Prozac and Paxil

Something is wrong with the focus on the "drug war" when 200,000 people die each year from prescription drugs, yet only 20,000 die from illegal drug use. Adverse reactions of prescription drugs are the third leading cause of death in America. In fact, people have a seven times greater chance of dying walking into their doctor's office than they do getting behind the wheel of their car! Every year approximately 200,000 souls die from prescription drug reactions with another 80,000 dying from medical malpractice (The International). Where is the FDA? Why do they continue to allow doctors to prescribe these drugs? How could they let it get to this point? What once was believed to be a

Pharmaceuticals in the United States have been on the rise for years and everyone is trying to find was to get cheaper medication. New generics, 4 dollar lists, and coupons have been a growing force in pharmacies in the past few years. Some might think, “There has to be laws against rising prices, right?” Well, sort of.

Federal antitrust enforcers are investigating whether a multinational pharmaceutical company has attempted to minimize the impact of generic competition to one of its most profitable prescription drugs. This antidepressant drug is the company 's best seller, with sales last year of $2.11 billion, representing a 22% increase from the year before. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is conducting an investigation to determine whether the company engaged in activities to prevent generic alternatives to the prescription drug from entering the market. Specifically, the FTC is challenging a practice among brand-name and generic drug manufacturers to agree to

The rise in costs of prescription medicines affects all sectors of the health care industry, including private insurers, public programs, and patients. Spending on prescription drugs continues to be an important health care concern, particularly in light of rising pharmaceutical costs, the aging population, and increased use of costly specialty drugs. In recent history, increases in prescription drug costs have outpaced other categories of health care spending, rising rapidly throughout the latter half of the 1990s and early 2000s. (Kaiseredu.org, 2012).

At first it was the cure all people were looking for. Then it became the drug they were afraid to take. Somewhere between these two extremes lies the truth about the drug Flouxetine, better known as Prozac, the most widely prescribed drug on the globe. It is mainly prescribed to patients suffering from clinical depression. It was first brought to the market in 1988 by the pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly co. Even though it was originally prescribed for depression, it has been prescribed for everything from eating disorders to insomnia. It was first considered the wonder drug of the new decade because of the way it helped depression patients when no other anti-depressant could

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have been prescribed by physicians for many years now. One reason SSRIs are so popular is because of the many mental disorders they can be used for such as anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), phobias, and many more (Weitzel & Jiwanlal, 2001). The four major types of SSRIs that are most commonly used by people with mental disorders are fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Paxil), sertraline (Zoloft), and citalopram hydrobromide (Celexa); SSRIs work on the brain by acting on the reuptake pathway of serotonin (Stone, 2010). There are some advantages for taking SSRIs. One advantage is that SSRIs have fewer side effects than most of the other antidepressant medications such as monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) and tricyclics (Weitzel & Jiwanlal, 2001). Another advantage is that SSRIs have less of a risk of toxicity in overdose (Lane, Baldwin, & Preskorn, 1995). SSRIs are better tolerated than tricyclic antidepressant medication because they cause less sedation and problematic anticholinergic effects. There are also reports indicating that SSRIs have fewer negative effects on the cardiovascular system than tricyclic antidepressants (Edwards, 1992).

Other research examines the influence the rise of direct to consumer advertising (DTCA) for anti-depressant drugs may have on altering negative perception of mental illness overall (Payton, A., & Thoits, P. (2011). Information from 1996 – 2006, a period of increased advertising for anti-depressant medication, shows that despite large financial investments on DTCA advertising on depression drugs, the public likelihood of recognising depression or viewing it as a serious condition did not change from 1996 to

The patient tells me she is doing much better. She reports that she is feeling "way better". She has noticed since changing her Paxil from 10 to 20 mg, her symptoms have improved even further. She says she is not doing her nightly rituals when she tries to lie down to sleep, which is part of her OCD symptoms, which allows her to fall asleep much more quickly. She finds that her anxiety at work is much less and she is feeling much less stress at work. She says she is having no work anxiety, in her words. She has had no side effects when increasing from the 20 to 30 mg and she would report that she feels about 90% better. She, however,

When FDA approved a new drug, the drug makers put its price. But how anyone can tell that the price of the new drug is worth its value and effectiveness. Patients, employers, providers, policy makers, and even insurance companies should trustworthy independent source to help assess the value and effectiveness of the new drug, and here the role of Institute of Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) begins.

A substantial piece of the U.S market in the health sector is run by the prescription drugs and, therefore, making the U.S the global largest market of pharmaceuticals accounting for more than a third of the world’s expenditure on drugs. It is estimated that in 2014 slightly over $300 billion were spent on prescription drugs which accounts for roughly 10 cents of every dollar in the U.S healthcare market. The U.S expenditure on prescription drugs has been growing at an annual rate of 11% for the last 27 years between 1980 and 2007. But the expenditure has slowed between 2008 and 2013 to about 2% annual average which has been occasioned by several reasons including the 2008 financial quagmire which was also responsible for the reduction in the overall U.S health care costs, the application of controls towards insurer drug utilization and also the production of a less amount of new blockbuster drugs within that period (Institute for Healthcare Informatics, 2014)..

DiJulio et al. (2015) notes that twenty-five percent of individuals that are on daily medications, report they have not had a prescription filled or have cut their dose in half at least once in the last twelve months due to their finances. While the politics of some states have argued the high costs of specialty drugs, the bigger picture here has been missed. Friedman (2015) states that while some of these medications may have significant costs, organ transplants that are needed because of the diseases, are far more expensive. With the possibility of approval of these specialty drugs by the FDA expected as early as October of this year, the debate over federal solutions are on the rise. There has been a series of several federal solutions proposed by The National Association of Medicaid Directors to help contain the prices of these specialty drugs. One of the proposals includes a waiver, tying Medicaid to favorable outcomes. Another suggestion, would be to have the government purchase abundant sums of the drugs at a reduced price and offer it to the states at a more economical price (Kaiser, 2015). With at least four states already limiting consumers' expenditure expenses and other considering the obviousness needs to enforce drug companies to justify their extreme costs, the controversy around drug costs is likely to carry on throughout the states within the country. Congress has yet to fully take up this issue and finalize a resolution. Therefore, states will be left to test different policies that restrict the benefits of specialty drugs for those in utmost need (Farber,

Since the early 20th century millions of people have suffered with some form of depression, which is categorized as either Major Depression, Clinical Depression or Major Depressive Disorder. However it’s categorized, the symptoms include severe sadness, inability to cope with day to day issues, and a general lack of interest in family, friends and/or life in general. Over the years that astounding number has been both a boon to the economy and a ray of hope for sufferers in the form of antidepressants. One of the first medications introduced as a treatment in the United States in 1998, was Prozac (Fluoxetine), which is an SSRIs or Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor, which works to balance out the feelings of pleasure and emotions, which is why it was dubbed the “Happy Pill”. It was widely touted to be the solution for the masses, however for many who suffered with severe depression, it was not such a ray of hope. Prozac soon became associated with aggression and suicidal tendencies by the media. This paper will support the evidence that Prozac, while very effective for mild depressive symptoms is linked to aggression and suicide in both adult and minors who suffer from major depression.

Although several drug classes, including anticonvulsants, antipsychotics, and antibiotics, were associated with a higher frequency of off-label use, other drug characteristics such as manufacturer, and annual sales levels did not predict the likelihood of off-label prescribing. While this study highlighted the magnitude of off-label drug use in the absence of evidence regarding efficacy, it made no attempt to define the level of concern associated with specific drugs. We sought to build upon these studies to develop a systematic process for prioritizing future federally sponsored research and policy initiatives regarding off-label drug use based on the concept of value of

The most common drug used for psychological problems is an antidepressant. Used for those who are depressed. They may not cure depression, but they can reduce your symptoms. Then you have mood stabilizers which tend to be effective against people who have bipolar disorder. These can also be used for schizophrenia patients. Then there are anti anxiety medication. This isn't just for everyday anxiety, it's mainly for those who are always stressed and end up hurting themselves or others due to their anxiety. The advantages of using medication is that most of the time there is instant relieve, leaving the patient feeling good. This can also be bad though because then the patient begins to rely on them and doesn't work to make themselves feel better,

The implications of these two differences in terms of positioning strategies are vast. The inability to utilize DTC advertising prevented the U.K. from successfully pursuing alternative positioning strategies, such patient-based segmentation, due to concerns about the physician’s ability to identify such segments and further confusing the prescribing process. Moreover, in a socialized health care system where patients are entitled to free medical care, patients can seek treatment easier and can be less involved in the prescribing process than in an insurance-based system where there is more monetary involvement. Although this strategy might communicate a clear message about the drug’s superiority, it would devalue the brand name built for Imitrex, drastically impacting its potential profitability as well as the ability to continue to recuperate the high investments already sunk into the R&D and marketing of Imitrex.