[Marxism] The ultimate commodity

["Jurriaan Bendien" <andromeda246@xxxxxxxxx>]

In 1993, the number of prescriptions written each year [in the United
States] edged over the 2 billion mark for the first time. It reached 3
billion by 1999, and will top 4 billion by the end of 2004, according to the
Association of Chain Drug Stores. Almost every person in the United States
now takes at least one prescription drug in a given year. Factor in people
who take multiple drugs, and doctors write an average of 12 prescriptions
annually for every person in the country.
http://www.psycport.com/stories/bhsuper_2004_05_19_SEPI_0000-6853-KEYWORD.Mi
ssing.xml.html

An estimated 4 million people in the United States have used prescribed
benzodiazepine tranquillizers and hypnotics (sleeping pills) regularly for
5 - 10 years or more according to a US study in the early 1990s. Similar
figures apply in the UK, Europe and in some Asian countries with the trend
continuing. US researchers found the number of people who received
outpatient treatment for mood trouble jumped from 1.7 million in 1987 to 6.3
million in 1997. During that time, the share of those taking antidepressant
drugs more than doubled, while the share of those receiving psychotherapy
fell by more than 10 percent.
http://www.healthyplace.com/Communities/depression/treatment/antidepressants
/articles/013.asp

The proportion of Americans taking antidepressants for the treatment of
depression in an outpatient setting increased more than sixfold during the
period between 1987 and 1997 (Jan. 9, 2002 issue of the Journal of the
American Medical Association). The rate of outpatient treatment for
depression almost tripled from 0.73 per 100 persons in 1987 to 2.33 per 100
persons in 1997. The proportion treated with antidepressants almost doubled,
from 37.3 percent to 74.5 percent.
http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/news/in-vivo/Vol1_Iss1_jan14_02/research-briefs
.html

Of the most common reasons for patient visits to family physicians in the
United States, depression and anxiety ranked 11th and 17th, respectively
(McCaig LF. National hospital ambulatory medical care survey. Hyattsville,
Md.: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, 1997; DHHS
publication no. (PHS) 98-1250.)  Ten to 20 percent of adults in the United
States experience depression at some point in their lifetime (Simon GE,
VonKorff M, Ustun TB, Gater R, Gureje O, Sartorius N. Is the lifetime risk
of depression actually increasing? J Clin Epidemiol 1995;48:1109-18.)

Worldwide sales of prescription drugs exceed $300 billion yearly with
tranquillizers, sleeping pills, anti-depressants and other Central Nervous
System drugs accounting for an estimated $76 billion in sales. Approximately
10% - 20% of the world population use tranquilizers and sleeping pills with
up to 30% of people over the age of 60 years using these drugs (often over
many years having been prescribed them at a much earlier age) and who have
become "accidental or involuntary addicts." Pharmaceutical companies spend
more on marketing and promotion of drugs than on research and development -
an estimated $15,000 - $20,000 on every doctor with expenditures of $8.3
billion in the United States in 1998.
http://www.addictionbyprescription.com/facts.html

Start them young: pre-school children are the fastest-growing group of
patients getting anti-depressant medication in the United States, with use
nearly doubling between 1998 and 2002, according to a just issued report.
Express Scripts, which keeps statistics on drug use, said the number of
prescriptions written for anti-depressants is growing by about 10 per cent a
year in children and adolescents. The study looked at a random sample of 2
million children covered by commercial insurance between 1998 and 2002.
Among children under age 5, the number of girls being prescribed an
antidepressant doubled and the number of boys went up by 64 per cent, the
group reported. Writing in the April issue of Psychiatric Services, Express
Scripts said antidepressant use for all children under 18 increased from 1.6
per cent in 1998 to 2.4 per cent in 2002.
http://www.bioscinews.com/files/news-detail.asp?NewsID=7164
http://www.forbes.com/reuters/newswire/2004/04/02/rtr1322464.html

For more stats, see
http://www.medication-now.com/antidepressants/antidepressant-statistics.htm

Jurriaan





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