In this follow-up to his film Bigger Stronger Faster, director Chris Bell turns

Question

In this follow-up to his film Bigger Stronger Faster, director Chris Bell turns his camera on the abuse of prescription drugs and, ultimately, himself. After witnessing friends and relatives face tragedy as they become addicted to prescription drugs, Bell sets out to explore the goals of pharmaceutical companies and doctors in this ever-growing market, and asks how they are any different from back-alley drug-pushers. His journey leads to experts on the nature of addiction in our culture, as well as to pharmaceutical whistleblowers that testify to the solely dollar-driven aims of pharmaceutical companies. Chris meets with WWE legends, such as Matthew "Horshu" Wiese and Chris Leben, along with former California State Senator (now Congressman for California's 33rd District) Ted Lieu, pharmaceutical company whistleblower Gwen Olsen, Cliffside Malibu Rehabilitation Center founder Richard Taite, Professor of Psychiatry David Healy, author of Generation RX Greg Critser, and members of his own family

A. The documentary "Prescription Thugs” make a post responding to the film

B. Use on Health Care / Drug Abuse / Addiction as your resources.

Explanation / Answer

Reviews on the prescription thugs:
Mr. Bell used his own family as a window onto the subject, and he does so again here, starting off with the death of his brother, a former professional wrestler who had substance abuse problems. But the film makes only a token effort to connect the painkiller habits of professional athletes to those of ordinary people, and it overgeneralizes constantly. If there are patients who have actually been helped by prescription painkillers, anti-psychotics or other legal medications, don’t expect to meet them here.
So the film is already on shaky ground when Mr. Bell drops a bombshell about his own relationship with prescription medications. The confessional documentary, memoir, play, whatever, is annoying far more often than it is effective, and that is certainly the case here. Yes, there’s something terribly wrong in the prescription drug world, but when Mr. Bell reaches his preachy conclusions about Americans’ reluctance to tolerate pain and take personal responsibility, you just want him to shut up.
Not content to simply focus on relatives, friends and associates, however, Bell promptly segues into an overarching condemnation of the profit-driven practices of the pharmaceutical industry, which spends millions on consumer advertising and on lobbying politicians. This is all decried by both Bell and his variety of talking heads, including authors, politicians, and other experts. Yet almost as soon as “Prescription Thugs” goes after Big Pharma, it becomes a monotonous and unenlightening agitprop effort, rife with revelations about corporate behavior they want to maximize revenue by creating maladies they can medicate! They develop drugs whose side effects need to be treated with more drugs that are anything but revelatory.
Post following prescription thugs:
Prescription Thugs, focuses on the epidemic of the over-prescribing of prescription drugs and death from prescription drug overdoses. It is an indictment of the pharmaceutical industry as ‘legal’ drug pushers. Having lost one brother to this tragedy and then finding himself heading down this same road, Chris was compelled to tell his story to help people live a healthier and happier life without the side effects, dangerous and sometimes lethal side effects, of many prescription drugs.
•In 2014, almost 2 million Americans abused or were dependent on prescription opioids.
•As many as 1 in 4 people who receive prescription opioids long term for non-cancer pain in primary care settings struggles with addiction.
•Every day, over 1,000 people are treated in emergency departments for misusing prescription opioids.
Not unlike the business executives in the 1950’s and 60’s whose doctors were prescribing them “downers” because they were having trouble sleeping due to work stress. Then, when they complained to the very same doctor that now they were having trouble getting up in the mornings (I wonder why?) came the “uppers.” And now we are giving modern versions of these same drugs to our children!
The doctors who prescribe these drugs aren’t intentionally trying to harm their patients, quite the opposite, yet these are the only tools they have. And the pharmaceutical companies encourage (probably too gentle a term) them to prescribe more and more, for everything from pain management to insomnia to mood disorders. It’s not enough for us to just insist that doctors be more judicious in how they prescribe, there needs to be a major paradigm shift in how the health care delivery system approaches these issues. Health care consumers also must demand a better way.
Nonetheless thee doctors have patients who are taking dangerous drugs prescribed to them by other doctors, and are desperate for alternatives to offer their patients. Their patients too are desperate to find alternatives that can help them - without side effects. Patients are becoming more aware and are no longer willing to accept short term symptom relief at the expense of long term consequences. Thankfully we do have good natural solutions available to help.

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