This is precisely why we need universal healthcare coverage in this country!!! Big Pharma, Big Insurance and Big Biomedical Engineering are FOR PROFIT, not FOR PATIENT!!! This article tells the story of the ills and evils of the pharmaceutical giants. These huge multi-national conglomerates spend Billions on research and development. Consequently , they spend even more Billions on marketing these products and cultivating a skilled sales force to AGGRESSIVELY PUSH THESE PRODUCTS. The salespeople go to GREAT LENGTHS to market these drugs DIRECTLY to doctors, and even to the end users. These doctors are given everything from gifts, vacations, lunches and dinners and even CASH KICKBACKS!!!! The drug companies use doctors who regularly prescribe their products, as consultants to brief and market the clinical applications to other doctors. This is done in exchange for a spot on the payroll of the drug companies. THIS IS AN EGREGIOUS AND BLATANT ETHICAL VIOLATION THAT IS COMMONPLACE IN MEDICINE. It's not ethical to promote drugs in exchange for kickbacks. This is also detrimental to us, the patients of the following doctors. We tend to get prescribed the drugs of the "kickback" companies in exponentially greater proportions than other drugs, thus denying us necessary therapeutics. Often times, like in the article above we are prescribed drugs EVEN IF WE DON'T NEED THEM OR GAIN ANY BENEFIT IN TAKING THEM!!! The Pharmaceutical companies reward doctors for maintaining a SALES QUOTA!!! If they sell "X" amount of drug "y", they hit an OUTRAGEOUS BONUS. The point here is, WHENEVER THE INFLUENCE OF MONEY PLAYS A ROLE IN MEDICINE, CLINICAL WELLBEING IS SACRIFICED IN EXCHANGE FOR THE "ALL MIGHTY DOLLAR". And the argument that MONEY is what drives research and development to some extent is true. Alternatively true is the fact that European and Asian Pharmaceutical companies develop drug technologies on the same scale as we do here in the states. The truth is, many companies listed in the article are European. (Merck, Pfizer, etc.) The fact that we operate under the Capitalistic model of healthcare administration, our drug rates are DRAMATICALLY INFLATED due to our demand driven market and unregulated pricing schedules. You can thank the Pharmaceutical lobby for that. Socialist healthcare administrations of Europe and Latin America regulate their drug prices and mandate affordable prescriptions, IT'S THAT SIMPLE!!! These are the exact same companies that exist, manufacture and sell here in the U.S. Why does a double-standard exist between the United States and the other countries of the world when it comes to the Pharmaceutical industry???? The Pharmacy lobby is a Trillion dollar industry with an INCREDIBLE PROFIT MARGIN. (pills are cheap to make) They've colluded with the Insurance industry, as well as the Biomedical Implant industry to FLEECE THE AMERICAN PUBLIC UNDER THE GUISE OF SUPREME HEALTHCARE!!! Our Congressmen and Senators are bought and paid for by these industries so they are powerless to reform these industries. We need to stand up and take control of our lives- it's a matter of life and death. VOTE DEMOCRATIC IN 2008. 1ST- Edwards, 2nd- Clinton, 3rd- Obama!!!!
1/10/2008 3:23:00 AM

For the 1st time EVER I agree w/ TK! On everything except the last lines. Voting democrat won't be any better than republican. They are just as corrupt. Even with someone as idealistic as Barack or Edwards if they were elected it would only be a matter of time before they were bought by the lobbyists. I totally agree we need to stand up and take control but voting the same old way - democrat /republican - is going to give the same old results. Solutions? Maybe one huge purge of the existing politicians & start over? I don't know - all I know is that what we have does not seem to be working.
1/10/2008 7:27:00 AM

Drugs makers are SO powerful, it's scary! They bribe doctors, studies are biais....they are killing us. I'm still amaze that Merck got sued with Vioxx (it was nice seeing their stocks go down 30% in one day) :) Hopefully a new era will come and some scientists will say NO to bribes and only want what's good for humanity.
1/10/2008 7:31:00 AM

This is disgusting. Antipsychotics for ADHD?! The solution for active kids is to knock them on their butts and make them unconscious? Somebody should go to jail for this.
1/10/2008 8:31:00 AM

Compassion, understanding and hugs at the right time make for great mood stabilizers; respect, civility, and comity is a healing remedy for intermittent explosive disorder in most cases. My son is the square peg that the public school system is trying to squeeze into a round hole so to speak. Even in early childhood educational programs it became apparent my child was unique in ways that challeged standard educational practices. We tryed Methalphenidate for three months. A request for the literature that the drug company provides, not what the pharmacy provides, I discovered that it was not for long term use. Results were not effective enogh to warrant further use in my opinion. Children are human beings. Each child is unique. Let their creative energy flow.
1/10/2008 9:06:00 AM

OMG, I'm agreeing with TK.....
1/10/2008 9:10:00 AM

How any one who calls himself a doctor could say that age is not a factor in determining appropriateness of any drug does not understand anything about pharmacology or biochemistry. these drugs are primarily tested on adults who can weigh upwards of 200 pounds or more than small children, and primarily males to rule out hormonal variances. additionally, drugs are tested based on a diagnosis which is based on certain criteria identified by the dsm lV revised edition (i dont even know if there is a dsm V as of yet). some of the diagnosing has to do with a certain length of premorbid period, meaning life time prior to first incident. children are not even old enough to satisfy any of the premorbid periods for almost all of the psychosis based diagnoses. additionally, the testing that is done to generate a diagnosis can not even be performed on a young child due to lack of language skill development and cognitive development. aggression is not psychosis. now, let's take a more logical, less academic, less intellectual view of this. on the back of the baby aspirin or any over the counter drug for children is a recommended dosage based on baby or child's weight. how much more so important must this really be for a drug that alters a child's brain chemistry? How these questions are not dealt with boggles my mind. these children are stuffed with medication to control them, not to resolve behavior, cognitive, or emotional problems, or acting out as a response to some form of abuse. unfortunately, due to the time consuming and cost ineffective nature of dealing with such issues in a more practical paradigm, the multitude of children in need can not be treated any other way by the state. this is just a clear demonstration of the lack of value we, in general, have for our country's children and poor. Lauren Kolman M.S.ED., .D.C., C.AD. Chiropractic Physician Board Certified Addicitonologist
1/10/2008 9:18:00 AM

Here's a prescription for them all - a good old fashioned spanking and some tough love! Let's not forget that the parents are responsible for being too lazy to discipline.
1/10/2008 9:19:00 AM

So Dr. Kolman, in your estimation what would be the motivating factor behind Pediatricians or Child Psychiatrists prescribing these psychosis drugs? My explanation for this violation is increased pressure from the Pharm. Reps/Companies to suggest and prescribe these sometimes unneeded drugs. What's your take?
1/10/2008 9:41:00 AM

At what point, in this age of absolute information overload, does news this disturbing cut through the white noise and really get people's attention? The most profitable industry in the world is experimenting with mind-altering drugs on children who lack the power to defend their own self-determinism. The vast majority of school shootings, most committed by young people, were done by kids either on these drugs or coming off of them. We are mind-boggingly close to 1930s Germany to the degree that powerful special interests with a particular agenda are pulling the wool over the public's eyes, with power and profit being the sole motivator. This is NOT about the greater good, this is NOT about the health and sanity of the next generation. This is about profit at whatever cost. At what point do we turn off the computer, put down the blackberry and actually take a look at the people around us and take RESPONSIBILITY for everyone around us? No man is an island. The attitude that this somehow effects everyone but "me" is to play the fiddle while Rome burns. Will it take a generation of zombies to wake us up? And will the culture by that time be too far gone to salvage? I wish these questions were purely hypothetical...
1/10/2008 9:58:00 AM

Big Pharma is destroying the lives of children and thereby destroying families and subsequently creating a bleak future for too many of our society. Their power is ill-gotten. They are undeserving. Their actions depicted are criminal.
1/10/2008 10:03:00 AM

The wholesale drugging of the youngest generation is a nauseating symptom of how deficient our culture has become in the know-how to deal with children and the will to invest the time and attention necessary to do so. That's bad enough. But to use powerful mind-altering substances intended for psychotics on children to "get them under control" is beneath contempt.
1/10/2008 10:09:00 AM