Generation Rx

1. Generation Rx Quotation and Summary

2. Prescription Drugs When putting this situation into perspective it is clear to see the authors strong feelings on the subject. Through the statistical data and the specific cases presented we see the immense amount of knowledge the writer possesses. The main blame goes to the advertising done for these drugs in the doctors office. The explanations given throughout the first two sections help make this even more clear to see.

3. The Questions Begin to Come To open the mind of the reader and pose certain questions of the argument he poses. “ Should a drug be able to distribute, by highly trained and restrained medical affairs people, studies showing that a drug for one approved purpose also “seemed” to help kids, with, say, stage-four cancer, and unapproved cause?” By putting these thoughts into the mind of the reader ideas of the authors argument begin to sway the opinion of the unbiased lector.

4. Addiction Talking about a new pill that could be the saving grace on the Leschly legacy, Paxil, it is discussed that “…in the back of everyone’s mind was the bad experience with Valium in the late 1970s, when thousands discovered they were hooked on something that was not supposed to be addictive.” Through this citation of the book the fear and uncontrolled grip these prescriptions have on the public are seen. They took the American people by surprise making them quickly addicted.

5. Fake Studies Jan Leschly a big pharma owner decided that to make his sales go up he would “Instead on focusing on whether the drugs worked – something already established – the researchers were charged with looking at something more subjective – how were the patients “feeling” and whether the feeling resulted in better compliance.” To him like most business men the most important part was the profit he was making not the people he was “helping”.

6. Start of Chronic Disease The greedy business men behind these operations found the way to make an even greater profit. The way to get to peoples wallets was easy, make them believe they needed this medicine for many different reasons. “Instead of trying to hit its goal by selling Paxil as an antidepressant, why not enlarge the base by selling it as a cure for a number of related psychiatric disorders?” When people begin to believe they are dependent on this drug live, the sales will evidentially raise.

7. First Large Chunk The overall message and argument found in the large first chunk of the book Generation Rx is concise. The large companies in charge of pharmaceuticals make maneuvers so people like you and me get addicted and hooked onto drugs that seem to be casual. The way these companies manipulate us into “needing” these medicines is not only astonishing but is the first step toward the epidemic that is turning the future of the United States to nothing.

8. Subsection ¾ Generation Rx Throughout this subsection the author talks about two main topics. The first is the problem that these drugs have cause in our society. We love to be addicted to these drugs. In order to do “the ‘way in’ was to make pharma into the kind of compliance and persistence counselor, one with deep pockets and the ability to ‘incent’ patients…”(Page 115). The second topic touched upon in this subsection is the damage that these drugs are having on the physical health of all those consuming them. The author persists on the fact that the amount of chemicals we intake from these drugs cn not be good for our body and that our addiction to these will only shorten the life span of the new generations and generations to come.

9. We Love It !! While reading the first topic I realized the author make claims that make sense through examples and facts. I agree with the author on this part of the book. I believe that people in this addicted generation look to get more and more involved in the drug world. It has become part of the world culture to be taking prescription drugs. The norm is to be medicated and those who are not will feel strange and not normal. This mental state of mind is messing with the younger generations making them more prone to find needs for these drugs.

10. The Full Price The author here uses the story of Concepcion Morgado. This woman with diabetes was switched from drug to drug until she began to take Rezulin, a drug that was shoved down the throat of physicians and patients by the wholesome companies of Parker-Davis and Warner-Lambert. Concepcion’s liver was severely damaged and her life was put on the line. I agree with the author with the claims he makes throughout this section. The drug companies are making us pay “The Full Price” for these drugs we become so dependent on. The drugs we believe are making us feel better are actually putting our life at risk and when we realize their effect it may be too late.

11. Final subsection Generation Rx

12. The Mediator Critser states that “we cant take it”. Meaning that these drugs should be unavailable to most people but as we can clearly see they aren't. He explains that there are two buffers. These buffers make our approach to the drugs only that much easier. One of these is the doctor that prescribe these drugs to us and the other is the government, namely the FDA that confuses our civilian minds.

13. In the doctors shoes When the author speaks about the buffers that make us creep slowly toward these harmful drugs he being to talk about doctors and their effect on our fore coming addiction. Being in an examining room has become a situation in whichh intimacy is no longer seen. When we sit in the doctors office we are sitting with managers and salesmen of pharmaceutical companies trying to make us buy their addictive product. To be in their shoes would make us see the difficulty they have to balance their doctor side and their entrepanuer side. They want to make money.

14. Government This entity makes getting drugs only that much easier. From the FDA, which regulates new drugs; Congress, that funds the FDA and holds all pharma records, to the White House that appoints the officials that carefully oversee this process. Having this backup in the legal system it just becomes that much easier for the companies to take advantage of helpless people like us.

15. What Can Be Done The last part of the book is dedicated to the future. How will we move on from this modern day epidemic? The answer is simply put by Critser. We must move away from the big ads that pull us toward magic pills that will cure us of all evils. The physician patient relationship has to be a clear and close so that us, the patients can receive a good outcome from the prescription drugs they prescribe to us.