Well, just did some research, and found something very interesting about Neurontin.
Taken from: http://www.citizen.org/ELETTER/ARTICLES/neurontin.htm
A March 14, 2002, New York Times article revealed that the manufacturer of the seizure medication gabapentin (NEURONTIN) illegally promoted the drug to prescribing physicians for at least 11 “off-label” (unapproved) medical conditions, using their own employees, euphemistically called “medical liaisons.” Many of the bases for the safety and effectiveness of gabapentin for these 11 unapproved uses appears to have been fabrications by the corporation. This included paying physicians to appear as the authors of medical journal articles on unapproved uses for gabapentin when the articles had actually been written by others working under the direction of the company’s marketing department.
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2. Pain Syndromes, Peripheral Neuropathy, and Diabetic Neuropathy. Parke-Davis medical liaisons were trained and instructed to report that “leaks” from clinical trials demonstrated that gabapentin was highly effective in the treatment of a number of pain syndromes and that a 90 percent response rate in the management of pain was being reported. No such evidence existed. Medical liaisons were trained to claim support for these findings as a result of inside information despite the fact that no such information existed. The only basis for these claims were anecdotal evidence of minimal, if any, scientific value. Many of the published case reports, according to the court papers, had been created and sponsored by Parke-Davis in articles that frequently hid the company’s involvement in the creation of the article. The company’s payment for the creation of these case reports was also concealed.
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Parke-Davis’ concocted uses for gabapentin turned the drug into a “blockbuster.” A blockbuster is the Wall Street description for any drug that sold $1 billion per year or more. In 2000, the company reported that gabapentin had earned $1.3 billion. As much as 78 percent of these sales were for uses without evidence that gabapentin was safe and effective. In 2001 a market research firm estimated that gabapentin sales totaled $1.7 billion.
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What You Can Do
If you or a family member are taking gabapentin for one of the 11 unapproved, often apparently concocted, uses listed above, you and the prescribing doctor should evaluate the need for gabapentin.
So the reason Neurontin was perscribed for me, pain, was a hoax. Atleast back in 2002. I wonder what has changed if anything. I knew I should have been more leary of this perscription.
