Addiction by Prescription

by Joan E Gadsby

In 1966, Joan Gadsby's four-year-old son died of a brain tumour. In response, her trusted family physician prescribed a "chemical cocktail" of tranquilizers, sleeping pills and anti-depressants - an act that initiated Gadsby's slow descent into an abyss of unrecognized addiction. Gadsby has emerged from her addiction to become a tireless advocate for systematic change and accountability in the area of prescribed sedative/hypnotic drugs. She has interviewed thousands - from consumers to doctors to pharmaceutical representatives and government officials as she conducted extensive international research - in her quest to expose the shocking truth of the depth and breadth of addiction by prescription which affects hundreds of thousands of men and women worldwide.

304 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2000

Reviews

[Sabrina Marie]

While I agree she was addicted to prescription medication, she is also clearly mentally unwell. The book read like a diary of a unstable not in reality most of the time.