Singulair
written by Joan Locker on February 10, 2008

The ads for pharmaceuticals on television are so overwhelming, that I stopped watching them due to the list of side-effects where they talk so fast to cover them all, you figure, "Whoa, not for me!"

When the ad for Singulair came on television, I did the same - ignored it...again, the side effects were a turn-off.

When I ended up in a pulmonary specialists's office and was tested, he prescribed Singulair. I shrugged my shoulders and said, "What the Hell..." I had always suffered from asthma; worse yet, bronchitis at least twice a winter and Prednisone, my Nemesis, was ALWAYS prescribed to fight an attack along with an anti-biotic.

Singulair was explained to me by the pulmonary guy - how it works, which was exactly how they presented it on television....but I wasn't listening because of the preponderance of television commercials of drugs. I just tuned them all out....

When I started with Singulair...it was "My Magic Bullet." No more bronchitis. I blew my nose in the morning and that was IT. It has helped curtail my asthma, but I still have it - just not to the degree I had it before.

The FDA used to test drugs for 10 years; that has dropped to 7 years.

My daughter suffers from Multiple Chemical Sensitivities. Someone who was very persistent, FINALLY got to talk to the head of the Director of the FDA on the phone and when she explained to him about MCS, his answer was similar to, "Duh???"

People are being POISONED - not by just the drugs they take, but by perfumes and fragrances...all chemicals, which are used in everything they have; cleaning products, fragrances and with fragrances, the components and chemicals are never listed...it's a TRADE SECRET, you see, and therefore, there is NOTHING in that 3 oz. bottle of perfume to allow you to know the chemicals used. They can't, anyway, because the list runs into several hundred chemicals used to make a few ounces of perfume. Of course, they could mark it with a skull and cross bones. And women spray it in their cleavage, ergo, BREAST CANCER. AND NO, I CAN'T PROVE IT, BUT WHERE'S THERE MANURE, THERE'S A PONY AROUND!!!!!!

A friend of mine tried VIOX and suddenly saw two of herself in the mirror...then a sharp pain in her head on the way to the doctor, where she it was determined she had suffered a mini-stroke. Her eye was affected, but the opfthamologist assured her that in a matter of a few weeks she would see normally again. She did.

Viox has a class action suit...

Merck got its hands slapped with a fat fine...forgot what they did, but it was on television.

I'm on an HMO and when my doctor has a load of Singulair samples, the girls stuff my pocketbook and I stuff my pockets with it. Of course, needless to mention, I buy all my drugs through Canada.

I had a stent inserted in my left leg...Plavix came into play and there was a generic. Three months of the generic for Plavix and then on today baby aspirin....

It's time for the Drug Empire to start to collapse on itself.

Glaxo/Smith/Kline, Merck, Pfizer...most of them have factories in Canada and cannot sell to Canadiams at the prices they SELL TO US.

Americans are fools!

I take generics of every single think I take. To include Singulair and Zocor.

The faster they go, the behinder we get of other countries.

Our system is broken
written by Earthceuticals on March 19, 2008

Well, really it's working just as it's designed to... for the drug companies and the mega hospital corporations and the insurance companies whose slice of healthcare pie is exploding daily. How much of our GNP can we waste on this stuff before we go bust? How many good people who don't have insurance will die from non-treatment to make room for the ever growing profit center of the newest diagnostic toy that gives no treatment, it just costs out the ying-yang. And how many new drugs do we really need? Do we really need all these cholesterol pills? Can't people just eat right? And what about those luducrous male-pill ads... if they last for over 4 hours call the emergency room. Yeah right like that has ever happened. What a scam, and they are so transparent. Go natural.

amazingly uninformed
written by pharmacy student on November 2, 2008

to Joan:
prices in Canada are lower due to their health system/insurance not due to the drug companies. Canada's system would never work in America due to our population size.

to Earthceuticals:

Yes, we need a new system for getting insurance to the individuals without. Unfortunately it's not a simple solution and will be a problem for some time (especially since health care isn't part of our Constitution...)

Believe it or not, many diseases/conditions have similar symptoms. New diagnostic tools are ESSENTIAL for the pathway to treatment. Would you like to be given a drug for a disease that the doctor THINKS you have but isn't positive? Diagnostic tools can help to decrease the vast number of mis-diagnoses that happen every day.

Yes we need "cholesterol pills!" Eating right and exercise don't help those with familial hypercholesterolemia (a hereditary disease). Also, have you looked at America recently? Has the increased push for healthy eating/activity changed anything? nope. We're still fat and lazy. Telling someone to eat correctly won't mean they will. Preventative medicine/practices are the CHEAPEST and sometimes most effective healthcare treatments, but are the hardest to get patients to actively comply with.

The erectile dysfunction ads (as well as all Rx ads) state their side effects because of federal law. Although priapism (the erection lasting over 4 hours) is rare, it IS POSSIBLE and is a VERY serious condition that could result in the loss of the penis. Just because something is rare doesn't mean it doesn't happen. If the drug was a scam, the FDA wouldn't have approved it. There are things called clinical trials that must be done for each drug before they reach the market. They check for efficacy during those (efficacy = the drugs work as they are said to).

If you have questions, I suggest you talk to your local pharmacist. They are there to help you with any drug related questions you may have! Medical students only get a semester's worth of drug classes (ie. doctors hardly know anything about the drugs they are prescribing). Pharmacists have had 4 years of professional drug-related classes. Utilize their knowledge!