film review: generation Rx

Generation Rx is a documentary about the ills of the pharmaceutical companies and how they target and deceive society into thinking that what is “wrong” with them can be solved simply by taking a pill.

In the movie, the producers show various instances of an industry run amok and capitalizing on people’s fears.  By investigating different murders and violent attacks that have been committed by “drugged-up” children, this documentary hits the individual with a wave of emotion and facts.  Increased suicide rates of children on anti-depressants are frightening and vividly portrayed.  Other elements brought into the film are facts surrounding the FDA approving drugs like Zoloft when clinical trials showed problems existed.  Also, the very notion of prescribing kids psycho-stimulants, such as Ritalin, is challenged because of the undeveloped pre-frontal cortex (PFC).

With regards to Ritalin, this drug was never meant to be prescribed for children.  In fact, by giving kids this drug at a very early age, Big Pharm is actually affecting the brain in a variety of ways.  The PFC of the brain is not fully developed until the age of 25.  When one is prescribed a psycho-stimulant, the PFC is affected.  Because the PFC is responsible for higher level functioning and appropriate social interactions, a child’s brain is hindered to an alarming degree.  With all that is currently known about the effects of stimulants on the developing child it is quite shocking to note that 2.5 million children under the age of 18 are prescribed these medications.  The terrible part about it all is that research shows these “ADHD” kids could, in fact, merely be too young for the grade they are enrolled in.

One notion the film could have pursued further is the idea of an “information epidemic.”  Researchers have explored the idea of not the illness being contagious, but the information surrounding it to be.  With the way our society is constantly bombarded with messages from Big Pharm, it is strange how no one seems to link the money-making aspect to it.  There is a lot of money to be made from handing out medications to those who, even if they think they do, may not need it.  Also, it was very interesting to learn who actually the major players in the FDA are.  According to the film, almost every person on the FDA panel that has control over which drugs are approved for use is on the payroll of some pharmaceutical company.  I feel that a film could have been made entirely about this issue alone.

The only “research” I would pursue in this matter is investigatory.  And by that, I mean the thorough investigation of the backgrounds of who controls what drugs hit the market for consumers.  The fact that these people serve on these boards with their obvious conflict of interests is appalling to say the least.  Actually, now that I have stated my discontent with the FDA I now have an idea.  I would propose a nationwide study on how many children are diagnosed with ADHD if the age to begin schooling was pushed back one year.  This could prove to be very interesting especially in the context of the first link posted.

Generation Rx relates to our coursework by examining deviancy of the mind, which may or may not be an actual deviance at all. It could all just be another attack on Americans by corporations trying to make a profit; regardless of the consequences.