Healthy Bytes

Pop a Pill - Cure an Ill???

The theme of this weeks CBS Sunday Morning was Health. There were a few interesting segments.
The lead segment was “A Nation of Pill takers”.
With 5% of the world population, the US accounts for 42% of world spending on prescription drugs… over $250 billion last year.

Dr. Marcus Reidenberg of Weill Cornell Medical College commented:

“If the individual is troubled enough by the problem, knows what the risks are of the medicine, (including the fact that these new medicines - we don’t know what all the risks are), and still feels that the benefit is worthwhile - I don’t have a problem with it.”

Well I almost agree… I would add… ‘and knows about non-pharmaceutical remedy options.’
Additionally, I would emphasize: “knows what the risks are“…
I strongly believe folks don’t know what the risks are. Sometimes the risks are not known (think thalidimide); sometimes the risks aren’t fully disclosed by the pharmaceutical company (think Vioxx and sheesh quite a many more); frequently the known risks are not fully discussed with the potential prescription consumer.

And another point which was also made during the segment by York University clinical psychologist Leonore Tiefer was:

“There is no drug trial in the world where anyone is taking five drugs simultaneously and they are looking at the interactions.”

Disease rarely happens quickly. It’s the result of a break down over time. And organs in the body don’t function independent of each other. They all interact. So it’s difficult at best to chemically effect one result without also effected another.

What do you believe?

This entry was posted on Mon, 23.Oct.2006 at 9:39 am and is filed under General, Lifestyle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.