Thanks, Big Pharma, For Silencing The Music With Greed
It’s Music Monday, and I’d be seriously remiss if I didn’t include Whitney Houston in this segment. If you haven’t heard–which I would think is almost impossible considering the media frenzy–legendary singer and performer Whitney Houston is dead, and the cause of death is still under investigation. Speculation is leaning towards a combination of prescription pills, alcohol, and drowning (in her bathtub, no less), but whatever the case, Whitney Houston is gone. Everything else is inconsequential.
Pills/ Image credit: Pranjal Manha
I grieved to hear of her passing, but I can’t lie and say I was terribly surprised. Whitney had been fighting addiction for years, and it eventually won. If people would begin to understand that the addiction always wins, with few exceptions, maybe less people would begin using drugs, including pills. I won’t go into the level of contempt I feel for Big Pharma, which pushes prescriptions for the sole purpose of making a killer profit, but it is significant.
For example, instead of adults simply having a bad time in life or feeling normal grief when dealing with a loss or tragedy, they are labeled depressed. Instead of being called “spoiled rotten”, kids are labeled “ADHD”. Now don’t misunderstand–I do agree medication is beneficial for those who are genuinely ill or in pain, but many adults on medications are only on them because they choose not to cope with adverse emotion, and a doctor has given them a “magical pill” to ensure they won’t have to.
With children, it’s screwed up parents refusing to acknowledge their little angels might be rotten and in need of less medication and more consequences. Nothing pisses me off more than seeing a kid be a total brat to his parents, but the parents excuse it as illness rather than poor parenting. Yes, there is a HUGE difference between kids who need medication and those who need discipline, instead.
There are countless other examples of the abuses of pharmaceutical companies, but I don’t have enough time or posting power to cite them all. Sure, people make the choice to take these pills, but it is usually at the suggestion of their trusted physicians, and if you can’t trust your doctor, who can you trust?
If there is ever a zombie apocalypse, it won’t be from undead monsters who eat brains to sustain–it will be our own society succumbing to the lure of an emotionless existence through Big Pharma, and that’s incredibly depressing. But I digress…
My music selection today is composed of great musicians who lost their lives directly or indirectly due to pharmaceuticals. Whitney Houston is included, and it is with a heavy heart I add her to the mix. All these years I really hoped she would overcome her demons and be victorious, but it was not to be.
Thanks, Big Pharma, for silencing the music with your greed. Keep lining your pockets at the expense of the people.
Whitney Houston-I Will Always Love You
Elvis Presley-Suspicious Minds
Marilyn Monroe-Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend
Dorothy Dandridge-I Got Rhythm
Jimi Hendrix-The Wind Cries Mary
The Who-Who Are You (Keith Moon of The Who lost his life)
R.I.P.
If I seem a little bitter, it’s because I am. The celebrity deaths are only but a small sample. There are thousands of normal, everyday people who have died at the hands of pharmaceuticals, leaving behind a wake of confusion and grief. I feel terrible for them and their loved ones, and I pray for comfort and healing.
Disclaimer: Every individual situation is different, and life-saving medications are not what I’m referring to in this post. I am pointing out the abuses and greed of Big Pharma, which is an entirely different, more sinister, situation.
If you liked this post, I invite you to read the previous one: Real Men Don’t Wear Skinny Jeans. Before you go, please subscribe to this blog through the available RSS options or via email. I’d be grateful if you took advantage of the sharing buttons located at the bottom of the post, and if you enjoy this blog, please click the “like” button to the right for my Facebook page. Thank you for taking the time to read and comment on my posts.
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Amberr, I totally agree with every SINGLE word of your post especially where you mention ADHD. Back in my day my mother would have prescribed a ‘well aimed’ slap. It’s sad that these emotionally weak/unstable celebs/people are preyed upon by ‘Big Pharm’ and are not always offered an alternative. RIP Whitney! Keep uo the brilliant posts Amberr!
My mother would have assigned that well-aimed slap, too. Thank you for the lovely compliment, too, Veronica!
Personally, I blame Bobby Brown. Everything went downhill from there.
Here’s a suggestion that I’m sure 94% of your audience hasnt heard for next Monday. Moonshine Bandit is the band. I like for the outlaws! Youtube em, they’re different
Oh, yeah, Tony, Bobby Brown played a big role in her downfall. Thanks for the suggestion for next Monday. I’ll check them out!
The ADHD thing got so out of hand and for the most part really still is. My daughter is 20 years old now but when she was back in elementary school I had a teacher tell me she should be on ADHD meds. I asked her how she knew this and she said that 75% of her class was on the meds and the kids who weren’t were disruptive. I was so mad..I was so livid. I tried getting my daughter pulled from her class but they said no. I told the teacher that my daughter was acting like a regular kid should be acting, not like one of the zombie kids on the ADHD meds that more than half her class was on and she would just have to deal with it.
I was put on antidepressant meds years ago and after being on them for years I finally became fed up with them..they didn’t even do what they were prescribed to do so I went off them. The withdrawals were horrible but I made it through and have been off them for more than a year now. They didn’t work for my depression and so I figured I am just going to have to put my big girl panties on and deal with this myself..which I am…
Mary, I used to be on anti-depressants, and they made my life worse rather than better. I haven’t been on any meds for two years, because I prefer to feel deep emotion rather than nothing at all.
Way to go Amberr. As far as ADD, I think it is attention deficit disorder, but I think the culprit is a lack of parental and family attention.So many children today are starved for attention.
Many in today’s society want a pill. It’s a quick fix and it’s available. I have 3 friends who are deficient in Vitamin D. All are couch potatoes who do not go outdoors. They all take Vitamin D tablets. I suggested to each, a 15 minute walk in the sun, and did not receive positive responses.
What are you gonna do? I appreciate your words and I’m with you as far as Big Pharma goes.As far as my doctor, he/she is my partner…they are not my gods. I pay attention to my body, I know my body, and I do not always follow their orders. Alliopathic medicine does have its place, but so does knowing your body, healthy eating, moderate exercise, spirituality, and a healthy lifestyle.
Brenda, you make a good point. Kids need more attention. By the same token, they also need more parenting. I also feel you should be in tune with your body, because doctors do make mistakes every day.
It seems to me that Whitney’s demise started when she started with Bobby Brown. Ever since then, she went down hill. I was so hoping she would make a come back and I thought she was. But it’s hard for an addict to kick the habit. It’s is a terrible travesty to lose such a fantastic voice as well as someone who was so pretty. She could have gone so far with her career. I blame it on Bobby Brown.
I agree that the “go to” diagnosis to an over active and disobedient child is ADHD. And what’s a poor exasperated mother to do? Shove some pills down the kid’s throat. When all the kid probably needs is a little attention. Some parents don’t know who to interact with an active child. It’s easy to sit and read a book, but some kids have more energy than others (like me). And doctors are all to happy to dish them out. It’ll be interesting to see what the long term physical outcome to taking some of these meds will be like with these kids who’ve been on them for years.
Irene, I shudder to think of what the outcome will be for all the poor pilled-out kids and their clueless parents. And yes, Bobby Brown certainly did a number on Whitney. She seemed to be doing great before she married him, and then it was all downhill after that. I feel very sorry for their poor daughter losing her mother in such a way.
I have a friend who works with kids with developmental problems. She says ADHD is a label for a set of symptoms that look the same but don’t have the same cause. Patently treating a set of idetical symptoms arising from different causes with the same treatment is never going to be effective.
Some mothers medicate their children rather than admit they are bad mothers (not all, just some). My nephew’s mother (no longer the partner of my brother) had her son medicated at the age of TWO for supposed ADHD. That doctor reused to treat my nephew anymore after I had a word to him about drug regulations and the need for a second opinion to lawfully prescribe those drugs to a child that age, but unfortunately I can’t keep up with the doctors she finds. This behaviour is irresponsible to say the least.
But who is really at fault? Sure, pharmaceuticals companies peddle their drugs to make money, but the people who are supposed to stop this is doctors. Hello, Hippocratic oath and all that? At law, doctors have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of their patient. Clearly, addicting them to a drug to make the emotional pain go away is not in their best interests (except possibly in a few extreme examples). If doctors were true to their oath and their legal duty, no amount of peddling by pharmaceuticals companies would have any effect. Of course, people shouldn’t ask for them either.
For that matter, the same rules apply to bacteria. If you have a cold (which is a virus) no amount of antiobiotics is going to make you better because antiobiotics are for bacteria. But people ask and doctors prescribe.
Ciara, you bring up several good points, and I agree. Doctors need to do their fiduciary duty and stop caving to pressure from Big Pharma. I’d recommend imposing heavy laws that yank the licenses from doctors who don’t truly serve the best interests of their patients. Great comment!
Amberr, you’re brave and your right. When is this culture once again going to take responsibility, each and ever one of us, for our own lives, and teach our children likewise. Then and only then will we see the real source of our pain and suffering and thus the true way out. I commend you, gal. Well done.
Christina, thank you! Responsibility needs to start being taken right now. Unfortunately, it won’t happen nearly so easily.
It’s such a pattern that it’s almost clique – famous person dies of drugs and alcohol. You’d think people would learn, but they never think something will happen to them. So sad about Whitney’s passing as she was one of the great singers in our century.
Maria, you are right. It is a cliche that needs to be snuffed out. She was a great singer, but she couldn’t overcome her demons.
Amberr I always enjoy your blogs.
I have the same feelings about big pharma companies,
in that they make billions each year on human suffering.
Worse they suppress natural remedies, which do not have
the horrendous side effects as pharmaceutical drugs!Imho
As for children with ADHD etc.
All behaviour is wise & when a child behaves badly, as we may perceive it,
all a child is doing is letting you know how difficult it is for them on the
inside. They outwardly express that in difficult behaviours, as they need to bring our
attention to their unexpressed pain/hurt/fear/anxiety or the lack of love & boundaries in their lives.
Loved your choice of music, especially Michael Jackson’s, man in the mirror.
Be the change you need in our world
Much love my friend & happy Saint Valentines day xox
Happy Saint Valentine’s day, Trich! I do believe kids are trying to show us something–even if it’s a plea to make their environment more structured. To think Big Pharma suppresses natural remedies is ridiculous. They are killing people and zombifying millions, and that is truly disturbing!
People are saying that the media is overdoing it with the publicity on Whitney’s story. But if the prescription drugs/addiction are the cause of death, then they should publicize this story even more to ring home how important it is to fight addiction and the role prescription drugs play in our lives! Sadly, it takes the tragic loss of a celebrity to push this point to the public.
Tara, I agree. Bring on the media frenzy, because eventually it may help the average, everyday person, too!
Tracy, no benefits whatsoever. Doctors need to pay more attention, and Big Pharma needs to stop pushing toxic drugs on people.
Great post Amberr, and I agree with everything you’ve said, good on you for speaking your mind
Thank you, Dionne!
Amberr – you are spot on! I see all these commercials: take this, drink this, take that, send your kid here, do this.
It is always sad when someone dies. Especially from tragic circumstances of the inner demon.
Whitney was such a troubled soul. And no one knows what she was going through or what she put herself through on a daily basis.
I know what it is like to look together but be destroyed on the inside. What is ticking me off today are all the tasteless jokes about Whitney.
Great post, Amberr. Way to tell it like it is.
Darlene, I agree on the tasteless jokes–if she were there mother/sister/friend they might not be so quick to act like jerks.
Yet one more reason to hate pharma…they are deliberately not producing life saving cancer medications for children across the US with a rare but treatable form of Leukemia. It’s estimated there is only about 2 weeks before supplies run out and children that otherwise might have gone into remission will be sentenced to death. The reason? The drug has been around for a long time and is cheap.
Dee, that is a shame, but I am unsurprised.
I’m going to take exception to the ADHD remark–partly because kids who truly have ADHD are not brats and it is not the result of bad parenting. I will agree though that ADHD is over diagnosed and with anything in the medical field the diagnosis of such things is subjective.
I am a parent of 5 children. Only one of my children has a diagnosis of PDD-NOS–an autism spectrum disorder (ASD)–and ADHD and ADD are part of that ASD diagnosis. That said–we were able, at a very early, age to treat the ASD and by proxy the ADHD /ADD symptoms through dieting and I can tell you that my 13 year old daughter is far from being a “brat” or an “unruly” child–but there was a time very early on, that no amount of parenting would stop some of her erratic behaviors. The judgmental stares I got from some people when I had to take her into public places always had me second guessing my parenting skills and it wasn’t until her diagnosis came along that I realized I was dealing with something well beyond a mere parenting issue. When the diagnosis came in, I learned as much as I could–I found ways through diet and behavior modification techniques to get her to tune into the world around her. I never went the pharmaceutical route–I knew there were ways to get most of what I was dealing with under control through diet…and for her it has been successful. This does not mean she does not have an occasional meltdown–but she’s 13 and it isn’t any more or less frequent than my other kids.
I think Whitney Houston situation is a tragedy on many levels. First–she really did have it all before she spiraled downward with prescription and other types of drugs. I think we all HOPED that she could make a come back before it was too late. And (I mentioned this elsewhere)I think we wanted to see her make her way back to the top. What a story of triumph that would have been. The sad part is–it didn’t happen and now she’s gone. No do-overs, No taking it back. She’s gone. And you are right–the prescription drugs and big pharmaceutical companies are partly to blame as they seek to make a buck.
Jenn, kids who truly have ADHD are exempt as I mentioned, but a lot of kids are misdiagnosed when they truly are just ill-behaved. You have 5 little ones? You are brave, and I commend you.
I just wish Big Pharma would do the right thing, but that will never happen–too much money at stake.
P.S. Thanks for your incredibly insightful comment!
Don’t get me wrong, I think medication is necessary to fight off any infection or disease. But when it comes to children’s mental health or learning disabilities, educators and parents shouldn’t have to rely solely on medications. It’s called patience and understanding, which sometimes is harder for most people to handle. Just because the child is ‘acting-up’, a pill is not going to solve that.
Barbara, nothing beats good old-fashioned discipline for a kid who acts like a jerk (and there are legions who fit into that category).
My Sisters two boys were MEDICALLY DIAGNOSED with “Defiant Child Syndrome” and YOU guessed it…there are PILLS for that, too!! Grrrrrrr-the medical industry is SO corrupt. My Son-In-Laws Chemo meds, for a brain tumor are $6,000 per month. Co-pay with insurance $2,400, “Riddlin and Adoral” are cheep, relatively, and not ness ary to sustain a worthwhile life.
I agree with 99% (especially with the over medication of children) of what you are saying and yes the pharmacy companies are a major hand to blame but the human race has been really, really good at killing ourselves for a couple thousand years already. We are able to find something that is bad for us or will harm us no matter when or how and that is our nature. Whether that is something like cigarettes and alcohol of the last century or religion 10 centuries ago we will always find a way to screw ourselves up.
We are all blessed and cursed with free will and their is no cure for that.
Martin, no doubt about that. Free will is a blessing and a curse.
Callie, I have no problem with you using posts as long as credit is provided, but please send the request via the contact form and I will respond. I went to approve your comment until I noticed your website was “whirly pet” sales. I’m not sure how my blog and whirly pets are relating, so perhaps you can clarify. Then I won’t have to think you’re spamming me.
You are preaching to the choir here, I think you did a great job of articulating one of the major factors in the demise of society…medicine for BIG profit. One of my pet peeves is TV advertising for unnecessary and extremely harmful pharmaceuticals. Why anti-dpression pills are legally promoted to children when marijuana possession is a criminal offense…it is absolute madness that defies common sense…it’s all about the money and…it makes me sick!