Lecture 6 Flashcards
what was the first “blockbuster” psychopharmaceutical with high consumption and large cultural impact in the general population? bonus! WHat’s the second called?
1st - Miltown
2nd - Valium
What did biological psychiatrists believe about mental illness?
that it was primarily or entirely a biological phenomenon, rooted in physical dysfunction of the brain
- note! only a small minority believed in mental illnesses having biological cuases
What theory grew in popularity?
- theories of chemical imbalance
What did Senator Estes Kefauver do?
- led a high-profile investigation of the pharma industry
- which led to Kefauver Harris Amendment to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
What is the Kefauver Harris Amendment to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act?
- now. requires companies to demonstrate not just safety, but that they are “effective”
- BUT not more effective than existing or competing medications, just more effective than a placebo
EXTRA
- market filled with copy-cat medications replicating existing treatments
- even medications slightly better than placebo marketed as “miraculous” and transformational
- proliferation of psychopharmaceuticals only marginally more effective than a placebo partially due to lax restrictions
What did Kefauver’s Act lead to?
- lead to the development of a large number of medications
which countries marketed directly to the public in a limited number of settings?
- US and New Zealand
Before it was used to treat ADHD, what was Ritalin used as?
antidepressant
What was the next wave of blockbusters?
- Xanax (benzodiazepine)
- Prozac (SSRI)
What was Ritalin re-conceptualized as?
- the frontline treatment for ADHD, where it was formerly used as an antidepressant
What was Adderall rebranded as?
- became an ADHD medication, after being formerly used as an anti-obesity drug
What were the functions of the decision to sidestep the causes of illness in DSM-III and to focus on symptom checklists?
- to boost biological psychiatry
- reinforce the use of medications to treat the symptoms listed as criteria for disorders
- ex. checklist for depression developed while being aware of the effects of medications used to treat them and these effects informed symptom list
What did the political climate in the US, Canada, and UK favour in the 1980s?
- smaller government and more market-driven policy that also boosted biological psychiatry
- drug patents became more profitable, driving marketing and sales
What did the health systems’ pressure on physicians to treat more patients in shorter amounts of time lead to?
- higher rates of prescribing as a response to mental illness
- bc psychotherapy was time-consuming
- ex. fee-for-service, more customers = more $
What is disease-mongering?
- a marketing strategy by pharma companies to sell the idea of particular diseases to consumers and then offer a solution (medication)
- coined by David Heally in 1997
- sell disease to grow patient population and develop markets, maximizing perceived prevalence and severity of mental illness by subtly redefining who was deemed to have mental illness symptoms
what were some critics on disease-mongering?
- medicalized normal human experiences and diversities
ex. shyness became characterized as an “anxiety disorder”
What did Peter Conrad argue about disease-mongering?
- argued that since the 1990s pharma companies played a greater role in defining what gets counted as illness, where it was physicians before
give example of disease-mongering
Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of Xanax as a medication for social anxiety disorder, transformed shyness into a “disorder”
- Similar pattern with generalized anxiety disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and binge eating disorder
Who experienced an increasing number of overdose episodes and dependence to Valium?
- american women
What did feminists argue about valium?
- argues that it was being prescribed to women for conditions that were social problems (fatigue, nervousness, anxiety - which stemmed from gender roles and relations) rather than mental illness
- these concerns led to changes in the regulation and marketing of Valium
How much did antidepressant use increase in the US between 1988 and 2008?
400%
What is the 3rd most common prescription among Americans aged 18-44?
- antidepressants
EXTRA
* 11% of Americans filled a prescription for a daily antidepressant
- 7% of Americans received a monthly antidepressant prescription for 2 or more years consecutively
* Approx. 14% of Americans taking antidepressants have been taking them for 10 years or more
* Widely prescribed and consumed, use is very prevalent, and often long term
Do you think there was a 400% increase in the prevalence of depression in 20 years? why or why not?
- internationally, women are twice as likely as men to use psychiatric drugs
- no bc of the marketing/awareness and distribution of these drugs, and the awareness of depression and mental health
- yes bc less likely to seek help around this time (stigma
What do all drugs have?
- chemical, generic and trade name
Why do some drugs have multiple trade names?
- depended on marketing teams
- different jurisdictions
who were trade names developed by?
- by marketing departments within pharma companies
How is drug naming organized in North America
- by families of diagnostic symptoms they alleviate
◦ If a drug alleviates symptoms of depression, we call it an antidepressant
◦ If a drug managed symptoms of psychosis, termed an anti-psychotic
What is another approach in naming drugs
- focusing on chemical structures or the neuroreceptors targeting
extra.
Name based on chemical structure:
* Benzodiazepines: diazepam (Valium), alprazolam (Xanax), lorazepam (Ativan)
* Tricyclic (3 fused rings) antidepressants: imipramine (Trofranil), amitriptyline (Elavil)
Named based on neuro-receptor targets:
* SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors): fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft)
* Dual reuptake inhibitors (serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors): venlafaxine (Effexor), duloxetine (Cymbalta)