Capitol Hill Blue Forums Science and Technology Health, Medicine & the healing Sciences Drug deaths now outnumber traffic fatalities in U.

Thanks Phil. I thought I was having a bad reaction thia morning but my air conditioning died on me. 102 today and I hope the repair man can hurry. My cats are melting.

This is the pal who I was crying for last night. The great and beautiful Kate.

http://www.rightpov.com/kate.jpg

A most curious thread Phil !

I admit some interest in how "the difference" twixt drugs and vehicles was determined as I have it on reliable report a lot of MVAs resulting from DWI - driving while impaired - are going unreported because the determination is too lengthy/expensive. IOW these cases don't "present" with obvious symptoms/evidence like booze does.

OTOH I can't see excoraiting "Big Pharma" for the "problem" either ! (BTW just who is "Big Pharma" anyway ? ) A rather small - and decreasing - group of companies are dedicated to the long, tedious and often futile search for pallitives to address the manifold illnesses plaguing the world's populations. These company numbers are decreasing mostly because their business model requires a very high front end investment with a short - at least in the U.S. - "exclusivity" in the marketplace to earn their "ROI". Doesn't take an economic genius to discern why their successful drugs cost so much under those economic pressures !

But there's another side to this tale ! A lot of current OTC meds wouldn't exist under present FDA regs ! I encourage everyone to research the very narrow "window" twixt effective dosage and "lethal dosage" of common OTC anti-inflammatories/analygesics like Tylenol, Ibuprophen, and Aspirin among others . I often wonder just what their role plays in a lot of MVAs. I see a lot of drivers doing really goofy things everyday. It can't all be laid to poor technique/training ! >Mech

And yet we continue to obsess as a nation/society about a day 10 years ago with about 2,800 people, including many who were neither of the christian faith or U.S. citizenship, were killed in a series of violent attacks. If the data above is correct, we have lost nearly a million people over that same 10 year period to these two causes. Yet, no similar outpouring of grief or rhetoric about what we should do to combat those issues. We would rather wring hands about what we cannot control than devote ourselves to what we could, with some concerted effort, at least manage.

WTF ?? !! >Mech

BATF??!!

WWJF?
Don't ask, I won't tell

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SG, Do you work in the pharmaceutical developement industry ? Or know anyone that does ? Do you even know the regs/constrictions/time lines developers of new drugs work under ? If you do, please respond with some serious data.

Your's is the common complaint fostered by the trolling ads of indigent lawyers ! It has no basis in fact; even less in science - as any chemistry 101 student could inform - if they wanted to pass, that is ! Perhaps you don't trouble yourself to read those "advisory phamphlets" all druggists dispense along with your prescription meds ? >Mech

Yes, actually I do know somebody in the pharmaceutical business., both in the research end and the sales end. We all went to high school together, and one attended the same university as I did(CSUF). The other went to UC Davis. The reseacher, did lots of work developing drugs and complained that she was constantly harassed by the BOD to rush her findings. She was not allowed to conduct thorough clinical trials. The research is very expensive and the company heads are very eager to market their product to recoup their costs and improve their bottom line. The sales person told me his tactic is to leave tons of free samples with doctors and even give them kickbacks, in order to gain customer loyalty in prescribing these drugs to their patients. The legal ads just show that there is a lot of scientific basis for their being able to conduct a civil lawsuit. I do not think that indigent lawyers can afford television ads. I myself have never sued anyone for anything, so I have never had the need to hire a personal injury lawyer. But if I did, I would.

I do read all advisory warnings of any medicine or supplement that I must take. Being a diabetic on dialysis does make you very wary. Besides, as Mr. Scoutgal tells me, I am just naturally nosy. I also research whatever is prescribed to me on the internet, and then I discuss this information with both my nephrologist and internist.

SG, can't see how "drug peddler's" sales tactics have anything to do with the proposition drug mfgs/developers are somehow invideous. (BTW, the "freebie" practice is as old as the hills - or at least older than I am - having first encountered it circa 1966 !) Have a couple of relatives that worked for a major drug developer at their animal test center. Over decades of family gathering conversations their observations always were congruent !

"....complained that she was constantly harassed by the BOD to rush her findings. She was not allowed to conduct thorough clinical trials......."

Most interesting as the FDA - not the mfg. - sets the standards/time frames for all such tests ! But even if an accurate/true allegation it only serves to further document the economic pressures a controlling liberal/progressive government bureaucracy imposes upon exploratory developers in the drug industry ! Check just when the FDA has decreed the "exclusivity clock" starts for any new drug developer. (It ain't - as one might logically suppose - when the drug is released for use/sale !)

BTW, a lot of diseases go untreated because the "orphan drugs" needed go begging for support due to USFDA regs/requirements ! Like it or not, our "drug industries" are investor-driven for-profit enterprises. IMNSHO, without them we'd be a much sicker nation ! >Mech

TFMMP!