JUST WATCH SOME TV ADS and you might think you need a pill. Americans fill more prescriptions than any other country (US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention). With the recent influx of television ads sponsored by pharmaceutical companies, Americans are bombarded by ads for medications. Just watch your evening news, and you will see ads for arthritis, diabetes, depression, and a whole lot more. It’s like Fifth Avenue has gone from creating fashion “needs” to medication “needs.”
Overmedicating Americans
Many viewers ask their doctors for drugs that they might not even need. Some consumer health watchdog agencies believe drug companies are creating false needs in healthy persons, promoting their drugs for long-term use in basically healthy people. These direct-to-consumer drug ads generate hefty profits for the drug companies.
From grade school students to senior citizens, we take lots of pills (polypharmacy in medical terms). Overmedicating often involves taking excessive or unnecessary amounts of medications. Drugs can interact with one another, causing serious side effects, and some years, thousands of Americans die from drug reactions.
At its heart, health care is about people taking care of one another. Those who choose healing professions understand this and dedicate their careers to relieving the suffering of others. According to LOWN Institute (a nonpartisan think tank advocating bold ideas for a just and caring system for health), “The United States is in the grips of an unseen epidemic of harm from the excessive prescribing of medications. If nothing is done to change current practices, medication overload will contribute to the premature deaths of 150,000 older Americans over the next decade and reduce the quality of life for millions more.
“Focusing on reducing inappropriate or unnecessary medications could save as much as $62 billion over the next decade in unnecessary hospitalization for older adults alone.”
Why do we do it?
There are many reasons. The average American is older and heavier with more hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, osteoporosis, and arthritis than a generation ago—all conditions effectively treated with medications. Years ago, I asked my no-nonsense, compassionate neurologist, “Dr. Z,” his view. He reflected, “Some think taking a pill is the fast and easy way to health, relief of obesity, pain, etc. People do not want to work at staying healthy over the long haul. They want a quick fix.”
In his New Yorker magazine essay “Side Effects,” comedian Steve Martin addresses the reality of drugs causing side effects. He begins, “Dosage: take two tablets every six hours for joint pain. Side effects: This drug might cause joint pain, nausea, headaches, or shortness of breath. You may also experience muscle aches, rapid heartbeat, and ringing in your ears. If you feel faint, call your doctor. Do not consume alcohol while taking this pill; likewise, avoid red meat, shellfish, and vegetables. OK foods: flounder. Under no circumstances eat yak. Projectile vomiting is common in thirty percent of users—sorry, fifty percent. If you undergo disorienting nausea accompanied by migraine and raspy breathing, double the dosage.”
Although Martin’s view on side effects makes light of the serious role patients have taking their pills, it tends to keep us in balance. We try to do the right things to maintain wellness, and besides medical checkups, diagnostic tests, watching our diets, and keeping active, we need to look seriously at the medications we take.
We may take too many pills because we do not manage our medications carefully. We might not talk to our doctor about all our prescriptions, or we may ignore dosage instructions. We may self-diagnose and take additional over-the-counter medications (which are still drugs!). Our American “consumer culture” lures us into buying more and more products. Is purchasing multiple prescriptions similar to buying too many DVDs, shoes, or sweaters?
The 19th-century American physician Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “If all the drugs were thrown in the ocean, everyone would be better off...except for the fish.”
It might be a great health action to talk to your healthcare professional about the amount of prescription drugs you are taking, and if there
• Keep a dated list of all your current medications.
• Talk to your doctor about everything you take (prescription or OTC drugs, herbs, supplements).
• Ask the pharmacist about the meds—interactions, side effects, problems, etc.
• See if you can eliminate any unnecessary drugs.
Sister Karen Zielinski is the Director of Canticle Studio. Canticle Studio is a part of the Sisters of St. Francis of Sylvania, OH’s overall advancement effort and has a mission of being a creative center where artists generate works, products, and services in harmony with the mission of the Sisters St. Francis. She can be reached at kzielins@sistersosf.org or 419-824-3543. ✲
