think about it too. We can all get moralistic about it, but…well, that’s a lot of money.

But here’s where Murray really screwed up: It appeared to me that he had no emergency plan. He never considered what he would do if precisely this scenario played out. Duh! That became evident when witness testimony came out describing how he acted in the moments immediately following the mishap–he was in a panic!

It seems to me that if you are taking that position–some mega-celebrity’s medical drug dispenser–then you you have got to be prepared for the worst. It’s not a matter of whether the celebrity-druggie is going to die or not, but when. Don’t you prepare for that? I mean…what does the outgoing doctor say, “Don’t worry Conrad, ol’ boy–I’ve been knocking MJ out for a decade. Just give him a hit every four hours–he’ll be cool.”?

Hey, many physicians have done it in the past–think Elvis’ and Anna Nicole’s doctors–and many more will do it in the future. And I think MJ knew he wasn’t long for this world–how couldn’t he? He wasn’t dumb.

Murray, you take a job like that, and you don’t know exactly what you are going to do, or say, if the worst happens?  Man, that’s stoo-pid!  He probably could have gotten away with it had he taken even the slightest precautions. Arrogance, man…or apathy. I wonder.

No, Murray took a risk that he had to know could go wrong.  In light of this, he probably is getting off easy, but it wouldn’t be reasonable to punish him more than for what your average-everyday-doctor is doing to a smaller degree with most of their patients. Had they tried to pin a tougher charge on him, it might have turned out another Casey Anthony fiasco. California prosecutors weren’t going to drop the ball. They got him on involuntary manslaughter for practicing outside the standard of care for his profession, negligence for administering a drug outside of a hospital setting, for not having any monitoring equipment, for failing to call 911 timely, and for failing to keep treatment records. In other words, not much. He won’t do any significant time.

But he won’t get to be a doctor anymore, either. I’m sure that’ll be a serious life transition. But, hey, nothing that can’t be made up for with a best-selling book. Guess we’ll see you on the bookshelves, former doctor Murray.

Prescription Drug Deaths Up and Climbing

By On · Add Comment · In antidepressants, anxiety medications, Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, direct to consumer advertising, drug overdose, drugs, Fentanyl, medicine, pain pills, pharmaceutical companies

Congratulations medicine, you’ve done it!  You’ve now helped drugs pass traffic fatalities as a cause of death in the U.S.  Bravo!  That’s right, pushers–37,485 people die every year from prescription drug overdoses, according to preliminary data from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.

While most other causes of preventable death are declining, drug deaths continue to rise.  Many blame the increases in prescriptions for pain pills and anxiety medications.  Well intentioned doctors, wanting to spare their patients from pain and suffering, have doled out these meds for years in a sort of illogical haze.  As a result, prescription drug deaths have double over the last decade, with a person overdosing every 14 minutes.

Back in the day when I was a coming up, celebrities and rock stars were ODing on heroin, cocaine, speedballs, barbiturates, and other illicit drugs, but not today!  Oh no, the new millennium is the era of Oxycontin, Vicodin, Xanax and antidepressants like Zoloft, Prozac and Paxil.  And we musn’t forget the legalized speed, Ritalin. 

Public health experts are now calling the current prescription drug trends “epidemic.”  Well no shiitake mushrooms–’bout time!  Pain killers and anti-anxiety meds are highly addictive and especially lethal when combined with other drugs, like alcohol.  And users (abusers) span every demographic from elderly ladies (like my patient on daily Fentanyl patches–100 times more potent than morphine) to children (known to get into their parents stash with tragic results).  Prescription drugs kill more people than heroin and cocaine combined.  Booyah!  Something we can all be proud of…

Why what do you mean, Campos?  Nobody is off the hook on this one: Yes, doctors are to blame because they dole out these drugs like candy.  Yes, the pharmaceutical industry is to blame because they have aggressively marketed drugs to doctors by incentivizing high prescription volumes with trips and other gifts, as well as to the public through direct-to-consumer adds in magazines and on television.  And yes, the public is the most to blame because they’ve been asking for these drugs by name.  Why?  Because it’s an easy way to get high.  And who doesn’t like getting high?

But the most important lesson to be learned from all this is that everything comes with it’s flip side.  So yes, your doctor can help you get high…or stay out of pain…or fool you into thinking you’re happy all the time…but not without a price.  And that price is often life.  Your game, your choice–the newest numbers just show how many people are playing.

Preemie Preventative Jack

By On · Add Comment · In compounding pharmacies, drugs, KV Pharmaceutical, Makena, preemies, premature births, progesterone, spontaneous preterm deliveries

Used to be a time when preventing premature births was affordable–$10-$20 a week.  Not anymore.  As of next week, the cost of the synthetic progesterone drug, Makena, used to help high-risk pregnant women from delivering preemies (babies born earlier than 37 months), will shoot up to $1,500 a pop!  So much for socialized health care.

Makena, a progesterone synthetic, has been made cheaply for years, mixed in special pharmacies that custom-compound treatments that are not federally approved.  The federal government, however, has approved a suburban St.Louis drug maker, KV Pharmaceutical, to be the sole producer and profiteer of the drug.  Can you say, “Cha-ching!”?

Why on earth, you may be asking.  Proponents (March of Dimes and many obstetricians) of the exclusivity rights for Makena production believe that, by limiting manufacturing to one company, quality and availability of the progesterone drug will increase.

But not even they could have anticipated the enormous price hike, especially since the cost for development and research was taken up by others in the past.

“That’s a huge increase for something that can’t be costing them that much to make. For crying out loud, this is about making money,” said Dr. Roger Snow, deputy medical director for Massachusetts’ Medicaid program.

“I’ve never seen anything as outrageous as this,” said Dr. Arnold Cohen, an obstetrician at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia.

“I’m breathless,” said Dr. Joanne Armstrong, the head of women’s health for Aetna, the Hartford-based national health insurer.

A KV subsidiary, Ther-Rx Corp., will market the drug. On Tuesday, it announced a patient assistance program designed to help uninsured and low-income women get the drug at little or no cost.

OK, that’s nice…but what about those forced to purchase health insurance under the Obamacare mandate…and how about the middle class?  Well their insurance will have to pay for it…duh!

So, for many, as the cost to treat one high-risk pregnant woman goes up to nearly $30K, they will likely be offset by increased premiums and other costs (higher deductibles and co-pays, you know the story).  One insurer, Aetna, will continue to pay for the drug, but the price tag will be high.  The insurer currently covers synthetic progesterone for about 1,000 women a year, so the new federal endorsement will cost an estimated $30 million more annually.

And some will go through their state’s Medicaid programs, many of which are broke.  “There’s no question they can’t afford this,” said Matt Salo, executive director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors.

A 2003 study showed progesterone helped prevent early births in women who had a history of spontaneous preterm deliveries. Preterm babies, or preemies, need months of intensive care and often suffer disabilities, if they survive.  The cost of care for a preemie is estimated at $51,000 in the first year alone.

No one knows what causes some women to deliver prematurely, but there is a higher prevalence in black mothers as compared to whites or Hispanics.  Some experts believe that the progesterone drugs help relax the muscles of the uterus, thus delaying premature delivery. 

Well, all I can say is…I told you so.  Frickin’ duh!  What did you think socialized health care was going to do, create a health care utopia?  Dream on.  It will remove competition through mandates, exclusivity, palm-greasing and good ol’ fashioned rear-poking.  Unless, of course, the government chooses to step in and set prices (which the FDA cannot currently do).

Last month, however, KV sent cease-and-desist letters to compounding pharmacies, telling them they could face FDA enforcement actions if they kept making the drug.  Oh well, government favors do go a long way. 

Household Items Poison Pets

By On · Add Comment · In chocolate, drugs, household pets, over-the-counter medications, poisons, Ritalin, toxins

Listen up pet lovers: Be super-careful with your drugs, as they top the list of toxins poisoning household pets.  From dropped pills to medication packets lying around, domestic animals can be sickened by ingesting human drugs.  One ASPCA hotline reports that it received approximately 40,000 calls last year for animals poisoned by human medication–that’s in one city alone!  Dang!

Pet owners do not always know what their pets have gotten into–they just see the animals exhibiting symptoms, like lethargy, vomiting, seizures or refusing food.

The top toxins sending pets to veterinary ERs are over-the-counter meds, antidepressants, and…Ritalin!!!  Ha ha ha ha…no kidding.  Guess little Johnny ain’t paying attention the way he’s supposed to on the dope.  Just try watching your dog fer chrissakes.  Here are the top ten poisons taking out household pets:

  1. Human medication
  2. Pesticides
  3. Rodenticides
  4. People food
  5. Veterinary medications
  6. Chocolate
  7. Household toxins (cleaners)
  8. Plants
  9. Herbicides
  10. Outdoor toxins (like antifreeze and fertilizers)

So clean up your garage, put the Easter candy up high, and please…please…keep your kid’s Ritalin off the floor.

Former Dodger Pitcher Jose Lima Dead

By On · Add Comment · In cardiac arrest, cocaine, coronary disease, drugs, Jose Lima, Los Angeles Dodgers, Major League baseball

It’s Lima time no more.  Former Major League Baseball pitcher, Jose Lima was found dead at 6am this morning, an apparent victim of a cardiac arrest; he was 37.

The man famous for his on-field antics was found collapsed at his home by Pasadena paramedics at 6am Sunday morning.  His family says that he exhibited no signs of ill health, and he was out with them Saturday night and dancing later that evening.

Lima played thirteen years in the Major Leagues, pitching for Detroit, Houston, Kansas City and the New York Mets.  He pitched for Los Angeles in 2004 (his only season with the team), winning thirteen games and giving the Dodgers their first playoff victory since 1988.  Although often despised by opponents, teammates learned to love the high-energy hi-jinx of Lima, as they realized that was truly who he was.

“He was a showman, a hot dog. But he’d win games; and I think a lot of times, it wasn’t his ability but his ability to will himself to do it,” Dodgers Manager Joe Torre said. “In talking himself into it, I think he sort of intimidated some of the opposition too.”

Lima last season in the Majors was with New York in 2006.  He did a stint with some minor league teams, including Long Beach in 2009, with the hopes of being picked up by a big league club.  His agent Dan Evans told the Los Angeles Times, that despite being a tough transition for most players, Lima actually embraced it.

He is survived by his five children and a brother, Joel, a Dodgers minor league player, the Dodgers said. He was divorced. 

Well, you know what I think when young people drop dead of cardiac failure…cocaine.  There I said it.  I hope I’m wrong, but in the absence of some unknown heart dysrhythmia, drugs are probably to blame.  As an athlete, it’s unlikely that he had coronary disease.  With five children, a divorce, and end to his baseball career…well, it’s the most likely candidate in my estimation.  Call me crazy.

Anyway, an autopsy will be performed shortly, and the cause of death should be uncovered then.  Either way, we’ll miss Jose Lima–players like him make the game fun to watch.  RIP Lima Time.

Actor Cory Haim Dead at 38

By On · Add Comment · In actor, Cory Haim, drug abuse, drugs, Hollywood, Lost Boys, medications, overdose, sedatives, stimulants

Actor Corey Haim has died at 38. The Lost Boys actor woke up this morning feeling a little weak; as he got out of bed he dropped to his knees. Paramedics took him to St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank where he was pronounced dead.

Although the cause of death is, as of yet, unknown, I suspect drugs were a part of the equation. Haim, a self-reported life-long addict, was taking over-the-counter and prescription medications to battle “flu-like” symptoms. Whether or not drugs shut him down directly by overdose, or the long-term use just weakened him enough to make him succumb to an opportunistic disease, I don’t know; but somewhere drugs played a part–of that I am certain.

Haim discussed his drug abuse with a British tabloid in 2004. “I was working on ‘Lost Boys’ when I smoked my first joint,” he told The Sun. “I did cocaine for about a year and a half, then it led to crack.”

He said that he went into rehab where they put him on a see-saw regimen of stimulants and sedatives. Nice. That’s wisdom.

“I started on the downers, which were a hell of a lot better than the uppers because I was a nervous wreck,” he said.

Drug use, Haim admitted, ruined his acting career and it caused other problems, as well. In 1997, Haim filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, listing debts for medical expenses and more than $200,000 in state and federal taxes.

In a 2007 interview on CNN’s “Larry King Live,” Haim called himself “a chronic relapser for the rest of my life.”

Self-fulfilling prophesy? Mmmhmm. We’ll wait for the coroner’s report, but I think drugs–prescription along with recreational–have claimed another Hollywood life.

Thanks for Getting On-Board

By On · Add Comment · In chiropractors, chronic pain, drugs, elderly, falls, neurological

In 1992 when I was in college, the Catholic Church finally acknowledged Galileo’s findings on planetary motion, and publicly cleared him of any wrongdoing. Evolution is still foolishly rejected by some. But what really makes me feel good is when an idea known as true for so long by some gets picked up by the mainstream.

Take pain for instance; chiropractors have known for over a century how wide ranging its effects are. But not the medical industry. Noooo. Pain is a part of getting old. There are some medications we can give you to ward off the pain, but…I’m sorry Missus Jones, you’ll just have to live with the pain.

But, as they say, the times they are a changin’. And there is now acknowledgment that pain can wreak havoc on human operation that goes well beyond the obvious. A new study out of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and the University of Massachusetts shows that chronic pain actually increases the probability of seniors falling. Since falls are a significant cause of death for the elderly, uncovering its predisposing factors are vital.

According to the study, published in the Nov. 25 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, people who had pain in more than one joint were more likely to fall, compared with people who reported no pain or minimal pain. Severe pain and pain that affected participants’ ability to do daily activities also made falls more likely, researchers found. In addition, having pain in one month made falling in the next month likely. People who reported severe pain in one month had a 77 percent increased risk of falling the next month. Even people reporting very mild pain were more likely to fall the following month, the group found.

So this is nothing new to chiropractors. We know precisely how much pain interupts neurological functioning of the human body; we know that the elderly are particularly susceptible to pain-induced biomechanical dysfunction (but don’t get false security young-folk, you, too, are susceptible); and we know that helping people become pain-free through chiropractic care helps them maintain their function, their balance and their dignity.

But here’s the problem: Medical science does not fully recognize it, yet. Damn shame I tell you. The current medical answer to pain in the elderly is pharmaceutical therapy, or in other words, drugs. Not only is this solution a non-solution since it never really removes or corrects the pain, but it can also add to the feelings of imbalance which then lead to further…you guessed it, falls.

Did the researchers mention pain-relieving chiropractic care as an answer? Well, they did mention fitness and wellness professionals, and since chiropractors are that, then…I guess they did. Thank you, thank you medical science–it’s about time. Like Galileo before him, D.D. Palmer will appreciate the acknowledgment.

How Drugs Reshape the Nervous System

By On · Add Comment · In drug tolerance, drugs, medications, nervous system, Second Chance--Break Free From Addiction


In this clip I talk about how drugs are neutralized and removed from the body. That process, like all processes–including physical stresses, pleasures, thoughts, ideas, experiences–have a shaping effect on the nervous system. Drugs (this includes the “good” drugs your doctor gives you) and alcohol, then, reshape your nervous system in a way that leads to drug tolerance, which essentially means you need more and more to get the desired effects (getting high, pain relief, loss of anxiety, sleep, whatever). No such thing as “minor effect’ for this reason. Doesn’t mean people shouldn’t take medications–they are useful and necessary at the right time–but they are definitely not benign. And this clip shows why.

Please visit the Second Chance–Break Free From Addiction website if you or a loved one are struggling with drug addiction.

Teens Overdosing on Ritalin Skyrocketing

By On · Add Comment · In ADHD, amphetamines, children, drugs, overdose, Ritalin, Schedule 2 drugs, speed, teenagers

Here we go again: The numbers of teenagers overdosing on ADHD drugs has risen 76% over the last eight years. The American Association of Poison Control Centers reports that the number of calls for all cases of ADHD drug misuse involving 13- to 19-year-olds went from 317 calls per year in 1998 to 581 in 2005. Holy moley! Is anyone else disturbed by this as much as I am?

I report in my book, The Six Keys to Optimal Health, that Ritalin and other ADHD drugs are some of the most commonly abused among teens. ADHD drugs are classified as Schedule 2 along with opium, morphine, cocaine, methadone and methamphetamine–that is, they have some medicinal purpose but are highly addictive and have a high potential for abuse. Ritalin and the other ADHD drugs (Adderall and Vyvanse) are the only schedule 2’s that can be obtained through a prescription. See the problem yet?

ADHD drugs are a form of amphetamines (schedule 3 drugs, which have less potential for abuse and dependency than schedule 2’s), yet they have been classified as even more dangerous than the amphetamines. 8-12% of all American children are diagnosed with ADHD. Sales for ADHD drugs totaled about $4.8 billion in 2008, according to data from IMS Health. Do you see the problem yet?

Although the history of ADHD is long in development, it was not classified as a medical disorder until 1987. And then in 1996 the first medication to treat this new medical disorder, Adderal, was approved by the FDA. Now do you see it?..now?..now?

Amphetamines cause abuse, dependence, addiction, tolerance, and overdose. They are illegal to posses in the general public without a prescription for just these reasons, yet Americans are willfully feeding it to their children because some crack science says it’s good for them. Kids that have overactive minds and personalities are tagged with some BS label called ADHD, and their parents are told, “if left untreated, the persistent and pervasive effects of ADHD symptoms can insidiously and severely interfere with one’s ability to get the most out of education, fulfill one’s potential in the workplace, establish and maintain interpersonal relationships, and maintain a generally positive sense of self.” And the kids are given speed. And 581 are ODing every year. Are you seeing the problem yet?

Those of you that really think the American health care crisis has to do with medical insurance should pull your heads out of your asses.

Celebrity Hard Sell

By On · Add Comment · In Abbot Labratories, celebrities, drugs, HIV, Kaletra, Magic Johnson

Here we go again: Celebrities being used to sell pharmaceuticals to a trusting public. Ah, always trust a celebrity, that’s this country’s motto. Oprah, Ellen, Magic, Omarosa–the celeb matters not; famous name, the product must be good. Well this time a drug maker has gotten scolded. Bad drug maker, bad–now go to your room.

According to a recent report, Abbot Laboratories, makers of a new HIV drug have been using Laker’s legend, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, in their promotional DVD for the drug, Kaletra. The U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sent a warning letter to the pharmaceutical company ordering them to cease dissemination of what they label as “misleading information.”

The FDA states that the DVD provides only anecdotal information (personal account) on Magic Johnson’s personal experience with the drug, and offers no substantial evidence. They also go on to say that the DVD is misleading in that it presents Kaletra as “safer and more effective than has been demonstrated by substantial evidence or substantial clinical experience, and encourage use in circumstances other than those for which the drug has been shown to be safe and effective.”

Tsk, tsk, tsk…the folly of it all. Listen, drug companies know that the American public worships celebrity. So they know that attaching a big name to their product will increase sales substantially. Good job by the FDA for catching this bunkum. And damn Magic, stick to NBA analysis (awright, throw in a little Fatburger)–don’t go selling your soul, man. If that drug doesn’t turn out to be what Abbot Labs is claiming in their propaganda, or even worse, if it turns out bad, then you’re in the doghouse. Why bother? I know in today’s world, it must be the money (sung in my best Deion Sanders), but I’m certain that doing one’s due diligence on a product one is to endorse is the wisest approach.

Anyway, the DVD has been pulled, and Abbot Labs has been ordered to come up with a “comprehensive plan of action to disseminate truthful, non-misleading, and complete corrective messages about the issues discussed in this letter to the audiences that received the violative promotional materials.” And they’ve got only until July 28, 2009 to do it. I think they should get Larry Bird in on that one. What do you think?

Wake Up and Smell the Mirror

By On · Add Comment · In Asia, doctors, drugs, health care reform, medical care, overprescribing, polypharmacy, symptom care

There’s a phenomenon happening in Asian medical care that mirrors our own practices, yet we seem too blind to see it. According to recent reports, doctors in Asian countries from Hong Kong to Indonesia are overprescribing drugs to patients that often don’t need them. And this overmedicating is driven by profits, experts say. You don’t say. Could that be the dirty little reflection staring “too expensive” American medical care back in the face?

“Polypharmacy (overmedication) is very popular [in Asia], it means they use a lot of medicines which are unnecessary, like giving you many types of antibiotics for a cold,” said William Chui, honorary associate professor at the Clinical Trials Center attached to the University of Hong Kong.

Well Dr. Chui, let me wake you up to a harsh reality: It’s not just profits that drive this practice–it’s a faulty paradigm. Health care based on primarily treating illness, while merely paying lip service to healthy behaviors, and shutting out these same practices from insurance reimbursements, maintains this polypharmacy madness. Think about it: Health insurers, which includes the federal government’s Medicare and Medicaid plans, only pay for symptomatic care. This perpetuates the myth that health comes from fighting illnesses.

No doubt, disease care is important; however, it is merely one aspect of human health. Denying all the rest–physical fitness, proper nutrition, regular bodywork, mental health services outside of psychiatry, and so forth–simply says, “It’s not necessary.” Do you think people get confused by this message?

The politicos talk a big game when it comes to health care reform. Wake up and smell the BS, America! Focusing on more of the same “health care”, just subsidized, is insane. Look at Asia if you can’t look at yourself. Put the finger back in its holster, American health care, or point the other four back at yourself; you wrote the book on medical over-consumption. But it’s a heck of a lot easier imagining you see Asia through a window, than recognizing it’s just a reflection in the mirror, now isn’t it?

Pissy Fishes

By On · Add Comment · In drinking water, drugs, fish, health, medication, pharmaceuticals, urine, wastewater

Does poor health result from too little medication in the bloodstream? Think about this, as it’s a philosophical question. You would think that this notion is the common wisdom by the way medications are consumed in this country, but our over-medicated culture is leading to some creepy consequences. Check out this tripper.

Scientists have found that fish caught near wastewater plants in five major U.S. cities contain residues of pharmaceuticals including cholesterol lowering drugs, antihistamines, high blood pressure medication, and antidepressants. This shouldn’t be any surprise to my regular readers as I reported on this nasty little phenomenon last year.

And from where are the fish picking up these pharma-residues? Why from human urine, that’s where. Gross, right? Americans consume so much medication that we are contaminating the oceans where we dump our wastes. And the organisms which habitate these ecosystems are bearing some of the brunt of our faulty (and foul) paradigm.

It is not lost on me that the drugs they found in fish mirror the drugs most commonly pushed on the American people. And if that isn’t enough to make your stomach turn, the EPA reports that trace amounts of pharmaceuticals have been found in our drinking water too.
So what do you think? Is your health so dependent on pharmaceutical drugs that you keep a constant flow of meds passing through your bloodsrtream at all times? Somebody’s is–just ask the fishes.

Elderly Drug Addicts

By On · Add Comment · In adverse drug reactions, drugs, health, medical paradigm, prescription drugs, wellness

Americans aged 75-85 are some of the country’s biggest drug addicts. That’s right, 68% of surveyed adults who take prescription medications were found to also take over-the-counter medications and dietary supplements. The problem with this practice is that many drugs and supplements have adverse reactions with each other.

Here go some more elderly drug-abuse facts:

  • more than half of U.S. adults aged 57 to 85 are using five or more prescription or non-prescription drugs
  • one in 25 are taking them in combinations that could cause adverse drug reactions
  • adults over 65 make up more than 175,000 emergency department visits a year for adverse drug reactions
  • commonly prescribed drugs accounted for a third of these visits

Wow! Does anybody else find this scary? The reason for this inordinate drugging of our elderly citizens is simple: We live in a drug-worshiping culture. Our current medical paradigm is all about the drugs, man. Foolish, very foolish. Don’t get me wrong, drugs are useful. I’ve said exactly that, here, and in The Six Keys To Optimal Health. But why more than 50% of all people over 57 (that’s too young, in my opinion) need to be on 5+ drugs is dumbfounding. Frankly, it blows my mind.

But, I get it; many others don’t. You see, drugs are the main weapon in the arsenal of the current health care authority–the medicos. Drugs fit into the current “health” paradigm, which the medical education is based specifically around. Neither situation alone–the use of drugs to treat, or medical domination of the health care system–is necessarily a problem. It’s the two together that cause a dangerous situation.

My answer to the problem:

  1. Medicine stay the dominant force in health care, but alter their paradigm by adding health and wellness to a far greater degree than what they are doing now.
  2. Recognize other health disciplines as allies in this quest to improve health care.
  3. Take responsibility in determining all medications a patient is on and managing the patient accordingly.
  4. Recognize that conservative, non-drug treatment is always, ALWAYS, superior to medicating when that option exists.
  5. Understand when that option exists.

Until these simple steps are adopted by the medical industry, expect more of the same: Too many elderly people (and people, in general) addicted to prescription meds, and way too many people getting sick or dying from adverse drug reactions.

Academia on Speed

By On · Add Comment · In addiction, brain, brain-boosting, drugs, Provigil, Ritalin, speed, stimulants

Who are the biggest up-and-coming speed freaks of the 21st century? Academics!

Yes, our nation’s literati are doing legal speed to boost brain power. Or so they say. According to a recent report, the production and supply of “brain-boosting” stimulants like Ritalin or Provigil has increased 300% between 1995-2006. But not all people use these easy to get drugs for intellectual prowess. Some, no doubt, use it simply to get high.

This latest drug abuse trend has some in health care worried–and rightly so. When altered states of consciousness become tolerated, even desired, in our institutions of higher learning, there is cause for concern. Primarily because most controlled substances have the potential for abuse and a high risk of addiction–the last thing we need in our universities, seeing how much power academia yields in politics and public opinion.

The concern has been sparked by a recent commentary in the journal Nature on Sunday that argues for use of the drugs in healthy adults as a legitimate way of improving brain power, much like education, the Internet or other helpful tools. Doesn’t this echo Timothy Leary’s turn on, tune in, and drop out ethos of the 1960s? Damn if things don’t come back full circle. The problem is that these pharmaceuticals have a much higher probability of leading to dependence than Leary’s LSD. And as you know if you’ve ever been dependent, drugs have a way of running one’s life.

So, increased brain power or not, I wouldn’t recommend playing this dope game. But if you must, just remember…I told you so.

American Kids More Mentally Disturbed Than Euro Kids?

By On · Add Comment · In depression, drugs, medicated, mental health, pharmaceutical, psychotropic, stress

Are Americans more depressed and mentally disturbed than Europeans? How about our kids? Now c’mon…people are people, right? Americans don’t have more stress than Europeans, Asians, or Latin Americans. Everybody has stress. Especially other industrialized countries–we all have to deal with economic issues, crime…traffic! No, no, no…Americans aren’t more mentally disturbed than Euros.

Then why are more American kids being heavily medicated with psychotropic medications than European kids? According to a recent study, children in the U.S. are significantly more likely to be prescribed drugs for mental conditions than their European counterparts. Psychotropic drugs include stimulants (Ritalin), antidepressants (Prozac, Zoloft), and antipsychotics (Risperdal). The research showed that American kids were more than two times as likely as Dutch children and more than three times as likely as German children to be medicated with a psychotropic drugs. American children were also substantially more likely to be on multiple psychotropic drugs. So I ask the question again, are our kids more mentally disturbed?

You know the real answer: Hell no! Our kids are more medicated for one simple reason–America is a gold mine for pharmaceutical sales. The reason is three-fold:

  1. Americans believe in magic bullets
  2. Americans worship medicine and put their doctors on pedestals
  3. American doctors are given financial incentives (like trips, cruises, and other gifts) to prescribe particular meds

What else would you expect? The current mental health paradigm in this country is that the cause of mental illness (depression?) is biochemical. What a bunch of horseshot. I cover this subject extensively in my book, The Six Keys To Optimal Health; but suffice it to say there isn’t one shred of evidence making this paradigm a fact. It is all theory. And a poor one at that.

All this in light of another recent study that shows psychotherapy to be better than meds in treating complex psychiatric problems. Time to cut the crap and get your kids off the psychotropics.

Statins–Miracle or Myth

By On · Add Comment · In cholesterol, drugs, heart attacks, Lipitor, NNT, pharmaceutical industry, statins, The Six Keys to Optimal Health
Seems like everybody today is on statins–13 million Americans to be exact. And only 12 million more worldwide. Hey, how can more Americans be on a drug than the rest of the world combined? Seems fishy doesn’t it? Does to me, except for one fact: America is prime and ripe for marketing manipulation; and no drug has been more hyped than the statins. Can you say best selling drug of all time?

We look at the very interesting mathematics behind the marketing of statins on the latest episode of the Dr. Nick Show (Episode 7). In it we discuss NNT, the number needed to treat for one person to benefit from a drug. Lipitor, the most popular statin (see the commercial here), accounting for approximately $14 billion in sales annually, has an NNT of 100 in its clinical trials. That is, it takes 100 people taking the drug for one to benefit. In other words, 99 out of every hundred (99%) people taking Lipitor get no benefit from the drug. What? That’s right, NO BENEFIT!

So what gives? I mean these drugs have been touted as simply miraculous. They are the answer to high cholesterol, that supposed villain responsible for many heart attacks (listen, I debunk this myth in my new book, The Six Keys To Optimal Health; please pick up a copy). Well, these latest findings sure put a dagger into that nonsense. And am I the only one frightened by the notion that “statins should be added to the water supply“, as some researchers have suggested? Hell no.

If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a million times, nobody is going to care as much about your health as you do. Not your doctor, not the government, and not the pharmaceutical industry. Drug manufacturers will always try to portray their product in the best light. And doctors simply don’t have time to scrutinize every drug that comes out, so they rely on drug reps to give them the skinny on the latest drugs. When drug reps tell doctors that their statins reduce heart attacks by 36%, doctors believe these numbers. Add to that a certain dogma that has its way of infecting all large institutions and well…I guess it takes the public to be on its own toes.

So there you have the truth. Listen to the latest episode of the Dr. Nick Show for more information on the fallacy of statin drug efficacy. And keep tuning into this blog for the latest in health news and information. I promise, you won’t get this information from your medical doctor. No time. Sorry.

Thalidomide’s Gift to Public Policy

By On · Add Comment · In antidepressants, birth defects, drugs, Frances Oldham Kelsey, pharmaceutical, Thalidomide
Rah, rah, rah! Three cheers for Thalidomide! Three cheers for the morning sickness pill of the 1950’s that led to thousands of birth defects.

Three cheers? Yes, because if it were not for the tragedy of Thalidomide, we wouldn’t have the regulations we have today for new pharmaceutical drugs. And we certainly wouldn’t be aware of the practice of withholding relevant and crucial information by pharmaceutical drug companies trying to pass their products off at any and all costs. Please take the time to read the history of Thalidomide here, and of the lone voice who refused to approve the drug for sale in the United States, FDA reviewer Frances Oldham Kelsey. When you do, you’ll see how lax our earlier laws were concerning drug approval.

At that time, pharmaceutical companies needed only to show that a drug was safe, and with a little trickery, it was easy to get things through. After the Thalidomide tragedy, though, the FDA changed the rules and required drugs to be both safe and effective. That means that manufacturers had to show that the drug actually did something beneficial–this prevented drugs from being “tried” on the public, as Thalidomide was in the U.S. Although it was never approved for sale, about 20,000 Americans received Thalidomide on a trial basis, including several pregnant women. Most birth defects were seen in Europe, but there were seventeen Americans born with birth defects caused by this drug.

We also have to thank Thalidomide for keeping us on our toes today. It’s exactly what I think about when I hear of antidepressant manufacturers hiding results. If you’ve got to hide ’em, there has got to be something terribly wrong. As I’ve said a thousand times over–when there’s big money involved, don’t count on human decency to make right decisions. And if it weren’t for Thalidomide…we might not know the full extent of that statement. So thank you Thalidomide for opening our eyes.

Prescription Party at College

By On · Add Comment · In college students, controlled substances, drug abuse, drugs, NSAID, opiods, prescription painkillers, Ritalin, sedatives, sleeping pills, stimulants, Vicodin
Guess which drugs twenty percent of all college students are taking with frightening regularity? Cocaine? Nope. Heroin? Nope. Marijuana? Uh…no. Give up? Prescription painkillers, stimulants, sedatives, and sleeping pills–booyah!

According to a recent study out of the University of Michigan, about one-fifth of U.S. college students are taking prescription pills to get high. And getting them is easy, much easier than getting other illicit “street drugs”. The research findings come from a survey that was conducted looking at over 3,600 college students with an average age of 20 or younger. Students were asked if they took any of the four types of prescription drugs: opioids; stimulants; sleeping pills; and sedative or anti-anxiety pills. 60% admitted to taking these drugs for medical reasons, while a whopping 20% admitted to taking the drugs non-medically.

The students were also asked whether they had done anything illegal to get drugs, whether they had blackouts due to drug use, felt guilty about drug use, or felt sick after stopping taking the drugs. A “yes” answer to three or more of these questions classified them as having a drug abuse problem. Apparently getting the drugs was as simple as going to the dentist for wisdom teeth extractions and getting thirty Vicodin along with one refill. Add a little alcohol and what have you got? A potential habit on your hands.

With the use of ADHD stimulant drug Ritalin on the rise among all teens and this becomes a very scary notion. The problem is that many people see these drugs as OK, since they come from a medical doctor. And if the MD prescribes it, it’s got to be OK, right? Well these drugs are all controlled substances–that is, you can’t buy them over the counter; you need a scrip to get ’em. They’re controlled substances for a reason: They have a high potential for abuse and they can be dangerous if taken improperly.

I think that the real warning here needs to go out to parents, and especially doctors. Parents can’t control everything their kids do, but a doctor can limit what goes out to these youngsters. The truth of the matter is that humans are incredibly resilient, so I’m not sure that 60 Vicodin are needed by many–if any–young tooth extraction patients. I had a cracked tooth and subsequent root canal myself back in January, and I survived on a weeks supply of Motrin (a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory [NSAID]). No chance to get high there, and the NSAID did the trick as far as getting me over the hump; so, 60 Vicodin?

I think it’s high time docs started discriminating a bit more before passing out scrips. There’s plenty of other stuff kids can get high on, so why add fuel to that fire. Prescription drugs are dangerous, just ask Heath Ledger and Anna Nicole Smith–oh wait, you can’t. Well, that’s just my humble opinion, anyway.

More Drug Deaths

By On · Add Comment · In acupuncture, alternative therapies, chiropractic, drugs, exercise, health, pain, pain killers, pharmaceuticals, prescription drugs, yoga

When we think of drug related deaths, don’t we all assume it’s heroin, barbiturates, or even alcohol that is involved? What if I told you that the fastest growing drug killer in our medicine cabinets today are painkillers – would you believe me? Well you’d better. A recent U.S. study has found that deaths or injuries related to drug treatments have more than doubled between 1998 and 2005 in the United States, with painkillers and immune-system boosters accounting for most.

Ouch. This further hurts a medical industry that increasingly relies on pharmaceutical treatments for every ailment, no matter how minor. Shame that it has even gotten so far as to make non-medical conditions “easily treatable” with drugs (hear my Podcast Episode 3 on lifestyle drugs to get a glimpse of this travesty). When there is a drug for every situation – forget illness, it’s gone way beyond that – then expect death and disability to rise.

The biggest shame is that there are so many “alternative” solutions for pain – like chiropractic, massage, acupuncture, exercise, yoga – yet so many people refuse to try them or give them an honest chance. Making matters worse, far too many medical doctors, and the medical institution as a whole, are slow to accept these alternative therapies as a part of mainstream care. And they certainly aren’t making a habit of referring their patients to these other useful and effective therapies.

Is it fear? Is it a desire to remain the cultural authority on all things health that leads to this sort of negligence? I think it’s both, with a little bit of arrogance tossed in. The general consensus regarding alternative therapies among medical practitioners is, “There is no proof – no scientific evidence.” This concept is such malarkey that it’s almost painful (excuse the pun) to bear. Take chiropractic for example. There is plenty of research on its effectiveness, but the doors need to be opened for serious dialogue to occur between the professions. Furthermore, chiropractic has been helping people remove pain and maintain health for over one hundred years, and has survived attempts to bury it, discredit it, and even outlaw it. How would this be so if scores of people were not being helped by it? Like, get with it, man. When are you going to accept chiropractic’s validity? When are you going to think first of your patients and steer them toward a non-drug option?

The bottom line is this: Keep prescribing drugs like there is no tomorrow, and see death rates soar. It won’t last forever because the public is getting smarter and more savvy (like my readers). Thanks to the Internet, information is easily shared and the position of physician as absolute authority is being severely challenged. Doctors are guides; they are teachers. Teach the truth and people will listen. There is no truth in the excessive manipulation of body chemistry to maintain health. You heard it hear first, so pass the word. And be diligent and cautious when seeking treatment. What you don’t know can kill you.

A Drug for Every Lifestyle

By On · Add Comment · In birth defects, cancer, drugs, lifestyle drugs, male pattern baldness, pharmaceuticals, propecia, Viagra, weight loss drugs

This month on the Dr. Nick Show, I talk at length about lifestyle drugs. Lifestyle drugs are devised to treat conditions that fall outside the medical realm of illness. Take male pattern baldness for instance – medical illness or life circumstance? Oh well, we have drugs to treat it either way. Should insurance companies (read: insurance premium holders/consumers/you and me) have to pay for it?

Another way to define lifestyle drugs is: medicines that treat conditions caused by lifestyle choices. So, for instance, there are some groovy weight-loss drugs on the market right now. Cool. Should you rely on them solely? Hmmm. Or, should you pound the treadmill, pound the weights, and cut the calories? I mean, why should one do all that hard work when there’s this cool little pill? I dunno, why?

Well if you listen to the latest episode of the Dr. Nick Show, you’ll get all the details on lifestyle drugs, and you’ll be able to make a decision on your own. And no matter what, you’ll see how these drugs are defining the direction our culture is moving with regard to pharmaceutical science.

It’s no problem – it simply is what it is. However, just know that every substances comes with an added risk. And there just ain’t an easy answer – like a pill – that can fix all of our problems. The piper always gets paid in one way or another, ya know.
Anyway, lifestyle drugs are here to stay. It’s big business. Check out these booming numbers – BusinessWeek calls them blockbusters (with sales of $1 billion or more a year). Drugs to help people wake and sleep as they please are particularly popular. And, of course, let’s not forget the drugs that help men have better erections.
No, no Campos – that’s help men who can’t have erections.
Uh, no…it’s not. Lot’s of young, healthy guys are partying on Viagra – Viagra and methamphetamine, that is. Or ecstasy. Or coke. Swear. Check it out . But don’t forget the risks gents. There’s always risks. For instance, the baldness drug propecia can cause birth defects if pregnant women inhale particles of broken pills (dosages are taken in half pills, so consumers must break them in half – brilliant, right?) or handle whole pills. And some cancer concerns exist with propecia too (scroll down to possible health concerns).
So, like I said, the lifestyle drugs are here to stay. Risk aside, the market is far too lucrative for pharmaceutical companies to slow down development. No to worry, just know the risks and be careful. Avoiding lifestyle drugs, in my opinion is always best, but, if ya gotta do ’em, then do ’em intelligently – which is, for a very short period of time.
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