Society’s Dependence on Pills

I believe society today is much too reliant on prescription and over the counter pills. I have done some research on this topic and have come to realize three things.

I am going to be writing about these three different things today. First, how we use a lot of pills that we don’t really need. Second, how the only thing getting better is the pockets of the suppliers and pill companies. Last, I have done some information and found out that “pop a pill” mentality can have an affect on us in the future.

Firstly, out of the information I have found out that in 2004 Canadians filled out 140,000,000 outpatient prescriptions. That’s twelve prescriptions for every man, women, and child in Canada. That is called polypharmacy – the overuse of drugs, by they prescription brand names or generics, over the counter drugs, or alternative or herbal supplements. Medications aren’t like other things.

Prescription drugs aren’t the same as cars, or CD players. Drugs have direct effects on humans. Some of these effects are negative, and taking multiple drugs as 25% of Canadians do; increases the risks. There is the growing attitude that drugs are the answer for every little thing. Prescription medications are important for medical proposes, but they are also the #4 leading cause of death, cause more than 1 million hospitalizations yearly, and are a cause of disability and drug addiction.

Secondly, I will show you how the only thing that is getting better in all of this is the pockets of the pharmaceutical companies. Despite a dropping economy in which most industries sales have been dropping, drug sales have increased a lot. The cost of these drugs has doubled in five years.

According to Pharmacy Times, “For the past 3 years, prescription volume has grown by 25% in the Canada, and there doesn’t appear to be a slowdown in sight. I’m not anti-medication. Medications do a good, but we must ask, what is the goal of the drug industry? To sell as many drugs as possible? The drug industry has been the most profitable industry by far year after year. Drug companies need profits for research, but how much is enough, when a lot of profits go to marketing, and the development of superfluous drugs?

Last, I have done some information and found out that “pop a pill” mentality can have an affect on us in the future. I learned that a woman with persistent vomiting showed up at the emergency room at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset. When a physician asked her, she said she had been self-medicating with two different, over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs, Aleve and Advil. Told to stop taking both, she soon stopped the vomiting as well.

Also , at about the same time, a patient with a history of heart trouble showed up at the emergency room at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola. Doctors there, unfamiliar with his case, waded through a list of about 21 drugs the man was taking for a variety of ills. Both instances point up a problem that is becoming increasingly worse.

Again just to remind you it’s called polypharmacy – overuse of drugs, be they prescription brand names or generics, over-the-counter drugs, or alternative or herbal supplements Yet, Over-use of medications is out of control a lot of doctors are treating high cholesterol and high blood pressure with drugs without ever talking about diet and exercise, although many of these disorders are nutritional, not medical.

Many patients prefer a pill to changing harmful habits. With drug advertising everywhere, what is the message being drummed into us the children: that for every symptom and sensation the solution is a pill?