It is illegal in the USA for insurance or Center for Medicare or Medicaid Services (CMS) to ngotiatiate price or quantity of any drug ( that is why a drug like Harvoni ( created by a doctor working for the Veterans Administration ) is a hundred thousand dollars per month here, and therfore not available to our Veterans due to cost,. but may be available in Mexico or Europe for $ 400.00 per month.

Lie saving Emergency drugs that are in short supply in the USA that are listed on the " WHO'S 100 drugs needed for a modern effective medical system" , are in short supply because the patents expired long ago and the companies only make a couple of dollars off each use , make very small quantities of them , that is there right in this country , it does not matter to the companies if there is no substitute drug that works the same way ( even if people die , for lack of the drug big pharma doesn't care , all that matters is profit) .

As far as psych meds , since there is no proof of an illness and no proof exactly what action the drug has on he brain or body many of these drugs have potential for addiction and each new evolution of drugs over the years has become more and more dangerous , side effects of permanent disability or death from a skin drug , or fatal brain infection from a drug to help treat MS , are we kidding here.

The FDA & CDC recently said that some really weird things :

1. That all there Crack downs on "Opiates" has had little effect on the most vulnerable segment of society, the disabled on benefits , who are generally sicker than than all other segments of the population, I am disabled because I am dying , do they think that dying is a place I want to be , or choose this path for my life, or that my pain and opiate use is because I am unfamiliar with Asprin or other NSAID no its because I'm sicker than most.

They also say that we are missing the other addiction in America "the elderly" well give our physicians more than 15 minutes with them and maybe pharmaceuticals would be a last resort instead of the 'norm" .
And how about getting insurance companies ( who do whatever the CMS does ) to cover alternative therapies ( PT, OT, Biofeedback, Hydro therapy, Acupuncture ) ! The woman across the street is a perfect example , they will supply her with a fancy wheelchair , but will not allow her access to more than 8 OT visits a year , she had a stroke and has partial ability to walk, with help as in PT she could walk full time again because just as she started to make good progress in PT they yank it away for the year, because she has reached 8 visits, what should he point of keeping the sick, sick really be .

Big pharma keeps us taking there expensive drugs , they have hijacked the point of medicine and Doctors , get the patient back to the highest level of function they can obtain and take it from there , instead it's you have fifteen minutes to prescribe what ever will keep them content and a customer for life of your drugs, get them to forget there goals and aspirations , turn there dreams into just that, dreams seen through a drug induced haze, motivate them to be a patient instead of a whole person.

If big Pharma had of been what they are today, do you think the visionary, country saving dignified President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ever would have happened, or even been allowed ? Every single American who is Retired, or getting help with surviving a major disabling condition has that man to thank, and what are the chances of a man or woman being allowed to hold high office ever again in most of our lifetimes, you decide ? And JFK does not count because his conditions became severe and widely known only after his 1000 days and death.

The Americans with disabilities act was enacted with a whole lot of fighting and am twisting, and believe me it has been watered down many times sine enactment, as the people of color are finally getting some recognition for years of struggle , thanks to the prevalence of cameras showing what has gone on for years , and been swept under the rug.

Those with a disability sit many levels below where they are today even with the ADA enactment, politicians fight to get the vote of different segments of society Wether it be Evangelical,Latino, conservative , etc never once have I heard the people with a disabilities vote being sought, the closest to that anyone has ever come is all the talk of keeping guns out of the hands of the "mentally ill", yet if you look at statistics very few crimes ( such as mass killings) are done by people with an illness, although any perpetrators not killed during there acts all claim they had "diminished capacity" ( as in an illness) at the time they did them.

My feeling and belief is if you ( any one of us , who rads this ) does a heinous act and runs away or plans for there own death after the act, knows that it was wrong and therfore is guilty , that is premeditated and shows clearly it was not an act of "passion" or spontaneous in any way ( spontaneous being "driven to it by immediate uncontralabe circumstance") yet laws in this country changed years ago that in a court of law any defendant must prove not only they are not guilty of whatever act , but also prove they did not in fact know right from Wrong at the time the act was committed .

Also another completely wrong and "crazy" component of the justice system is the prosecution " telling what happened" ( they where nt there , or part of the act ) so instead of everyone telling the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth, the prosecution is allowed to present a totally fictitious story of what ( and it's always the worst possible tale they can think of) happened, what ever happened to presenting the available pyhsical evidence in a non partial way , by both sides and allowing the Judge or Jury to draw a conclusion from that, although it has been said that juries ae composed of 15 people not smart enough to get out of Jury duty , similarly noted is the fact that this "impartial" panel is picked by the two most biased people in the world, one guy wants you to hang for you alleged offense and the other who believes in you innocence no matter what.

Big Pharma is the same way they don't care how or why a drug is given as long as it's given and making them money, on label off label or just because the patient was a royal pain in the *** and would not be happy until they got a prescription for whatever drug they saw on TV last night that "promised" it would help with whatever ailment the patient was convinced they suffered from in between sit coms they watched last night. Don't be a victim of greed always ask "Is this really needed", "is there a different drug free treatment option" and most of all if a drug is needed "is this one covered by my insurance & has the least amount of possable dangerous side effects" .

Depression very well can last a lifetime just as psychosis, but more and more evidence is coming out that it can also be a "one hit wonder" and treatment can be time limited ( or in many cases Phameceutcal intervention can be avoided all together with the patient benefitting sooner from avoiding the medication route all together). Many patients can benefit from therapy to learn new or better coping skills, stress reduction,conflict resolution, resilience, sleep management , nutrition etc..,many can do these things and go on to lead full and productive lives, unfortunately this a case by case thing , patients are not all sick in the same way and therefore can not heal in the same way, that is the number one reason medicine can not be an assembly line process of 15 minutes , it must be individualized and tailored to what works best for this person and there life .

Best way to get of any medication such as an SSRI is to switch to another that is shorter acting in the body So you have to take more tablets during the day, and slowly start taking less , first you extend the interval between tablets , then after a period see if you can eliminate that tablet obviously you work from bedtime backward, and as you do this hopefully you will get to the point that your morning dose eventually gets eliminated , it's important to remember your body will do everything it can during this time to make you take the drug, but always remember as you try this if you ever feel like harming yourself that you get immediate help from somebody you trust, your survival is of the greatest importance , even if your mind works to convince you otherwise.

Good luck in your efforts at detoxing, and we are always here to help.

Misterpain