Controversy Over Prozac Useage
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Although medical evidence suggests that Prozac has many benefits, there is potential for widespread abuse of this drug because the public perceives it as a panacea. Critics of Prozac claim its marketers pander to the American desire for a quick fix for personality disorders as evidenced by the popularity of Valium in the 1950s and cocaine in the 1980s. Prozac has become the glamour drug of the 1990s because it promises to deliver society from its private ills, sans the struggle involved in acquiring effective coping strategies to deal with life's problems. Prozac was invented and marketed by Eli Lilly in 1988 and became an instant success. The number of Prozac prescriptions jumped from 2.5 million in 1988 to 9.6 million in 1992 (Brink, 1993, p. 76). Prozac is currently the top-selling drug among health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and the second-ranking drug in overall, nationwide sales (Chase, 1995, p. B1). In 1993, sales for Prozac reached $1.2 billion worldwide with sales of $880 million in the United States alone (Turkington, 1994, p. 77). Prozac falls into a category of drugs known as selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Also included in this category are Prozac's cousins, Paxil (paroxetine), Zoloft (sertraline), and Luvox (fluvoxamine). Prozac is the most popular of this category of drugs because it came on the market first. Prozac is most widely prescribed in the treatment of depression and obsessive-compulsive disorders. The drug is also
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al problems, such as diminished drive and delayed orgasm, are also common. Experts theorize that the incidence of sexual dysfunction caused by the use of Prozac is probably under-reported because of the embarrassment that patients typically experience in discussing these problems with primary care physicians.
Prozac's side effects are amplified when taken with certain other medications. Prozac has a long half-life, i.e., the amount of time the drug remains active in the blood stream. Therefore, adverse effects of Prozac remain in the body for up to six weeks. Consequently, Prozac may interact with other drugs long after the Prozac dosage has been taken. Although Prozac is often prescribed in combination with other drugs, certain combinations produce highly undesirable effects. For instance, combining Prozac with any of the monoamine oxidase inhibitors may induce vomiting, high blood pressure, shock, or even death.
Shortly after the drug was introduced, considerable controversy surrounding the incidence of psychotic disorders in Prozac users surfaced. Patients claimed to experience suicidal or violent thoughts. Prozac use has also been linked to an increase of symptoms for manic depressives. In 1991, however, the FDA
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Approximate Word count = 2559
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)
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