America Overmedicated?
Nearly 50 percent of all U.S. households swallow, inject, inhale, infuse, spray, and pat on prescribed medication every month and the nation buys more medicine per person than any other country, according to a report this week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There are many cases where the use of prescription drugs is absolutely necessary, and helps improve lives. But there are also many cases, too many cases, where drugs are overprescribed, unnecessary, and harmful.
John Abramson, author of Overdosed America, said lifestyle changes and not pills in a bottle could solve many health problems.
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He said doctors and the pharmaceutical companies share the blame.
“We rely too heavily on prescriptions drugs in the U.S.,” Abramson said.
“Just because a pill is new does not mean it is better. New just means it was approved by the FDA and they are able to sell on the open market.”
Abramson boldly states Americans are overmedicated and overmedicalized as a result of the commercialization of health care and easily fall prey to marketing campaigns.
“We demand unnecessary and expensive drugs and procedures, believing they constitute the best possible medical care,” he said. “Wrong. More care doesn't necessarily mean better care."
He argues that doctors should focus more on lifestyle changes to improve health.
"American medicine has gone badly astray and we need one untainted by profits," Abramson said.
It has been reported that the pharmaceutical industry served up more than $250 billion worth of sales last year, the vast majority in prescriptions, according to industry consultants. That roughly equaled sales at all the country's gasoline stations put together, or an $850 pharmaceutical fill-up for every American.
The numbers are staggering with one out of every five children and nine out of 10 older Americans reported using at least one prescription drug in the past month, according to 2007 to 2008 data in the CDC report.
During the last 10 years, the percentage of Americans who took at least one prescription drug in the past month increased from 44 percent to 48 percent. The use of two or more drugs increased from 25 to 31 percent. The use of five or more drugs increased from six to 11 percent.
The most commonly used types of drugs included: asthma medicines for children, central nervous system stimulants for adolescents, antidepressants for middle-aged adults, and cholesterol lowering and heart disease drugs for seniors, according to CDC data.
In their lifetimes, about one-half of Americans will have a serious mental health condition and nearly 30 percent of all Americans will experience an anxiety disorder, and 17 percent will have a major depressive disorder.
Research suggests that less than one-half of people with serious mental illness receive treatment and for many with mental illness, drugs are the only treatment option.
According to the CDC, as new drugs are introduced and new uses for old drugs are found, more doctors are writing prescriptions for their patients.
Did you know?
- Persons with a regular place for health care were 2.7 times as likely to have used prescription drugs in the past month as those without a regular place for health care.
- Those with health insurance were almost twice as likely to have used at least one prescription drug in the past month as those without health insurance coverage.
- Among people with health insurance, those having a prescription drug benefit were 22 percent more likely to use prescription drugs than those who did not have this benefit.
Source: CDC
