CVS largest share of Rx drug market in U.S.

 I've been going around and around with my CVS about a prescription.  The press this, press that, message system is about to send me around the bend.  The latest message via my doctor's tech is that the prescription is still showing at Walmart in Port Clinton where I had it transferred this past summer when I didn't want to drive 120 miles to get a refill.  Of course, I picked one up in February at CVS, and no one said, Oh my this is at Walmart, nor did anyone say I couldn't get it refilled after April.  So I called Walmart.  Easy peasy.  Talked to a real person.  He looked up my name, told me they had transferred it back, and did I want them to fill it.  Imagine. Good service is alive and well at Walmart.  At the 5th largest prescription market I can talk to a person, but at the largest, I could still be talking to a machine and going back to press one. Thank you, Walmart, for having humans available, at least in the pharmacy.  "Talk to a live person" should be #1 on all medical/health answering machines.

Largest pharmacies by Rx drugs market share 2022 | Statista

The legal drugs given to children, especially boys

Think about the amount of prescription drugs given to school kids. Tucker Carlson had some great statistics about that the other night, but without a citation, I couldn’t provide it. And because the MSM demonizes him, it’s hard to sift through a search. Many kids, especially boys, are given drugs from a very early age for ADHD. Probably if they could labor on a farm like most generations until the 1920s some of that energy could be put to use. A consistent side effect for many of the mind/behavior altering drugs is suicidal thoughts and aggressive behavior. Mix that with alcohol when available and it’s a toxic combination. Until the 1950s, I think about half the U.S. population lived/worked on farms—did you hear of ADHD (or similar name) before the 1970s?

https://www.verywellmind.com/side-effects-of-adhd-medications-2633123

These ADHD medications now include:
Short-acting stimulants: Adderall, Dexedrine, Focalin, Ritalin
Intermediate-acting stimulants: Dexedrine Spansule
Long-acting stimulants: Adderall XR, Concerta, Daytrana, Dyanavel XR, Focalin XR, Metadate CD, Ritalin LA, Vyvanse
Nonstimulants: Intuniv, Strattera, Qelbree

That list makes it seem like there are a lot of different ADHD medications to choose from, especially if your child has side effects to one or more of them. Your choices quickly narrow when you understand that the stimulants are really just different forms and variants of the following two types of ADHD medications:

Methylphenidate-based ADHD medications: Concerta, Daytrana, Focalin and Focalin XR, Metadate CD, Ritalin LA
Amphetamine-based ADHD medications: Adderall and Adderall XR, Dexedrine and Dexedrine Spansule, Dyanavel XR, Vyvanse

Note from Norma: The warnings for Methylphenidate based meds are scary!

Also taken by many:

https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/ss/slideshow-commonly-abused-drugs

Then add to that, the easily available, and now legal gate way drug, marijuana.