DocTalk: American Addict
American Addict, produced by Pain MD Productions and 888 Films, is a documentary about the overuse and abuse of prescription drugs in the United States. The US has five percent of the world’s population but consumes around fifty percent of the pharmaceuticals. People tend to put a high level of trust in their doctors and therefore assume that whatever their doctor prescribes must be safe. However, this is not always the case.
The documentary begins by showing celebrities, such as Elvis and Michael Jackson, who died because of drug overdose. This was an impactful, if jarring, look into the intensity of this issue. When prescription drugs are abused on the streets, the police often target the source. However, this does not diminish the demand for drugs. People will just find them elsewhere.
There are so many ads now a day on TV, in magazines and on the radio that promote certain drugs. People then go to their doctors requesting those drugs instead of something that has been around longer and may be safer or more effective. These ads also tend to over simplify people’s health making it look as if their drug will work for everyone. In reality our bodies are very complicated and therefore effective medications may also vary.
In the documentary there was a silhouetted women from a pharmaceutical company. She was talking about something called off-label marketing. This is a very common, yet illegal, practice. It takes place when a drug does not become popular for its intended, and approved, purpose and therefore the company begins to market it for other ailments … for which it was not approved.
A lot of psychiatric medications are only approved for adults but are used for children who are being diagnosed more and more with mental health issues. Companies pay doctors a lot of money to prescribe their drugs as often as possible. These companies produce their own studies, which focus on the benefits of their drugs but do not pay close enough attention to the possible harms.
Interestingly enough, the FDA refused to be interviewed for the creation of this documentary. However, they were spoken of a great deal. Drug companies supplement the FDA’s budget so that they are able to review and approve drugs at a faster rate. The money is received without a contingency on whether or not that company’s products are approve. However, this still poses conflicts of interest.
Adverse events from medications is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. Over 25% of drugs approved by the FDA have a black box warning. This is an express warning stating that it is a particularly dangerous drug. These warnings still do not seem to deter people from taking those medications because of the high trust they have in their doctor’s knowing what it best for them.
American Addict, which can be found on Netflix, does an excellent job at exposing flaws in the prescription medication system in the United States. The facts presented are shocking and scary but that should not leave the audience feeling helpless about health. Just be more conscious in questioning what is going into your body and what feels right.