| Off label prescriptions are changing the face of illegal | | | | consequence of making prescription drugs more |
| drug consumption. Already several states have sued | | | | readily available on the streets. In the case of prison |
| pharmaceutical companies for marketing highly | | | | systems, anti-psychotics are treated drastically |
| addictive painkillers for uses not recommended by | | | | different than illegal drugs. Some inmates need these |
| the FDA. But painkillers are not the only drugs subject | | | | medicines as part of ongoing treatment; others get |
| to marketing bombardments and aggressive sales | | | | them to help cope with the traumatizing |
| policies. | | | | circumstances of prison life. There are still more |
| The Boston Globe reports that a number of officials | | | | inmates who desire these drugs to substitute the |
| in rehabilitation and corrections facilities have noticed | | | | substances they abused "on the outside". For them, |
| an increase in drug addicts abusing anti-psychotics for | | | | the options are either fake the symptoms of |
| their sedative properties. This is especially alarming | | | | schizophrenia, or obtain the drugs from another |
| because such drugs can have very dire side effects | | | | inmate. |
| even with doctor supervision. | | | | For drug dealers, selling prescription drugs can mean |
| The trick is that pharmaceutical companies are not | | | | high profit turnovers due to medical insurers covering |
| allowed to advertise their products for purposes | | | | the majority of the costs. Even if they are not |
| other than what the FDA has deemed by a review | | | | obtained by prescription, several drugs that are being |
| of clinical evidence to be safe. Doctors, however, can | | | | sold on the street are not listed as controlled |
| prescribe whatever they want for whatever reasons | | | | substances. This means being caught with them is |
| they think the drug will help their patients. So instead | | | | significantly less illegal than drugs that are classified as |
| of convincing patients, the marketers convince | | | | controlled substances. |
| doctors to prescribe patients these drugs. Already | | | | Though it is less likely that such drugs would be |
| there have been movements within the medical | | | | consumed for their individual effects, addicts who |
| community and law enforcement to decrease the | | | | abuse multiple drugs see prescription drugs as a way |
| amount of "gifts" and other barely concealed bribes | | | | to help mitigate the extremes of their habits. |
| or kickbacks drug marketers use to sway the | | | | Ironically, this "damage control" can be disastrous. At |
| prescribing habits of doctors. Yet this professional | | | | present there is little research available about the |
| indiscretion is hardly beat. | | | | effects of such drug interactions, but one need only |
| While off-label prescriptions are not illegal or | | | | look to the risks of such drugs to actual patients to |
| necessarily risky, they do have the unintended | | | | see that off-label prescriptions are dangerous. |