27 Years: No Deaths from Vitamins, 3 Million from Prescription Drugs

And excerpt:

In order to protect sales, the link between suicide and antipsychotic drugs was completely covered up by Eli Lilly & Co, the makers of Prozac. Despite research stretching as far back as the 1980s finding that Prozac actually leads to suicide, the company managed to hide the evidence until a Harvard psychiatrist leaked the information into the press. The psychiatrist, Martin Teicher, stated that the American people were being treated like guinea pigs in a massive pharmaceutical experiment.

http://www.infowars.com/27-years-no-deaths-from-vitamins-3-million-from-prescription-drugs/

:'( My bf is on an antipsychotic drug (given in a small dose for anxiety)

Can only taper one at a time though, and it is keeping his appetite up.

Chig x

Wow thanks for the info. Glad the truth is leaking out finally!

Amen... Just Zoloft to go and I'm done.

I read through this article and have a few thoughts.

Vitamins and prescription drugs have too many differences to compare.  Certain prescription drugs, when used as directed, carry some benefit when used in the appropriate circumstances.  When something is proven to be beneficial, it often comes with risks.  Benzos are proven to be effective in relieving anxiety, but they can be extremely addictive.  Antibiotics are proven to be effective in eliminating life-threatening infections, but they can carry the risk of causing fungal infections or in the case of fluoroquinolones adverse reactions such as tendon ruptures.

Vitamins carry little risk, but that also means there may not be as much benefit.  This is probably true in circumstances where time is a factor.  Automobiles are a quicker way to get where you want when compared to the old method of walking, but the risks are that you may end up in an accident or not get enough exercise and develop certain health problems.  All modern 'advances' often pose some sort of risk.  I am sure there are those that want to capitalize on their gains by marginalizing anything negative about their product, but that practice is not exclusive to drug companies alone.

Like someone said in the comment box, out of those 3 million who died using prescription drugs, you don't know how many overdosed or how many were about to die anyway.  Since it is difficult to overdose on vitamins, death comparisons can't correctly be made.  So for those of you on prescription meds, if you are not abusing your meds then you should not be concerned about the aforementioned statistics.  Benzos can be deadly, but many people have even taken massive doses of them in an attempt at suicide but still survived.  Also remember that the 3 million number is for all prescriptions, not just one class. 

Chiggylit, do not let these articles cause concern.  You should probably just concentrate on the benzo for now, and when the time comes your bf can talk with his doctor about withdrawing off of any other meds. Antipsychotic drugs are known to have withdrawal effects, but it shouldn't be anywhere near as hard as withdrawing from benzos.  

 When something is proven to be beneficial, it often comes with risks.  Benzos are proven to be effective in relieving anxiety, but they can be extremely addictive.  Antibiotics are proven to be effective in eliminating life-threatening infections, but they can carry the risk of causing fungal infections or in the case of fluoroquinolones adverse reactions such as tendon ruptures.

Agreed.  However,  shouldn't the risks be disclosed to the patients by the doctors?  More importantly, shouldn't the risks be disclosed to the doctors by the manufacturers? Some rewards of modern medicine, unfortunately, are not worth the risk. 

I agree that it is unfortunate that the author groups all prescription drugs together. And by doing so, undermines his points.  However, he does present some facts that are discouraging which the FDA needs to address.  Just because some medications have been approved for years does not make it too late to recall them. 

Christopher 

[quote author=Crono link=topic=39843.msg553491#msg553491 date=13177878

Chiggylit, do not let these articles cause concern.  You should probably just concentrate on the benzo for now, and when the time comes your bf can talk with his doctor about withdrawing off of any other meds. Antipsychotic drugs are known to have withdrawal effects, but it shouldn't be anywhere near as hard as withdrawing from benzos.  

Thank you Crono 

Christopher I agree.  A good friend of mine was on Vioxx for arthritis pain for years and then the recall came.  People were having heart attacks on that medication.  I am glad she dodged a bullet.  I think she was moved onto Celebrex, but it wasn't as effective for the arthritis. 

It is never too late to discover new problems with medications, and I guess they decide to pull medications off the market depending on how high the risk becomes.  Vioxx was a case of benefit = no pain, risk = heart attack.  Well that is way too much risk, and if the percentage of those who had heart attacks was extremely low I am sure they would have left it on the market.