Page 34 - Big Pharma and the Constant Gardener
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PERVASIVE DRUG CULTURE
MOUNTS
By 2006, it was newsworthy, but
no longer that unusual to hear of
yet another celebrity death due to
prescription meds. I was listening
closely late at night for three weeks,
as “Larry King Live” interviewed
panels of all-male medical and legal
experts regarding the most recent
death. No physicians specializing in addictions were represented
on the panel. When a physician stated that the actress was on “only
eight prescription meds,” no one on the expert panel responded
to the comment.
In the course of my work during an interview with a physician
candidate specializing in addictions medicine, he replied to one of
my questions saying most physicians are not trained to recognize
addictions. The abuse of medications was already being recognized
as epidemic, but the number of fellowship programs preparing
specialists remained extremely low.
