Why Are Doctors Still Prescribing Medications with Black Box Warnings?
When I was in residency, we were all advised of a new policy that was to be implemented every time we prescribed one of these drugs.
It was a concept known in the medical field as CYA—“Cover Your Ass.”
This essentially meant that any patient who was prescribed a black box warning medication would receive a courtesy call a few days later.
That’s it.
A phone call.
But here’s what should concern you:
Many of the drugs that carry these warnings are still widely used—including those linked to increased risks of suicidal thoughts, severe behavioral changes, or even organ failure.
And yes—some antidepressants still prescribed today list suicidal ideation as a known side effect, even in young adults and children.
This raises a serious ethical question about the current psychiatric model of care:
If the treatment for mental health disorders comes with a documented risk of worsening those very conditions, we have to ask:
Is this truly about healing—or is it about profits?
Once you begin to look into adverse drug events and realize that many medications can actually cause the very symptoms they are meant to treat, you can’t unsee it.
The truth about pharmaceuticals is hard to ignore—and psychiatry is one of the clearest examples of this systemic failure.
This is a clip from my conversation with Alec Zeck, listen wherever you get your podcasts.
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