As a person who has worked with adults with developmental disabilities now for about 10 years, I have witnessed the over-medicating of this community. A vast majority of adults with developmental disabilities are being prescribed a cocktail of medications. This is a new phenomenon in America, and is fueled not by an increase of depression, but by an increase of greed. Each new prescription means hundreds of dollars a month that is legally stolen from people with disabilities and their health insurance providers. I say it is stolen because the majority of the people being pushed to take these medications are not in need of them. In fact, many of these drugs ultimately make people worse off.
Tragically, speaking against these greedy corporate moguls is not always protected by law. Their power is so great that they force people, including me, to say "I am not giving you medical advice. Please speak to your doctor for medical advice. " The fact that only doctors are allowed to give health advice is a scary notion and a direct violation of the First Amendment. Without our health we have nothing, and I personally trust life experience over the letters M.D. behind someone's name.
Of course, there are thousands of great Doctors and great medications that save people's lives on a daily basis. But there are far too many doctors who have allowed the pharmaceutical industry to make their decisions for them. And the side effects of these medications are destroying countless lives, especially the weakest among us. To save these lives, we must remember that health does not ultimately come from the newest lab created pill, but from healthy lifestyle choices such as diet, exercise and rest.
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