They moved me!  They moved me!  I hope you've refound me by now.  I've finally figured out how to log into this new utility, so I'm reposting last night's blog for ya. 

They were able to retain all the old blogs, but none of the comments!  BOOOooo!  Many of those strings were classic.  Well, just like the upcoming new year, we'll just have to start anew.  And speaking of new, I'll need a new name for my blog as the shopping diet will officially be over on December 31 at midnight.  Suggestions anyone?? 

Over the weekend, my family and I were discussing the over-prescription of drugs in America and beyond. Today, there are treatments for anything and everything from PMS to something called “restless leg syndrome”. It’s no secret that I suffer from PMS (or, rather, everyone ELSE suffers from my PMS) every month; and I tend to shake my leg during long, drawn-out meetings and before going to sleep. Does that mean I need to be medicated for those “problems”? I don’t think so… especially weighing the possible outcomes.

Take Zoladex, for example. Zoladex is a medication used to treat PMS. "Treatment effects" include heart arrhythmia, cerebrovascular accident, hypertension, myocardial infarction (whatever that is), peripheral vascular disorder, chest pain, anxiety, depression, headache, constipation, diarrhea, ulcer, vomiting, anemia, gout, hyperglycemia, weight increase, chills, fever, renal insufficiency, urinary obstruction, urinary tract infection, breast swelling, and tenderness. Give me the irritability and mild cramps, will ya?

And what about acne treatments? A kid taking Accutane® killed himself in 2005. Turns out, side effects of Accutane include psychosis, violent changes in behavior, suicide, and depression. I’d MUCH rather have the pits and valleys in my face, wouldn’t you?

Recently, I was diagnosed with asthma. Would have never in a billion years believed I could be asthmatic. And I still don’t. Anyhoo, in order to treat my supposed case of asthma, I was prescribed something called Symbicort, a “long-acting beta2-adrenergic agonist”. The following is written on the warning label for Sybicort: “Long-acting beta2-adrenergic agonists may increase the risk of asthma-related death.”

O.k. does this make any sense to you? The medication treats my asthma, but may increase my risk of asthma-related death. This is like saying, “Such-and-such medication will lower your cholesterol, but may increase your chances of suffering a heart-attack or stroke”. I’m getting a second opinion. I don’t want to take something that can kill me via the very thing it’s supposed to treat.

I’ve heard that doctors get kickbacks from drug companies for prescribing certain drugs (the ones that aren’t available in generic form, I’m sure). If this is true, then my conscience would certainly never allow me to be a pharmaceutical salesperson… Does anyone out there know for sure? Do doctors profit from each prescription they write? Inquiring minds want to know…