Advil, Aleve, Tylenol, Benadryl, Sudafed, Claritin, Nyquil. The list seems to never end and they all achieve the same purpose. Forget wanting to feel better, America craves a binge drug to provide hope in the oh-so relentless cold that has been affecting them for longer than desired. Of the millions upon millions of people who daily rely on OTC and prescription drugs to suppress their cold, headache, heart burn etc, many do not understand the impact of drug consumerism on a broad scale. What is at stake? Is our need for over the counter drugs and prescriptions becoming customary instead of necessary? Should over the counter and prescription drugs be regulated more strictly? The adaptation of drugs like most staple products is a reliance that may be more intricate than previously acknowledged.
Since the discovery of herbal remedies to treat wounds and other illnesses since the beginning of human existence, adaptation techniques to cure ailments have been crucial to protect the well being and sustenance of physical and mental health. As shown by recordings that suggest the presence of herbal remedies by early humans and then the development of medicine by ancient societies such as the Egyptians and Greeks, the need for gluttonous consumption of inessential medicine has captured the eyes of society. Although vital medicines to treat important diseases and viruses have been used in the continuing of population growth and health efficiently, the foundation for excessive medicinal refinement has ironically caused the production of niche markets for seemingly comforting purposes. Beginning with Romans, who provided sage as medical treatment for emotional purposes as early as 98 AD, claiming that it was a healer for the spirit, providers ...
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...onsumer. If a substitute for marijuana were available, which would not cause impariment, it would be logical to provide a substance that does not adversely affect the judgment of an individual. Similarly, substitutes could be found for other dangerous OTC or prescription drugs with the use of generic products, which would reduce the cost to individuals and taxpayers alike.
Ultimately, our obsession with the medicine industry only serves to diminish our oppurtunity to be healthy and appropriatley assess medical obligations if misuse of drugs continues to occur. Although we are attracted to the notion of bettering ourselves, we are hindering progression at an alarming rate with the continually growing dependence on the industry. However, what is most sinister is that we our decieving ourselves into thinking medication benefits outweigh the drawbacks. Feeling sick yet?
In Melody Peterson’s “Our Daily Meds” , the history of marketing and advertising in the pharmaceutical industry is explored. The first chapter of the book, entitled “Creating disease”, focuses on how major pharmaceutical companies successfully create new ailments that members of the public believe exist. According to Peterson, the success that these drug manufacturers have experienced can be attributed to the malleability of disease, the use of influencial people to promote new drugs, the marketing behind pills, and the use of media outlets.
Dr. John Abramson’s book Overdosed America debunks the myths about the excellence of American medicine. Abramson backs up this claim by closely examining research about medicine, closely examining the unpublished details submitted by drug manufacturers to the FDA, and discovering that the unpublished data does not coincide with the claims made about the safety and effectiveness of commonly used medicines. Abramsons purpose is to point out the flaws of the pharmaceutical industry in order to warn the readers about the credibility of the drugs they are buying. Given the critical yet technical language of the book, Abramson is writing to an audience that may include academic physicians as well as those who want to learn about the corruption of the pharmaceutical industry.
I intend to help readers question their healing practices and the state of today’s formal medicine—to influence thought, education of the reality and exploration of the natural medicine realm.
"In the past two decades or so, health care has been commercialized as never before, and professionalism in medicine seems to be giving way to entrepreneurialism," commented Arnold S. Relman, professor of medicine and social medicine at Harvard Medical School (Wekesser 66). This statement may have a great deal of bearing on reality. The tangled knot of insurers, physicians, drug companies, and hospitals that we call our health system are not as unselfish and focused on the patients' needs as people would like to think. Pharmaceutical companies are particularly ruthless, many of them spending millions of dollars per year to convince doctors to prescribe their drugs and to convince consumers that their specific brand of drug is needed in order to cure their ailments. For instance, they may present symptoms that are perfectly harmless, and lead potential citizens to believe that, because of these symptoms, they are "sick" and in need of medication. In some instances, the pharmaceutical industry in the United States misleads both the public and medical professionals by participating in acts of both deceptive marketing practices and bribery, and therefore does not act within the best interests of the consumers.
In 1906, the Pure Food and Drug Act, that was years in the making was finally passed under President Roosevelt. This law reflected a sea change in medicine-- an unprecedented wave of regulations. No longer could drug companies have a secret formula and hide potentially toxic substances such as heroin under their patent. The law required drug companies to specify the ingredients of medications on the label. It also regulated the purity and dosage of substances. Not by mere coincidence was the law passed only about five years after Bayer, a German based drug company began selling the morphine derivative, heroin. Thought to be a safe, non-habit forming alternative to morphine, heroin quickly became the “cure-all drug” that was used to treat anything from coughs to restlessness. Yet, just as quickly as it became a household staple, many began to question the innocence of the substance. While the 1906 law had inherent weaknesses, it signaled the beginning of the end for “cure-all” drugs, such as opiate-filled “soothing syrups” that were used for infants. By tracing and evaluating various reports by doctors and investigative journalists on the medical use of heroin, it is clear that the desire for this legislative measure developed from an offshoot in the medical community-- a transformation that took doctors out from behind the curtain, and brought the public into a new era of awareness.
The United States of America accounts for only 5% of the world’s population, yet as a nation, we devour over 50% of the world’s pharmaceutical medication and around 80% of the world’s prescription narcotics (American Addict). The increasing demand for prescription medication in America has evoked a national health crisis in which the government and big business benefit at the expense of the American public.
Doctors work under intense pressure, and if a pill could fix a patient’s problems than many saw nothing wrong with that. What exacerbated the problem was that many hospitals also changed their modus operandi with regards to treatment. In some hospitals, “doctors were told they could be sued if they did not treat pain aggressively, which meant with opiates (95). However once the patient became addicted and could no longer get their prescription legally refilled, the drug dealers saw their chance. What is surprising is the fact that pharmaceutical companies acted in the same manner as drug dealers. Both sides did not care about the end user, and the problems they would have to deal with after using what was given to them. Their motive was purely to profit as much as possible, and they did not care about who would get hurt as a result of their
More than often, American’s argue that if we have the technology to gain access to these “miracle meds”, then we should take advantage of it. To receive an opposing view, the National Institute of Drug Abuse asked teens around America why they think prescription drugs are overused, and the results were shocking; 62%: “Easy to get from parent's medicine cabinets”, 51%: “They are not illegal drugs”, 49%: “Can claim to have prescription if caught”, 43%: “They are cheap”, 35%: “Safer to use than illegal drugs”, 33%: “Less shame attached to using”, 32%: “Fewer side effects than street drugs”, 25%: “Can be used as study aids”, and 21%: “Parents don't care as much if caught”. I believe the major problem here isn’t the medication, but instead the fact that our nation is extremely uninformed on the “do’s and dont’s” of prescription medication. When “the United States is 5 percent of the world’s population and consumes 75 percent of the the world's prescription drugs” (CDC), there is a problem present, no matter the reason. Clearly, many critics believe the breathtaking amount of pills we consume in America is simply for the better good, but tend to forget the effects that are soon to follow.
In America, it has become a battle to earn a high paying job to cope with the expenses of a typical American. It has become even more of a battle for some people to afford medical prescriptions to keep healthy. Health becomes a crucial issue when discussed among people. No matter what, at one point or another, everyone is going to stand as a victim of the pharmaceutical industry. The bottom line is Americans are paying excessive amounts of money for medical prescriptions. Health-Care spending in the U.S. rose a stunning 9.3% in 2002, which is the greatest increase for the past eleven years. (Steele 46) Many pharmaceutical companies are robbing their clients by charging extreme rates for their products.
Prescription and pharmaceutical drug abuse is beginning to expand as a social issue within the United States because of the variety of drugs, their growing availability, and the social acceptance and peer pressure to uses them. Many in the workforce are suffering and failing at getting better due to the desperation driving their addiction.
The first social problem surrounding the health care system in the United States is the growing problem with pharmaceutical companies. The industry averages a 17% profit margin and it has been booming for decades, but the industry is being heavily led by a core group of companies (Dr. Pratt). “In 1992 the top 10 companies accounted for roughly one-third of global pharmaceutical revenue, after a period of consolidation, by 2001 the top 10 accounted for nearly half.”( Leon-Guerrero, Zentgraf, 172). These companies hold a large majority of the market share and make most of their money off patented drugs. This growing core of companies that are dominating the market are causing more problems rather than solving them. These companies are all about making as much money as they can and it shows through the salaries of the executives of these companies (Dr. Pratt). The pharmaceutical industry should have their number one priority be to the users of their products rather than profit gains.
Today, a full 61 percent of adults use at least one drug to treat a chronic health problem, a nearly 15 percent rise since 2001. In today’s society doctors around America are abusing the privilege to prescribe medicine. This then causes the issue of overmedication. Americans who are being prescribed drugs that are not needed for them have more risk of side effects. The long-term effects are dangerous and have caused numerous children hospitalized. Americans who are buying treatments for ADHD, depression, and many more disorders have spent over 4 billion dollars in the past year. Prices are increasing because the desires for these drugs are becoming more prevalent. Overmedication is a global issue that is affecting children that come from many different backgrounds and live in many different areas in America.
The direct relationship between one and the ability to restore one's body to its original state of health may never be fully comprehended. The fields of medicine and health are two most paramount features affecting the daily lives of all beings. Throughout recorded history, various cultures concoct their own methods of alternative medicine for treatment and therapy which is then relied on by todays nations. Medicine in its earliest times begins with the ancient civilizations' assimilation with the world around and their beliefs on how things function. Ancient Greek medicine may have began with spiritual beliefs but Greek practitioners had steered the medical profession in the right direction for modern times.
The Ancient Roman civilization was one of the strongest in all of history. In medicine, however, the Romans were striving for prevention rather than trying to find a cure. The Romans were greatly influenced by the Greeks, although many of their practices were very different (“A History of Medicine: What is Ancient Roman Medicine?”). Many great physicians also lived in these times. As for actual medicine, Roman doctors usually prescribed prayer or herbal concoctions (“Medicine in Ancient Rome”). The purpose of this paper is to inform readers about ancient Roman medicine.
When you are sick you take medicine, but there are many remedies for the same problems. The use of herbal remedies traces back to the Chinese in the use of Traditional Chinese Medicine, as well by a compiled book in China written back more than 2,000 years ago (Wachtel-Galor & Benzie, 2011). Modern medicine has roots that are more recent in the development and production of synthesize drugs (Wachtel-Galor & Benzie, 2011). The old generations took herbal remedies to improve their health, but now as time and people, progressed modern medicine comes on top. Herbal and modern medicines have good and bad points, but one has qualities that are more effective.