(np) new hope for the nutty

[Michael Bailey]

This could work!

http://www.bonkersinstitute.org/cash.html

longish excerpt:


Psychiatric medications relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety by
restoring chemical balance within the brain, but exactly how these
drugs restore the brain's chemical balance while simultaneously
wreaking havoc on every other organ in the body remains a mystery.
Equally mysterious is the mechanism by which cash payments provide
therapeutic benefit to depressed and anxious patients.   The receipt
of a large sum of money may somehow stimulate, increase, block, adjust
or otherwise act upon the level, supply, transmission, inhibition,
secretion or bodily excretion of dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine,
acetylcholine, gamma-aminobutyric acid, dihydrogen monoxide, propylene
glycol or some other chemical compound yet to be discovered.

Elation and euphoria are the most common side effects associated with
cash.   The favorable side effect profile and high response rate
compared to placebo are the main advantages of cash over standard
pharmaceutical treatment, while the major disadvantage of cash would
appear to be its prohibitive cost.   However, retrospective analysis
supports the hypothesis that over the long haul cash is not only safer
but also more cost-effective than any medication currently on the
market.

A depressed and/or anxious patient is typically maintained for an
indefinite period of time on two or more psychiatric drugs
simultaneously, in addition to numerous other medications prescribed
to control side effects ranging from diabetes to high blood pressure
to urinary incontinence to insomnia to everything in between.   The
cost of maintaining a patient on a standard treatment regimen of half
a dozen or more prescription drugs might easily surpass $1,200 per
month, amounting to roughly $150,000 over the course of ten years, or
nearly $300,000 after 20 years.   Seen in this light, a lump sum
payment of $100,000 or even $200,000 would be a genuine bargain by
comparison.   Cash-strapped state Medicaid programs squeezed by
escalating pharmaceutical costs would be well-advised to adopt
formulary guidelines and preferred drug lists authorizing pre-approved
cash payments as a treatment alternative.

In a random survey, 3,964 Medicaid patients were asked whether they
would prefer to receive various combinations of prescription drugs for
the rest of their lives, or a single lump sum payment of $250,000.
The vast majority (99.93%) chose the cash option.   A total of 3
patients (0.07%) elected to continue receiving medications in lieu of
cash.   All three of these patients appeared to be truly sick, and in
each case the illness was iatrogenic (i.e., resulting from treatment).