Vyvanse approved as treatment for binge eating
Warning! Doctors can sell your Rx history to Big Pharma
In yet another consumer-bashing move, the US Supreme Court ruled June 23, 2011, that pharmaceutical companies may now purchase lists of the drugs that individual doctors prescribe (without the name of the patient) for marketing purposes.
The ruling was made using the First Amendment Freedom of Speech argument that if researchers and journalist were allowed to gather such records, then marketers deserved equal access. Um, this doesn’t exactly seem like freedom of speech to me. It’s more like data mining. And that pretty much sucks.
Warnings on generics: Supreme Court rules against consumers
But what about our safety and our right to full disclosure? Is the tradeoff for cheaper prescription prices an incomplete warning label about a potentially long-term, debilitating neurological condition? In this case, apparently so.
What does this mean for generic manufacturers? That they may skip merrily down the road producing medications that may or may not negatively impact the end user without telling us about newly-discovered problems.
What does this mean for ADD medications? It means “caveat emptor” – let the buyer beware. The drugs that are “off patent” may or may not have new, serious side effects. But if we take a generic we’ll never know, because there is no requirement that we be told about them. And now, no way to seek legal recourse against the company that produced the drug.
Neurotoxicity and meds
Depression delights
It was actually a miracle/stroke of genius/blessing that I stopped taking my Adderall because it peeled back the covers to reveal a more basic issue that I probably wouldn’t have noticed otherwise. When Dr. Ware told me that depression actually causes cell death in the brain (which is repairable, thank goodness) I suddenly understood why I’ve been struggling with even basic tasks (but embarrassed to admit it).
Three weeks without Adderall
Stimulating everybody’s brain?
When I first tried stimulants they put me to sleep! It was the first thing that convinced me that I really had ADHD. I’d heard that people with ADHD have a “paradoxical response” to medication, so if I was sleepy after I took Dextrostat, I must have an ADD brain.
Adderall & Vitamin C interaction
Keeping ADHD meds in perspective
know it’s heresy for an ADHD coach to say this, but I semi-agree with her. Study after study shows that addiction rates actually fall dramatically when ADHD meds are prescribed and administered appropriately (e.g. a drop from 81% drug abuse to 23% which is near the rate for the general population).
But when your ADD has kept you up all night and you have to go to work, it’s awfully easy to pop an extra stimulant to wake up
ADD, depression and divorce
Q. I’ve had ADD all my life and am suffering with procrastination ! I have just lost a 30-year marriage and I feel so alone and lost … hopeless. Even with great friends and family support. Just had to move out of my house and into a townhouse and all I see is disorganization and pain. Is this depression or what? HELP – S.W.
A. What you’re experiencing is probably a combination of depression and ADD symptoms – but I am not a physician so can’t diagnose it for you. If you aren’t seeing a doctor about this, please do so. If it’s indicated, medication can make a world of difference.