Anti-psychotic Medication Doubles the Risk of Life-Threatening Pneumonia

Anti-psychotic medications have taken over statins as the top-selling drug in America (2009 – 14.6 billion vs. 13.1 billion).  Sales have been fueled by aggressive television marketing of the patent-protected anti-psychotics, while statin Class of drugs aka HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, that are used to lower cholesterol levels by inhibiting the HMG-CoA reductase enzyme that plays a central role in liver function and cholesterol production. sales have declined due to generic drug competition.  The anti-psychotic drugs make people obese and diabetic (as if we didn’t already have enough problems in those categories).  They are often given to elderly and children as “behavior management” tools, a far cry from their approved use as a treatment for schizophrenia.  A new study shows they double the risk for life-threatening pneumonia¹ in the elderly.

Americans should be fed up with the crock that Big Pharma pushes down everyone’s throat.  They specialize in “treatments” that the government/tax payers wind up paying for—as almost nobody would buy these drugs if they had to pay for them. The cost of these drugs ranges from $4,000 - $5,500 per year, depending on the drug.  The use of anti-psychotic medication is bankrupting states through Medicaid obligations, and 99% of these drugs are for symptom-suppressing fraud.

Big Pharma and the doctors prescribing these medications are blatant enemies of the public health, and now we see that the anti-psychotic medications are a fast track to “pulling the plug on grandma.”  The net result is making truly needed health care more expensive for everyone.