Transcription
And the truth is that the mass prescribing of these medications, it's not happening because evidence supports it. It's happening for two reasons, and honestly, they're kind of obvious now.
First, drug companies have billion-dollar marketing budgets, and they've been controlling the narrative about these drugs for decades. They overhype the benefits. They minimize the harms. They use their money to influence academic psychiatry, medical education, guidelines, the media, politics, all to promote a drug-friendly message.
And the second is kind of painful to admit, but it's healthcare economics. In the 1990s, insurance companies consolidated and they were able to use their bargaining power because they had access to so many patients all of a sudden to drive down reimbursements for doctors. Doctors were then forced to do shorter and shorter visits to make ends meet. Most family doctors and psychiatrists now see four patients an hour just to survive in this model.
And in these short visits, drug solutions are very attractive. Adjusting doses is much faster than understanding people and helping them rebuild their lives. And so, the reason that these drugs are used so widely, that so many people are on them right now, isn't because the drugs have good evidence that they work. It's simply due to pharmaceutical economics and the health insurance industry in our country. And that's really dark.