More handpicked essays just for you.
Effects of prescription drug abuse on society
Effects of prescription drug abuse essay
Prescription drug abuse in the u.s essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Effects of prescription drug abuse on society
Prescription drugs become America's new legal drug abuse problem. 1.) The U.S. Makes up 5% if the world's population, yet consumes more than 75% of the own world's prescription drugs, and more people thought that since it is pre-scripted by doctors, it won't be as harmful to take as much as they want a day. 2.) 50 Million people in the U.S. age of 12 and over, have used prescription drugs non-medically in their lifetime. 3.) According to pharmaceutical industries, it rakes about billions of dollars per year producing drugs to treat symptoms, like how the pharmacy, Big Pharma, raked $711 billion. This article is important because it talks about different people's experience with prescription drugs and how pharmacies are getting paid chunks
Louise C. Cope et al, investigated the impact of non-medical prescribing. Non-medical prescribing could be evaluated through the NMP, or other health practitioner such as GP, and patients. Currently there is limited information on how NMP has impacted other professions, such as radiographer, optometrists and physiotherapists. Personally, I think this is due to how recent these professions gained the right to prescribe. Most of the findings have been extremely positive, with limited disadvantages. Within this evaluation of NMP “students who are becoming NMPs felt that the programme provided them with adequate knowledge to prescribe with some stating that the period of learning in practice was ‘the most valuable part of the course’”
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.
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 America today, many people are in need of medical help. In fact,the Federal Trade Commission estimates that 75% of the population complain of physical problems (Federal Trade Commission 9). They complain, for example, of fatigue, colds, headaches, and countless other "ailments." When these symptoms strike, 65% purchase over-the-counter, or OTC, drugs.
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.
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.
I am interested in pursuing to become a pharmacy technician because it seems interesting to help out pharmacists with the medicines and learning about the medications. My mom is a pharmacy technician and I have always wanted to be like my mom, and she has talked about her job to me and it seems like a good, easy job to have. It seems interesting to find out about all the new medicines and helping out people that come into the pharmacy learn about their medicines they take. I have learned plenty of information about pharmacy technicians during this research project and I am excited to hopefully become one.
The rate of death due to prescription drug abuse in the U.S. has escalated 313 percent over the past decade. According to the Congressional Quarterly Transcription’s article "Rep. Joe Pitt Holds a Hearing on Prescription Drug Abuse," opioid prescription drugs were involved in 16,650 overdose-caused deaths in 2010, accounting for more deaths than from overdoses of heroin and cocaine. Prescribed drugs or painkillers sometimes "condemn a patient to lifelong addiction," according to Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This problem not only affects the lives of those who overdose but it affects the communities as well due to the convenience of being able to find these items in drug stores and such. Not to mention the fact that the doctors who prescribe these opioids often tend to misuse them as well. Abusing these prescribed drugs can “destroy dreams and abort great destinies," and end the possibility of the abuser to have a positive impact in the community.
The ability to become reflective in practice has become a necessary skill for health professionals. This is to ensure that health professionals are continuing with their daily learning and improving their practice. Reflective practice plays a big part in healthcare today and is becoming increasingly noticed.
David was a junior in high school. He started hanging with the wrong crowd and smoking marijuana. However, with his final year of high school approaching he wanted a change in his life. He joined the boxing team and quit doing drugs, but one Saturday night and that all ended. David was hanging out with a few friends and he was offered a patch that was supposed to make him feel very good. He didn't know what was in the patch, but it contained Fentanyl which is a special pain reliever for cancer patients. His friend told him to cut open the patch and eat what was inside. The next morning, David never woke up. Eight weeks later Liz Wiggins found out that it was the Fentanyl that killed her son (Fox News). "In 2004 there were 15 million Americans ages 12 and up that took Prescription Drugs and used them non-medically "(Prescription Drugs: Their use and Abuse). This paper will examine the causes of prescription drug abuse and the solutions such as providing more education and enforcing the distribution of prescription drugs.
The field of medical and health welfare is heavily influenced by the term pharmaceutical promotion. This refers to the persuasive activities performed by the distributors and manufacturers of prescription drugs. Pharmaceutical promotions are performed to encourage the supply, purchase, prescription, and use of different medical drugs. This promotion is crucial to stimulate prescription rates and generate the sales of pharmaceuticals. Pharmaceutical promotion affects a wide range of crucial elements, like the drug price-control techniques, drug distribution equity, prescription rates, use of important drugs and most importantly the cost of the overall Health care system.
The government decides the level of fees. Fees are charged for treatment at the health centres and hospital outpatient care. However, there are no fees for inpatient treatment.
It is also easy to see the American people’s infatuation with drugs by simply looking at our current number of prescriptions filled at pharmacies annually. An active data table hosted by The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation states that about four billion prescriptions are filled annually (Kaiser). This is enough prescriptions for every person in the country, children and adults, to have twelve each. Once a person is on a drug, it is often hailed as an immediate fix to the problem, but many don’t think or just don’t care about the long-term side effects it could hold.
The increase of addiction to prescription drugs has increased over the past few years. As a result the amount of pharmacy robberies has amplified as well. Certain patients are going to multiple physicians in order to get controlled prescriptions; this is called “doctor shopping.” They are then filling the prescriptions at different pharmacies by paying “out of pocket,” without insurance. Filling prescriptions without insurance and at different pharmacies allows patients to get the medications more frequently. Insurance companies usually limit people from filling prescriptions early (before their medication runs out). It has been too simple to get control prescriptions from doctors in this day and age. Physicians have been arrested for writing narcotic prescriptions unnecessarily and too easily. Some patients even steal prescription pads from the doctor’s offices, in order to write their own prescriptions for controlled medications. It is the pharmacist’s role to spot these “fake” prescriptions. This is a vicious cycle and it needs to be stopped.
The human body is by far the most advanced evolutionary development known to man. As cephalization arose, species were beginning to form brains which ultimately became the control center for everything in their body. Although humans are so advanced, there are flaws within the human genome. Understandably, every creation has some sort of flaw. Sometimes the advanced human bodies themselves are what are flawed, and in order to maintain itself, it requires helps. A possible way to help maintain themselves, people begin taking prescription drugs. Prescription drugs have become a pivotal piece in the way humans, especially Americans, run their lives. Research shows that almost 70% of Americans take at least one prescription medicine on a regular basis, and almost 50% take two prescriptions regularly, and 20% of America is taking five or more prescriptions (Extra Articles #7). These startling statistics show that as a country, America is extremely reliant on medication.
In accordance to the world drug report in 2010, “the misuse of prescription drugs, including opioids, benzodiazepines, and synthetic prescription stimulants, is a growing health problem in a number of developed and developing countries.” An overdosage can occur both by the obtaining of legitimized prescriptions or by obtaining drugs that was not prescribed. The issue is rather complex because the root of the problem is very disputable. The difficulty in preventing diversion while ensuring accessibility to those who need it for medical purpose proposes the complication of establishing an effective policy on prescription drug abuse. Policy makers or those with the appropriate authority must go through complicated procedures to exactly pinpoint improper or illegitimate prescribing. An existence gap in tracking the distribution of prescription drugs allows for diversion to individuals not prescribed with the following medication. Close monitoring covers more towards illegal drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. Therefore, monitoring non-medical use of prescription drugs is a special case that requires attention in an inventive level. This issue requires immediate attention because not only that there is a rapid increase in the use of these medications, but younger consumers are also turning to this manner. As a matter of fact, 2.6% of people aged 12 years or older have reported using prescription drug non medically in 2005. Within the 12 to 17 years age group, females are more likely to use prescription drugs in a non-medical context than males. The future of the United States is at stake especially when younger individuals are growing into a ‘pill popping culture’ where non-medical use of prescription drugs is already a cultural norm. Most life issues are treated through medication along with the