National Nurses United

NewsBriefs 2/14/07 4:07 PM Page 6 NewsBriefs Unknown Properties Examining America's troubled relationship with drugs re some drugs good and some drugs evil? They're more than just that, argues Richard DeGrandpre, in his new book The Cult of Pharmacology: How America Became the World's Most Troubled Drug Culture (Duke University Press, 2006). DeGrandpre writes that America has invested drugs—legal and illegal—with mythological and religious properties entirely separate from their clinical effects. His book is an exploration of "the power of the cult of pharmacology to classify drugs as angels and demons," a power in which "America truly believe[s]." His thesis is important and original, but the trends he traces are often tragic and harmful, leading to the misuse of many drugs, and a variety of irrational social and political policies. The comparison between Ritalin and cocaine is instructive in this regard. DeGrandpre, the author of Ritalin Nation, is an expert on the amazing story of the rise and fall of Ritalin in American culture. While cocaine is a "devil drug" in the American popular imagination, Ritalin falls—or The Cult of Pharmacology: scientific beliefs confell—in the "angel drug" categoHow America Became the cerning these two ry. We prescribed it to our kids World's Most Troubled drugs in the twentieth with a mystical belief in its abiliDrug Culture, by Richard century were nonsensities to aid child rearing and DeGrandpre, Duke cal." improve moral character, while University Press, 294 pp., While Ritalin was resolutely shutting our eyes to $24.95. tossed at our kids, copossible side effects. caine became demoWhat we didn't know about Ritalin? It is the single, closest pharmaco- nized. Americans were treated to an epidemic logical substance to cocaine. As DeGrand- of news stories about a wave of violent crime pre points out, "If Ritalin could legally be committed in inner cities by poor black congiven to millions of American children sumers of crack cocaine desperate for a fix— despite the fact that its effects were in- despite the fact that there was actually no distinguishable from cocaine when taken research showing linkages between crack in comparable doses. . .then popular and cocaine and an increase in violent crime. A 6 REGISTERED NURSE W W W. C A L N U R S E S . O R G The "pseudo-science" that labeled Ritalin a force for good was done by, of course, the pharmaceutical industry, the most profitable industry in the history of global business and the most free-spending lobby in Washington, D.C. Many of today's drug companies started out selling drugs now illegal, such as heroin and cocaine, as "patent medicines" during the 19th century. In the early part of the 20th century, however, as the government started banning these drugs, the drug companies reached an understanding with the American Medical Association to carve out an approved, regulated market for certain drugs—a system that would be mutually beneficial. Today the pharmaceutical companies hold unprecedented power over our society and our healthcare system. The sad fact is, they do not typically wield this power for the good of our patients, and often stand in the way of sound medical care. As DeGrandpre asks about another fallen wonder drug, Prozac: "If most everything Lilly claimed to be false about Prozac turned out to be true, what if most everything they claimed to be true about Prozac turned out to be false?" It's not a question we can easily answer. And therein lies this book's key lesson for healthcare workers and patients alike. Modern pharmaceuticals come to us surrounded by hype, fears, and sometimes unfounded social beliefs. When making healthcare decisions we must try to cut through those perceptions, and find the facts among the myths. It's no easy task, but it is literally a matter of life and death. —shum preston JA N UA RY/ F E B RUA RY 2 0 0 7

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