According to a March 9 AP article, a vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — were found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans.

Although the AP report assured readers that only trace amounts of the drugs were found, it is still a little off-putting to think about what we are dumping in our water. After all, what may be nothing more than trace amounts to us could prove lethal to our environment. For example, one can’t help but wonder how these floating pharmaceutical bits are affecting fish and other inhabitants of our water.

I’m not sure what the solution is. People are of course going to throw away their prescription medicine bottles, so how do we prevent those bottles (and subsequent synthetic chemicals) from ending up in our drinking supply?

One in five respondents to an informal, nonscientific online survey in the science journal Nature said they have used drugs like Ritalin and Adderall to boost their brain power, according to a CNN Health article.

1,400 people in 60 countries were polled, and the majority of those who responded said they worked in biology, physics, medicine or education. Respondents said they took the drugs to improve their concentration.

Drugs like Adderall and Ritalin are prescribed to children and adults with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD and ADHD), but they also enhance focus in people who don’t have ADD or ADHD. Subsequently, these drugs are a hot commodity among college students and adults with demanding jobs. Articles in the past have also indicated that many mothers steal their children’s ADD meds to have energy and stay thin.

Once again, our society seeks instant gratification in pill form.

Still, I’d almost venture to say that it’s better for adults to be taking these drugs than young children. I have babysit kids on Ritalin, and there just seems to be something inherently wrong with dosing small children up on powerful prescription drugs. They are taking a stimulant drug that has similar effects to amphetamines, at a time when their brains are going through crucial development. I’d say you have to be phenomenally unfocused to merit that kind of risk.

I’m complementing today’s post with a picture of the contents of one of my kitchen cabinets. It is filled with the bottles of medicine prescribed to my boyfriend by his countless doctors, some of whom are in Virginia, and some of whom are in Chicago. Most of the containers are still filled with pills because he didn’t take all of them (thank God), but still… it seems excessive, doesn’t it?

I was at a bridal shower this past weekend, and as I navigated the room, I overheard a bevy of conversation on various prescription meds.

“Oh, just take half a Lexapro, and you’ll be fine,” was one tidbit.

“I take half a Xanax to fall asleep at night,” was another.

“She’s been acting out of it and lethargic? Oh that’s definitely the anti-depressants - trust me, I know,” was another.

Prescription drugs are pervasive in today’s society, and it shows.

In today’s Wall Street Journal, there are numerous articles on prescription drugs gone bad. The concept of inhaled insulin was stopped in its tracks by an announcement from Pfizer that six diabetics taking its inhaled insulin, Exubera, during clinical trials developed lung cancer, compared with one case of the malignancy among patients not using Exubera.

In another WSJ Article, the FDA has tripled the number of deaths it attributes to allergic reactions to the blood thinner heparin since January 2007 to 62 from 19.

In keeping with the theme of tainted drugs, Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. said it has warned the Food and Drug Administration that one of its antibiotic drugs, Cubicin, has been tainted with a potentially harmful industrial chemical, according to another article in today’s edition of the Wall Street Journal.

And you thought that WSJ only had dreary financial news these days.

• Pharmaceutical fraud as usual and to HELL with the risks of your medication
  

• Stop Prescription Drug Abuse
  

• No More Prescription Drug Commercial
  

• Fight Drug Company Greed
  

• Awareness of Prescription Drugs

• Diagnosis Depression

The key websites related to my beat:

• http://scienceblogs.com/drugmonkey/
• http://www.news-medical.net/default.asp
• http://www.forbes.com/healthcare/
• http://www.pharmaceutical-business-review.com/home.asp
• http://www.topix.com/business/pharmaceuticals
• http://www.in-pharmatechnologist.com/
• http://www.drugs.com/news.html
• http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/pharma_industry/
• http://www.biospace.com/news.aspx
• http://www.bizjournals.com/industries/industries/health_care/pharmaceuticals/
• http://www.nih.gov/
• http://www.fda.gov/
• http://www.pfizer.com/home/
• http://www.novartis.com/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pharmaceutical_companies
• http://www.bayer.com/en/Homepage.aspx
• http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/
• http://www.mayoclinic.com/
• http://www.nvic.org/
• http://www.immunizationinfo.org/

There are almost too many to list, but for the purposes of my blog, I will be focusing on a few specific issues.

The Marketing and Advertising of Prescription Drugs. Seriously, what is the deal? You can’t turn on the television without being bombarded with commercial after commercial for one vague pharmaceutical after another. It’s comical at times, but a lot of people are sick and tired of the deluge and are trying to do something about it.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GXb7-efd4M]

http://stopdrugads.org/learn_more.html

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/102816.php

http://www.commercialalert.org/issues/health/drug-marketing

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/drugs/2008-02-29-drugs-main_N.ht

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-02-29-drugs-inside_N.htm

New Bills and Legislation. With all the hoopla over prescription drug ads and cases of adverse side effects, there are numerous public initiatives to persuade Congress to pass legislation that will create some parameters. On the flip-side, there are countless Americans who say they can’t get the prescriptions they need because our health care system is so convoluted and costly. These people are pushing for legislation that will allow them to get their medication at more affordable prices.

http://www.pharmalot.com/2008/02/where-the-bills-are-hot-topics-among-states/

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issues/bills/?chamber=S&keys=prescription&start=1

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-drugads11feb11,1,6259449.story

http://www.prwatch.org/node/6886

Adverse Side Effects and Abuse. The biggest problem with America’s obsession with prescription medications is the fact that scads of people are abusing them, taking them incorrectly, or both. The untimely passing of actor Heath Ledger is one of the most recent examples of what happens when a person has too many doctors prescribing too many potent medications.

http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/76961/

http://www.nida.nih.gov/DrugPages/PrescripDrugsChart.html

http://www.nida.nih.gov/ResearchReports/Prescription/Prescription.html